6 Months in Korea
By Cathy H - 8:02 AM
It's currently 11:47pm and I'm sitting here slightly tipsy from consuming soju and consuming a large amount of Baskin Robbins ice-cream cake for sending away of an fellow friend in my town. I think this moment is appropriate to reflect on the past 6 months here. Many people ask if I miss home, and even to this point- I still feel like I'm living in a little "vacation bubble." It's still not quite real that I'm living on my own, making new connections and exploring new places everyday. One thing I can say is that time passes so extremely fast here. The weekdays of work just zoom by, and weekends are spent exploring Daegu and Busan with friends with Friday nights decided to fried chicken dessert nights and playing card games. I've made a little life for myself here surprisingly. These people I've met for the past 6 months have been like family or sisters to me. Everything is slightly bittersweet at this point. I've gotten over the "omg everything so cool and new!!" stage and grown accustomed to daily living, but at the same time going to new pages or my favourite city and knowing that I'll have to say goodbye to this country in 6 months. It feels so strange sending friends off one by one. It was like I just came here yesterday, a head full of worries about internet issues, living alone, and just general anxiety on how I'll handle things.
I haven't had any bad experiences here so far, maybe a few inconveniences like adhereing to strict dress codes and almost getting run over my impatient motorcycles and cars- but I feel like a major reason why I adapted so well is that I don't take this year seriously. I know it's a temporary experience, that I'm gonna move back home eventually. Everything inconvenient that happens, like frustrating students I usually deal with quite well because I know I'm only here to get a taste of living. I think it's crazy how much traveling I've done, which explains me being literally exhausted for the past 6 months. It's also crazy that I'm going to one of my dream destinations- Bali in 2 weeks! I knew I wanted to do a lot of traveling to other countries, especially those with cultural history and a lot of ancient architectures. That was my goal. I wanted to go to many places to experience a completely different way of life. I just feel so grateful at this point that life has worked out smoothly for me at this point, and that I get to explore so much in my free time. Many people always put traveling off for the next moment, and few get to really do it. But for me, I'm living the life exactly how I wanted.
Another thing I've come to appreciate is finding beauty and new things to appreciate in every spot. Even going for a little hike in my town brings me great satisfaction, just enjoying the view and the green scenery. In Vancouver, I looked at my city as not having much to do but now- I feel motivated to explore everywhere I haven't been- whether to a little campsite or hiking up a new mountain once I'm back. This experience really brought out the adventure side in me. I'm just so grateful I get the opportunity to do what I do currently because it really is once in a lifetime opportunity!
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