Hellloooooooooo friendos,
It's been a long time and in fact a little bit of a rough one for me. I've been feeling a little homesick + struggling at times to adjust to living with a homestay family, who, although incredibly kind and generous and wonderful, does sometimes cramp my style. I was actually a little distraught until I realized that I have been here for 3 months and there are thousands of graphs online that explain exactly how I'm feeling (google image: "culture shock").
But, thank goodness, I think I'm perhaps on the upswing and am feeling really invigorated and grateful today.
Korea is a facinating place. Here are some things I appreciate about this country today.
1. RICE CAKES. Like a sweet, chewy sponge. I wrote this while first tasting one this morning, had lunch, and came back to finish my cake, only to realize that it actually has nutella filling. So I'd sort of like to count it as #1-10.
2. Food sharing. I like that everything we eat is communal. We use chopsticks to eat out of 6-9 small bowls for dinner each day. The variety of vegetables, combined with the skill required to catch them (kind of like edible go-fish) is veeerrry satifying.
3. Slippers in school. Students and teachers must wear slippers in school (an old Korean tradition in buildings) and I must say, wearing Adidas sandals every day certainly changes the vibe.
4. FASHION. I have already mentioned the perfection that is English on Korean clothing, but besides being quirky and grammatically incorrect, Korean clothes are also super hip. Right now, 70's style is in so literally every girl under 30 walks around with cute jumpers and turtle necks and flared pants that make them all look like a perfect blend of J-Crew and Urban Outfitters models.
5. Busan. I live 45 minutes from this beautiful coastal city and actually got to wake up and run on the beach twice in the past 2 weeks. Hopefully another post is coming about my Busan trips.
6. Mountains. Daegu is a city surrounded by mountains. Everyone emphasizes that this makes the city extrodinarily hot, but I missed those few rough weeks and have only enjoyed the gorgeous views of mountains against the sky in every direction.
7. Buddhism. There seem to be a lot of subtle Buddhist influences in Korean culture. My host mom often mentions mindfulness and the conversion of Buddhism and Confuscianism in guiding daily Korean life. I've gotten to visit 3 temples already since I've been here. They are beautiful, majestic, quiet spaces seeping with history- I saw one statue that was 800 years old- that really make me feel the prescence of things bigger than me.
8. My School. For all of the stereotypes made about Korean schooling, the actual pedagogy of modern public schools here is along the same path as schools in the US. Being a very prestiguous school with some of the best teachers in Daegu, my school in particular emphasizes play and collaborative learning. I'm so happy to find out that many of their ideals mesh with mine.
9. Korean speech patterns. Koreans made a lot of noises to express feelings, just like in English, but they are different here! So teeth sucking can be annoyance, they do this like growling H thing when they are mad or exaggerating a point, and they suck in their breath when they are thinking. Also, while you are talking, they might say mmmmmm like the whole time because it shows that they agree. Super fun.
10. Possibility. The coolest thing about Korea, as a country and for me personally, is the possibility here. They have changed so much in such a short amount of time that everything is in flux and it almost feels like anything could happen. I'm hoping that for the remainder of my time here, many amamzing things will!
