Culture Shock and Moving Home

I considered not posting this, simply because it seems self indulgent and over exposed to share my feelings on my blog. However, this is part of the experience and my life here. I want to be honest, and with that comes sharing more than I might necessarily feel comfortable with.

In college I studied International Relations and International Business. They are two distinct fields, both of which hold my interest, but overlap on a number of issues. I can't begin to explain how many classes discussed culture and reentry-culture shock. Now, I have thought back to the numerous articles and conversations about it with renewed interest.

Yes, being in the States was difficult at times. I felt like I missed out on a lot of things, and I had a harder time connecting with some people in my life. At times, I wouldn't be present in conversations simply because I couldn't believe how easy it was for me to listen to everyone speaking English around me(!!!!). I'd jay-walk just because I could, then feel guilty instinctively, and look for an older women to scold me in Korean. I rode the subway in New York and felt entirely furious to discover it was only in English (there are so many people from so many places speaking so many languages and America puts ONE language in the most visited city in the country?!). The people I had the easiest time with were hands-down the ones who wrote letters, read my blog, talked with on skype. Some asked me for stories, but would interrupt me with the ending, having already read it all here. But really, that was comforting. It was nice to know people understood me and where I had been during the year away.

Now that I am back in Korea, I am experiencing a new set of difficulties. I have often said that life in Korea is just like life anywhere: I have met people so generous, kind, loving, and open. There have been moments that are impossible to beat - I have been as happy here as I have been anywhere. And yes, this is my home. This is a place that I love and appreciate for all that it is. That said, I've also been so utterly and overwhelmingly disappointed - both professionally and personally - that at times it is difficult to continue my life here, to plan another year.

In the last few weeks, I have been unhappy, and I have realized why. The entire time I was in the States, I missed Korea immensely. When I came back, however, things were different. My life here was substantially changed. I had to come to terms with the fact that the reasons I decided to sign on for another year - all the way back in April - may not exist now. There was an internship in my field promised, a great job with ideal hours, a love interest, a solid group of friends, a regular volunteer schedule, a pet, a need to explore more places, and a feeling of in-completion. So, I signed a contract. And now, months later, I was back in Korea but missing parts of the life I had before - some of that list of reasons is still legitimate, some things are entirely missing. I was nostalgic and regretting my decisions.

Then, I went on a fantastic adventure. I saw a new side of Korea and experienced the adrenaline and excitement of exploring this country again. I remembered why it made me happy and why I was committed to the next 12 months. I started working on the list of things I can't wait to do and am ready, finally, for this year.

I can't wait to upload pictures and post information all about it. I can't wait to show you the most beautiful place I've seen this year. But first, I need to write an article about it for Daegu Compass. This will be the second article I've written for them, if you remember my Geoje Island blog entry, it was featured in the August issue (which you can read online here).

For those of you who might be going through something similar, stick with it. Remember why you're here and why you need to experience the difficulties of moving to a new place.

Expect more posts very soon!

Snake Mobiles

My homeroom class is pretty awesome. This is Kyoung Mo.

We have been studying snakes in science class. After the field trip last week we were allowed to do a project related to a class. So we made Coiled Snake Mobiles. This is Minseo's, its very feminine and cute.

Jun and Kyoung Mo. If you're wondering, yes all of the students are wearing slippers. We are not allowed to wear "outdoor" shoes inside the school, so we all change into slippers in the entrance way. I wasn't a big fan of this tradition at first, but it really is kind of great - not many jobs let you wear your slippers all day at work!

Olivia and Peter. I'm a big fan of Peter's Nike sweatshirt hah.

Kelly and Edwin. Edwin was the only student who remembered that "some snakes have marks to help them hide," so his snake is probably my favorite. Also, they are both wearing their proper uniforms. Its not exactly required, especially with the older kindergarteners, since they will be growing out of them and won't need them the following year. They are supposed to for field trip days and some days of the regular week. I mostly like them because they all look adorable.

Daegu's International Body Painting Festival

Here's a shot of Daegu in the evening, some days its so cloudy and humid you can't see the mountains, but lately its been getting better with fall starting.

There was a ridiculously large park filled with people and a huge stage. I went with my friend Alisa, and it was awesome. I tried soju for the first time (yes it is as bad as I thought it was going to be).

We could walk around the tents and see the models being worked on and getting ready to walk on stage.

I didn't take that great of pictures because I was so far from the stage, but here are some I found online from the event.

You can tell that she is wearing underwear, most of the models were wearing that or even full body suits, which were then painted over. Korea is a pretty modest society, so it isn't surprising.

Apartment pictures!

** I am getting the internet at my house tomorrow! So, we can schedule skype times now! Please message/email/comment me if you want to skype and what times you would be available for that. Post in your time zone or mine - just tell me which one you are using!

In response to Alec's repeated asking, I hastily took pictures of my apartment and uploaded them. This entry will walk you through some interesting parts of their apartments, and show you were I actually stay. This is the entry way to my apartment - the first thing you see when you open the door. Directly infront of the door is a closet, which has shelves, and I dressed up with little baskets for socks and undies. I actually like my closet a lot, but decided not to post that online.

I have the couch and chairs covered with blankets because the furniture is really falling apart, and is pretty gross. I don't mind though, because the blankets are prettier and will be easier to clean. I have a TV; it doesn't work. Maybe when my internet is installed they will turn on the cable, though.

I really like my desk. I use it to get ready at, since my bathroom doesn't have plugs in it (which you will find out about later). The little bottles are vitamins, and yes I got the pretty earring tree in Korea. They really have the cutest things here.

My wallpaper is very... pink. But I don't mind too much, because it has some tan and grey in it, which seem to balance it out a bit. Also, my bedding is blues and purples, so it isn't overwhleming. I am really lucky to have matching sheets, as I had no idea what color the bedding was when my mom bought me the sheets :] I have a "hanging closet" also - but really it is just a rack that connects to the ceiling and floor by pressure. I have a mobile hanging from my light fixture, it spins constantly as my bed is right in line with the air conditioning and a fan. Also, I have really typical Asian style sliding doors for my bedroom, that I completely love.

My kitchen is small. I do not have an oven, just two stovetop burners, and a rice cooker. Honestly, I just eat grilled cheese or out every day, so it hasn't made me too sad yet. My kitchen also has a map of Michigan and pretty flowers.

Ahh, the bathroom, this is really interesting. In Korea most apartments do not have full showers, instead they have a shower head mounted from the sink. There is a bottom or lever you switch and bam! Your shower is on. When it is not in use, I face the shower head towards the wall, just in case I forget to flip the switch. This is also where the air conditioning drains into, so the bathroom can be damp all of the time if you leave the AC running. This is why there are not electric plugs in the bathroom. Also, hot water must be turned on. So, you click a bottom or two on this box and water turns on, one is for the shower/sink, the other is for the laundry, and the last one is for the floor - in Korea apartments are heated from hot water being piped through the floors. You can see the box in the picture shown earlier with the TV.