Musings

This may sound funny, but sometimes I forget where I am. I think about it sometimes, usually when I'm magically navigating myself - successfully I might add - around Seoul alone. Sometimes I'm running errands, sometimes I'm leaving one group of friends for another, and sometimes it's just random. Last night was one of those times when, all alone in a cab going between two groups of friends in different neighborhoods of one of the biggest cities in Asia, I sat back and realized...hey, I'm in Korea.

Yesterday in Seoul, again - one of the biggest cities in Asia, I transferred between 4 different groups of people in 3 different neighborhoods. I randomly ran into 6 people I knew, yet had not planned on meeting. Today I met up with a different group for a ball game and shopping...extended into dinner and got home a mere 24 hours after I had left.

This is not a "hey, I have friends" brag-a-than. This is just a "whoa...wtf...When did I become so comfortable in Seoul, South Korea? When did it all of a sudden become 'normal' and 'home'? And why didn't anyone tell me when this happened??"

I know, I've been here for awhile. It should be/seem natural, and it is, that I have friends, do things, and feel comfortable where I'm living. It's just that it's SO different from the life I led back home. It just randomly'll hit me sometimes when, far from my apartment, i'll get into a cab, tell him where to go - in Korean, have a small conversation - in Korean, get out of the cab, walk through another part of Korea - far from my home, do some errands - in Korean, and meander my way home. I think certain things in Korean. I tell my dog to "hurry up," and "come here" in Korean. I know where to go and what to do in Seoul. I don't claim to know everything...because I most certainly don't, but I know enough.

Us teachers are easily upper middle-class here. We live the life as such. It's another thing to adjust to. Again, not bragging...just stating fact. When we want something...we get it. If it's a big purchase...we wait a few weeks, then get it. Big shocker to the system when we go home...big. It's another thing that'll randomly hit me. Hey, life is pretty good right now, but it won't be like this at home. It's a thought that keeps so many here for so much longer than planned.

I know it should be obvious, and some reading this may think "hey, Krista...way to be observant...or the opposite of, to just realize, 1.5 years after the fact, that you're in Korea and life is different." It's just that sometimes it'll randomly dawn on me. My life isn't "normal." It's pretty fucking cool at the moment...but normal it isn't. It's also something I can't fully, or even really begin to, explain...only those living this life will truly understand.

That's all for right now...my head hurts from all of this deep thought.