Well, December truly is here whether I like it or not :) The weather has been fluctuating throughout the weekend. Currently it's about 48 Fharenheit during the day and 28 during the night, but this weekend it was extremely chilly! supposedly it snowed but I never saw it. oi :) I hear there are usually only 2 seasons in Korea, Summer (very hot and humid), and Winter (very cold and not a lot of snow). Should be a good year :). The length of days is about 10 hours (7:30-17:30ish); it's rather nice.
Well this past weekend we had a going away party for some of the foreign teachers. It included Irish, Americans, Canadians, British, and Aussies with a couple Koreans. I've learned that the Korean teachers usually party with their fellow Koreans, and the internationals usually stay by internationals. It makes sense to hang out with those you are most like, but I wish there was more intergration between the 2 groups.
It's weird to be surrounded by so many people that look like you but are soooo different from you. I feel as though I'm in a position where I'm wrongly perceived by both the Koreans and Foreigners. The Koreans physically see me as one of their fellow Koreans until I open my mouth, and the foreigner sees me as one of the Koreans. I feel so dutch on the inside but I'm so Korean on the outside.
Itaewon is a place where ALL the foreigners teachers, GI's, etc... go to bar hopping, dance, and be around other foreigners and westernized places because clearly that's what you should do while your in Korea....doesn't make sense. Anyways, I went a couple weeks ago and I was talking to some white people who were surprised that I spoke fluent English...weird. hmmm..alot to adjust to.
Anyways, as most of you know I have many reasons as to why I am actually here in Korea. Here is a quick summary to refresh your memory because I know you all really want to remember :)
1. Grad school wasn't working for this year-basically I wasn't good enough..hmm..
2. I have no idea what I want to do with a vocal performance, german minor degree anyways...(if anyone has ideas, let me know :)
3. Financial reasons (big one)
4. Get some more travelling under my belt
5. Hopefully pick up another language, and lastly and probably most importantly
6. attempt to find my biological parents (or have closure to that situation).
In regards to the last one, many people have been asking me how exactly I'm going to start this process...I usually say I'm going to go around knocking on the each door in Seoul and see if I find anyone that looks like me.
They just kind of look at me in a confused sort of way...yup.
I am planning on going to Holt Childrens Serive in Seoul (whom I was adopted through), and see if they have any more information about my case. I figure I should get some closure to that part of my life (I say closure becasue I'm feeling they won't have any more information). In the rare case that they do have more info, I am excited/nervous to see what comes of that. I've been avoiding going to Holt mainly because I don't know if I'm ready to deal with the reality that I might never know who my biological parents are. I know that my true family that I love deeply are in MI (and my sista in Nicaragua ;) but I don't know if I'm ready to get that closure to my questions/hopes about my "family" here. Anyways, I can't really explain all my thoughts here and I don't want to bore you all, so I will end this topic here :) I'll keep you updated though on when I go to Holt...it will most likely be sooner rather than later.
Well, again my apologies for the scatteredness of this entry. I hope you are all doing well and i would love to hear from ya ;)
Peace.
Well this past weekend we had a going away party for some of the foreign teachers. It included Irish, Americans, Canadians, British, and Aussies with a couple Koreans. I've learned that the Korean teachers usually party with their fellow Koreans, and the internationals usually stay by internationals. It makes sense to hang out with those you are most like, but I wish there was more intergration between the 2 groups.
It's weird to be surrounded by so many people that look like you but are soooo different from you. I feel as though I'm in a position where I'm wrongly perceived by both the Koreans and Foreigners. The Koreans physically see me as one of their fellow Koreans until I open my mouth, and the foreigner sees me as one of the Koreans. I feel so dutch on the inside but I'm so Korean on the outside.
Itaewon is a place where ALL the foreigners teachers, GI's, etc... go to bar hopping, dance, and be around other foreigners and westernized places because clearly that's what you should do while your in Korea....doesn't make sense. Anyways, I went a couple weeks ago and I was talking to some white people who were surprised that I spoke fluent English...weird. hmmm..alot to adjust to.
Anyways, as most of you know I have many reasons as to why I am actually here in Korea. Here is a quick summary to refresh your memory because I know you all really want to remember :)
1. Grad school wasn't working for this year-basically I wasn't good enough..hmm..
2. I have no idea what I want to do with a vocal performance, german minor degree anyways...(if anyone has ideas, let me know :)
3. Financial reasons (big one)
4. Get some more travelling under my belt
5. Hopefully pick up another language, and lastly and probably most importantly
6. attempt to find my biological parents (or have closure to that situation).
In regards to the last one, many people have been asking me how exactly I'm going to start this process...I usually say I'm going to go around knocking on the each door in Seoul and see if I find anyone that looks like me.
They just kind of look at me in a confused sort of way...yup.
I am planning on going to Holt Childrens Serive in Seoul (whom I was adopted through), and see if they have any more information about my case. I figure I should get some closure to that part of my life (I say closure becasue I'm feeling they won't have any more information). In the rare case that they do have more info, I am excited/nervous to see what comes of that. I've been avoiding going to Holt mainly because I don't know if I'm ready to deal with the reality that I might never know who my biological parents are. I know that my true family that I love deeply are in MI (and my sista in Nicaragua ;) but I don't know if I'm ready to get that closure to my questions/hopes about my "family" here. Anyways, I can't really explain all my thoughts here and I don't want to bore you all, so I will end this topic here :) I'll keep you updated though on when I go to Holt...it will most likely be sooner rather than later.
Well, again my apologies for the scatteredness of this entry. I hope you are all doing well and i would love to hear from ya ;)
Peace.
1 comment:
As you can probably guess, I am identify with your feelings and perspectives on so many levels... Korean and Dutch simultaneously--such tricky business! Keep blogging; I'll be following...
Post a Comment