I do miss Korea. I do miss many people there and many places there. I have been wishing I was there now to do some things with the friends I left behind.
What I don't miss is teaching. Teaching is what most of us foreigners do there, unless we are in military. I would gladly do something there that doesn't involve teaching a class.
Teaching is something I don't like doing. I have wondered if I learned better skills with it, that maybe I would like it better. Yet after doing it for so long things haven't changed. The problem is that since I have spent so much time since graduating from college in Asia, I have gotten accustomed to life there. I haven't readjusted to American life well at all.
Frankly, I don't really want to get used to the USA again. I don't want to live here, unless I can live in one of the bigger metropolitan areas like New York City or Boston. If I lived in those places I could get used to walking around a lot and using public transit, taking in the diversity and many cultural venues.
Yet, living in Asia is being in a place where I will never fit in completely. I may make friends with fellow foreigners, but they come and go. I have wondered how those Westerners who marry Asians and settle there with families think of Asia after many years living there. I am sure they still love it a lot, yet they still have never fit in the culture totally. It's impossible. All non-Asians are "big-nosed foreigners". Asians of other backgrounds are also set apart. Japanese and Chinese folks don't always do well in Korea.
I still do miss Korea. I miss the many kimbap shops, the cafes I hung out in, the parks. I miss the flower festivals and the museums of Seoul. I miss going around on solo adventures with a backpack and camera to feed my wanderlust.
What I don't miss is teaching. Teaching is what most of us foreigners do there, unless we are in military. I would gladly do something there that doesn't involve teaching a class.
Teaching is something I don't like doing. I have wondered if I learned better skills with it, that maybe I would like it better. Yet after doing it for so long things haven't changed. The problem is that since I have spent so much time since graduating from college in Asia, I have gotten accustomed to life there. I haven't readjusted to American life well at all.
Frankly, I don't really want to get used to the USA again. I don't want to live here, unless I can live in one of the bigger metropolitan areas like New York City or Boston. If I lived in those places I could get used to walking around a lot and using public transit, taking in the diversity and many cultural venues.
Yet, living in Asia is being in a place where I will never fit in completely. I may make friends with fellow foreigners, but they come and go. I have wondered how those Westerners who marry Asians and settle there with families think of Asia after many years living there. I am sure they still love it a lot, yet they still have never fit in the culture totally. It's impossible. All non-Asians are "big-nosed foreigners". Asians of other backgrounds are also set apart. Japanese and Chinese folks don't always do well in Korea.
I still do miss Korea. I miss the many kimbap shops, the cafes I hung out in, the parks. I miss the flower festivals and the museums of Seoul. I miss going around on solo adventures with a backpack and camera to feed my wanderlust.
