Missing the Following:

Its been ages now since I last stepped foot on Korean soil. Do I miss it? Yes. Very much. Am I glad to be home- of course. But still. To think, this time last year, I was enjoying Chusok, Soju, and the beauty of Korean autumn. I miss the following in no particular order:

1. I miss being a teacher! I miss going on dorky field trips with my preschoolers.

2. I miss this guy! Convenience Store Guy never spoke much more than a lick of English but was always friendly as hell and a bright, friendly part of my day.

3. Mingi. This kid was so frickin' cute and soooo unruly and misbehaving. Gotta love a spoiled 4 year old Korean child constantly keeping you busy.

4. Wild nights as the Soju Monster and good company. Damn, I know the terrible quality Korean booze downright ruined my stomach but still, where else can you get a bottle of booze that will get you wasted and almost hallucinating for only $1,000 Won ( about $1)????

5. Weekend trips! What a blast, even if it was cold and rainy and I bitched the whole time, I was still having fun. Trust me on this:)

6. The busy streets of Meungdong. Trips to Seoul came either one of two ways. Either ride for 45 minutes on a nauseating, over-crowded bus or ride for an hour and a half on an over-crowded, stuffy subway. I always chose the subway, or else I would feel like vomiting the rest of the day. Meungdong was always the ultimate fashion and shopping mecca for young Koreans.

7. Walks along the river on the little path to my house. I miss my old neighborhood, with all of its random call-girl cards strewn about, PC Bangs, and junk convenience stores. Oh, and I miss cans of Gatorade. Soo delicious!

8. Cute stuff galore!!!! Everywhere I went, cute and bizarre things would steal my heart and practically rip my eyeballs out of thier sockets. Everything and everyone was just so dang adorable, I felt as if I might burst.

9. Mondu. Of fuck, do I ever miss mondu!!!!!!! The ultimate warm your belly food. Those soft little dumpings are what dreams are made of. And cheap, cheap, cheap.

10. Korean BBQ and drunken, misbehaving coworkers. Lindsay's face is priceless and Aram, we always loved your misbehaving, abnoxious ways, even if we pretended we didn't. And my God, Korean BBQ is just sooo frickin' amazing. Best food ever.

Sometimes, I hear a little voice that tells me that I am ready for more travel and adventure. Day in and day out, I work here. We try to spice things up by getting a dog, getting a new car, new shoes, whatever but it still seems dull in comparison to my life this time one year ago. Then again, I remember many weekends never even leaving my apartment apart from getting a bite to eat. I remember being incredibly alone in one of the most densely populated countries in the world. But to me, the past is best romanticised and played up a bit.

Dealing With Cultural Differences

Lately, I have been trying to examine the feelings I have about Korean culture now that I have been here a good 6 months and have a better understanding of how things work. There are certain things about living and working here that make me uneasy. These feelings can contribute to culture shock. I love psychology, so naturally, I am very interested in this subject!

In any case, I took this information from a website I came across explaining why one would suffer from "Culture Shock." After reading this information, I wanted to shout a resounding "YES!!!!!!!" This site totally nailed it in terms of why one might feel so strange in a different place.

What are the causes of culture shock?

• Being cut off from cultural signals and known patterns of communication, especially the subtle, indirect ways of expressing feelings.
• Living or working over an extended period of time in a situation that is ambiguous.
• Having personal values (which were previously considered absolutes) brought into question.
• Being continually put into positions in which you are expected to function with maximum skill and speed, but where the rules have not been adequately explained.

The following chart explains the difference between American culture and Korean culture.

MONOCHROMATICE CULTURES	POLYCHROMATIC CULTURES
Take time commitments seriously	Time commitments are an objective to achieve, if possible
Adhere religiously to plans	Change plans often and easily
Emphasize promptness	Base promptness on the relationship
Short-term relationships	LIfetime relationships
Do one thing at a time	Do many things at once
Respect for private property Seldom borrow or lend	Reciprocal obligations Borrow and lend often and easily
Low context (one says what one means)	High context (words are not the full picture)
North America, UK, Germany, Switzerland & Scandinavia	France, Italy, Latin America, Spain, North Africa, China, Japan, Korea

Quite interesting, right?