Abroad

I keep singing "Mamamia" in my head because 1) there are posters for the show all along my trek to work, and 2) it reminds me of the episode of Community where everybody turns into zombies at the Halloween party and Troy says "I love you" to Abed seconds before Abed is swarmed by the mass of infected people..............

Anyway, I've got some Soviet Russian music playing now so maybe that'll clear my mind from outdated pop music as I drink my Friday night celebratory soju and think about what I need to do around here before we go to the FC Seoul game tomorrow for "Foreigner's Day". I resent calling it that so I usually refer to it as "International's Day", but it should be a good time. Most of WILS is going.

Ok, this drink I made seriously tastes like rubbing alcohol.

On a side note, I cannot believe how much I am loving the food over here. It's like the Koreans have found a way to make the most repulsive sounding things taste delicious. Want some cabbage that's fermented with bits of rejected fish and oysters and other nasties that nobody wanted to eat? Have some kimchi! (which has very much grown on me. I actually made a 김치 찌개 the other night that was amazing). Want some raw beef and a raw egg seasoned with some of the spiciest spices your mouth has ever experienced? Have some yukhoe (육회)! Reisha (and by the freaking way, I found out that I knew Reisha's brother at UVA because he's totally Anna Kushner's boyfriend), Wally and I went out to a place today where I cannot remember for the life of me what the food was called, but it was absolutely amazing. It was thin (and I mean THIN) slices of beef that we grilled. It wasn't bulgogi. And if I didn't know better I would have called it beef samgyeopsal. We sat around and talked while our waitress grilled our meat for us. We wanted to tell her that we could do it, but, well, we didn't know how to. She was super nice to us and even brought out a bottle of 'digestive tea' for us to have at the end of the meal, on the house.

People here are so nice and welcoming to us. I know that sometimes it feels like they're all looking at me and judging me, and they probably are, but when it comes down to us actually interacting with them, they have been so courteous and kind that it would put Southern Hospitality to shame. I was in the Family Mart at the base of the Tower tonight buying my soju and there was an older man in there and as I walked up to the register he gave me a big smile and patted me on the shoulder and let me go in front of him in line. By the time I had put my bottles in my bag he was done paying and was at the door the same time I was. He looked at me and bowed and let me go first before he said 'thank you'. I said 'thank you' back out of English habit even though I should have said something like '감사합니다' to him. I walked over to the elevator smiling thinking how lucky I am to be living in a place where people are accepting of foreigners and don't treat them like shit because they can't speak the language and don't know the customs. I make an ass of myself every time I go to a grocery store or cross the street or hold the door for a stranger, but the Korean people just look back at me and, I'm assuming, think something along the lines of "It's ok, he's at least here and he's trying to learn some things." I was complimented the other night when I received my change with both hands and bowing to the clerk at a convenience store as I had taken my change "very Korean-like".

Maybe it's because I love other cultures. Maybe it's because I grew up in an area that rejected any notion that was not purely American by nature. Maybe it's some completely random reason that I have no control over, but I love it here. I love this whole experience. I love being oblivious to many of the things going on around me, but at the same time being more into some things because I have to use senses other than language to operate. I pick up more on body language than I ever have before in my life. I'll pass a group of people on the sidewalk and pick out two words of what they're saying, but it's enough for me to contemplate what they were talking about until I pass the next group..all pushing past each other on the crosswalk trying to make it across the wide streets of Seoul before the little green man stops blinking.

Imagination is a big part of surviving while abroad. If you cannot wonder about things then you're doomed from the start. The language barrier creates a wall of solitude when alone that mandates some kind of inner thought process of what is going on around you. If you think you know everything; if you think your culture is always right or is the best, or even close to being the best, then you're setting yourself up for failure. You have to be more accepting than you've ever been in your life. You're not just visiting another culture, you're living here. And I have to remind myself of that every single day. When I wake up and look out of my 12th-story window I have to tell myself that I am but a simple visitor to this land and I will learn the most that I can. While I cannot learn everything, I will try my hardest to be able to hail a cab and tell him directions in Korean or go to a restaurant by myself and speak no English the whole time I'm there by the time I leave this city.

Whenever that may be.