Dorothy, You’re Not in Korea Any More

You’ve just moved to a new place, completely blind, having signed up for a program with a good reputation that, even if all else fails, will hopefully more than make up for all the time you’ll be spending in this new place. At first, life is not going to be easy. You will meet new peers through your program and undergo an odd, forced extroversion at first; you will also retreat into your introversion, question all your life choices, and get intimidated by tasks as simple as going to the grocery store. Being a newcomer to a foreign culture, you will feel alienated from the natives and remain overly grateful (if such a thing is possible) for the few human beings you can find who share similar backgrounds with you. You’ll promise yourself to rely on the routines engendered by your program, but outside those routines you find yourself at varying levels of lost.

 

Oh, sorry, did you have the impression I was talking about Korea? No, no, the time for Korea has passed – I’m talking about Berkeley, California.

 

I’m sitting in a motel in El Cerrito, CA, right now, where it’s 6 o’clock, the sun is shining, the wind is blowing, and I am just now relating to what so many of my friends had said about moving to Korea. In three days I’ll be starting a professional Master’s (Public Policy) program at Cal. Wooph.

 

But before the crazy begins, let me just say one more time: thank you. To the people in 56 countries (seriously, who read this blog from Brunei? WHO ARE YOU?!?) who tuned in, thanks for coming along for the ride. If you were just a creeper, replace the word “thanks” with “side eye.”

 

To the wonderful people of Uncheon Elementary School, TAGY School, Chungbuk EPIK, and all my friends out there: thank you for everything. Truly, heading to Korea to hang out with you guys (that was the purpose, right?) was the best decision I could have ever made.

 

Until next time, 잘 지내세요~