I’ve now been in Korea a bit over three months. Three months spent
here have felt longer than my time in Costa Rica (although it’s been
about the same amount), and I find myself much more nostalgic for my
friends and my language.
It’s not that I don’t like Korea, because I do. However, I am finding
it quite difficult to live in a place where I have only the most basic
grasp on the language. It is my hope that taking Korean classes will
alleviate the language isolation I face in my everyday interactions with
Koreans. I have a strong desire to be able to communicate with the
people around me. Though English is the medium (for the most part,
anyway) in my job, it isn’t enough. I want to be able to ask a random
person on the street for directions and understand their response. I
have had enough of the silent stage of language learning.
Though many of the Korean holidays differ from those celebrated in
the US, Valentine’s Day is one of the few that doesn’t. They celebrate
it slightly differently here (women give chocolate to men), because they
have a corresponding holiday called White Day in March (men give candy
to women). It’s really strange to be in a country with sometimes vastly
different holidays, so I am always thankful to have something familiar
going on.
