What Was It Like Over There?

"What has been the most fulfilling or positive part of living and/or teaching in Korea? The most challenging?"


I've had a lot of positive experiences living in Korea, I don't think I could choose just one. I've made a lot of friends here, both Korean and with other English teachers. I've come to love Korean food, although not everyone who comes to Korea feels the same way. On a day-to-day basis, that might be my favorite thing about living here. I'm certain I'll keep eating Kimchi for the rest of my life. I've appreciated getting to experience another culture first hand. It's a weird feeling to actually be immersed in another culture, not just reading or hearing about it; to know that you're acting and seeing the world according to a different set of social rules and structures than the rest of the people around you. It also gives you a new appreciation for American life, and I don't mean that in the stereo-typical "I'm proud to be an American" way that we talk about on the Fourth of July. I think you have to get some distance from our culture to see what's really unique and special about it; to see that many things we (or I at least) took for granted, or as universal, are really culturally unique to us. And at the same time, maybe some things you thought were good about America, you realize we could do much better, and some things you thought you hated about America aren't really so bad after all, for one reason or another. You also really come to appreciate the English language; how complicated it is, the variety and versatility of the words.

For me, the most challenging parts of living here in Korea stem from being a non-Korean in a relatively ethnically homogenous society. I don't speak the language well, I'm white, and I'm about a head taller than everyone around me. It's impossible to blend in; the best you can hope for is to stick out less. If you're not prepared to be stared at everywhere you go, everyday, then Korea may not be the place for you. I am always a foreigner here, and for better or worse that usually seems to be a part of how people treat you. Sometimes that means you get better treatment because someone is interested in Americans and wants to show you a good experience in Korea. Other times that means your girlfriends dad doesn't want you to date his daughter because you're a foreigner, and he's heard all the stories about 'your kind.' Sometimes you just want to blend in. But maybe that's painting a darker picture of the situation than it actually is.