For the past hour now, I have been sitting on the ledge by the window in my apartment feeling the cool early autumn night's breeze blowing through the curtain. I have been listening to the random conversations of passers-by down below and occasionally I am beginning to hear familiar sounds and recognizing words here and there. This feeling is comforting yet I sometimes wonder what these Koreans would think if they were to know there was some random American girl listening in on their conversations.
I can't believe I have already been here a month. It seems like just yesterday I was saying goodbye to friends and family and getting onto a plane headed to a strange and exotic destination where the culture and language were completely alien to me.
By now, I already have my routine just about structured and am settling in quite nicely. I can navigate myself around Ilsan pretty easily and have learned to take the busses and subway like an old pro. I don't notice that people gawk at me when I pass by and I don't flinch when the 'ajimas' slam into me in the streets. All in all, I have become acclimated to the Korean culture quite well. I haven't used my air conditioner since the first week, but then again, the humidity levels in Missouri prepared me quite well. I haven't starved to death although my diet does consist of a large amount of kimchi and rice so I have lost a bit of weight (still not quite into the skinny jeans yet). I have taken a liking to the soju and can even tolorate the crappy, stale, watery beer on a nightly basis. Last night, I even discovered a liking for a drink called macali (I have no idea how to spell it, but it sounds like broccoli) which is hard to explain. It is like a creamy beer that can be flavored several ways.
This past week, I have spent every night over at Sunny's. It sounds like a horrible idea, but it actually keeps me on task. I bring random things to work on from school like grading and I sit back and enjoy a Cass or glass of wine and chat with Sunny or one of the waitresses (usually Stella) and whoever shows up. Ben has been trying to teach me how to play pool. My skills are definitely lacking but I am very slowly progressing. This nightly event keeps me from getting too homesick considering the fact that I have never had to live on my own. I have also been finding things to get involved in while I am here. I am really looking forward to joining a yoga class and Yoona and I have our Sunday night get togethers where we have coffee and I am teaching her Spanish and we are going to start cooking dinners together afterwards. We are also talking about starting a jogging routine a couple of nights a week just to help stay in shape and also to give us another reason to hang out and chat about random nonsense. The more involved I am getting here, the more I love it here. As long as people at home send me Miracle Whip, I think I will be quite happy here for the rest of my stay.
The best feeling I have had so far in my time here I got the other night when I was walking and ran into someone I knew! I was so excited to be able to recognize people in the streets! And I notice myself doing it more often. Just tonight, while walking home from Yoona's, I ran into Stella and she introduced me to her family. It sounds stupid to get worked up about recognizing someone, but when you are in a city full of strangers, it feels good to recognize faces. It makes the city feel a little less cold and distant and helps it feel a little more like home. It's strange to be able to think of Korea as home, but in a lot of ways, I already do feel like I have made a home for myself in this remote corner of the world.
While I feel like I have carved out a place to call my own in Korea, I still long for America in a way I think only American's from small towns long for their home. Of all the things I miss, the thing I miss most is that small town feel with sprawling yards and meadows and fields in the country and woods as far as the eye can see. I miss going on random drives down old dirt roads to clear my head. I miss quiet evenings out at Knob Lick Tower, watching the sun set and the stars come out at night, feeling the cool, quiet breeze caress your face and breathing in the fresh smell of the world around you. It was so relaxing and every time I went there, I felt at peace. Here there are no dirt roads to drive on, no grassy fields, no crickets chirping, no quiet breezes rustling through the trees, no stars to see at night. What I miss the most, what I yearn for after only a month, what I can feel calling my name, is the quiet American country town that I have called home for almost my entire life. Although I am grateful for my time here and I am loving every minute of my experience, in my heart, I have discovered where my home will always be. I always knew coming to Korea would be a great adventure and I hoped to gain a lot from it, but the one thing I never expected to realize was how much I loved my country and how much I loved my home. If I get nothing else out of my time here (which I know is impossible considering I have already gained so much) it is the new found appreciation for my home in the States.
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