Korea is My Home!

I am slowly falling in love with Korea. I enjoyed my time here last semester, but I am realizing that Wonju has become my home.

The other day, I left school to walk back to my apartment, my home. Something made me stop; everything was so...familiar. A sort of familiarity that I only feel when I am truly comfortable somewhere.

It's not because I know how to get everywhere in Wonju, it's not because I have simply lived here for 7 months; it is because I have a family, it is because I have taken on activities that form my everyday life, and it is because I'm slowly discovering how to transfer my values and passions into my life in Korea.

A friend recently told me, "Stacey, sometimes I worry about the everyday simple experiences you miss out on because you want to do all these big things." I was a little taken aback by this comment, however, I both said and realize that I'm not in Korea to simply have a "big" experience. Even if it may have started as something big and a way for me to push myself and my boundaries, I am experiencing the simple everyday moments...only in a different culture. He's right: I don't have the stereotypical 9-5 job that is common right out of college, I don't have my closest friends in immediate contacting range, and I can't easily watch sitcoms on tv. He's right...I am not experiencing the simple everyday moments of a life in the states. I am, however, experiencing the simple everyday life of someone who lives in Korea.

I miss my friends and family in the states, but I also miss my friends and families across the world. I miss the everyday simple experiences of Kenya, I miss the everyday simple experiences of Japan, and I miss the everyday simple experiences of the states, but I feel incredibly fortunate to be able to know what the simple everyday experiences are in each of these places. I'm not simply spending a year in Korea; Korea is my home.