Hey Everyone!
This is Brett here! Although I’m not in DC this summer, I’m still thinking about all of you guys around the world and back home, hoping that the summer is going well for you all!
Like last summer, I’m spending 3 months in South Korea again. Needless to say, I fell in love with Seoul and couldn’t wait to come back this summer. The time finally came and I’m back in my favorite place of all, reconnecting with all the familiar faces from last year, making some new friends, and discovering new adventures every day.
For all you ISAs who are international students in the US (especially those of you from very different countries than the US) I understand a little better your difficulties because I experience the exact same thing when I am here in Korea. I wasn’t so much shocked by the culture as the language. The culture pervades daily life and before you know it, you’re using honorific speech to your elders, bowing, and fundamentally changing your behaviour. It was really difficult for me at first to speak such a different language than the ones I know and to start reading yet another alphabet.
However, if I can do nothing else, I can do languages (actually I can’t do anything else…just languages haha). Last year, I jumped into it right away with intensive Korean classes and practiced everyday for hours and hours on my own, with my warm-hearted friends, and in my homestay. I was determined and it paid off. Needless to say, I’m not fluent and there are always things even in daily life that throw me off. But I like that even more, because I can turn to ask someone about what it is or what the word means and it turns into an invaluable learning experience because it’s a human interaction. I remember the times when I get the courage to ask much more than if I try to make a flash card or figure it out on my own. I’ve even made friends that way. While I am usually the only Westerner around on any given day in Seoul and it can feel somewhat isolating, Koreans are just as curious about me as I am about them. If it takes me making the first move to break the ice, I’m more than happy to do that.
Anyways, I’ve been here for about three weeks now and I hope to have lots of things to show you guys while I’m here! I think maybe I’ll post some pictures up on a media sharing website, whose link I’ll post later in the blog.
I wish everyone the best wishes this summer and hope that it’s already been amazing. Feel free to tell me what interests you about Korea and I’ll try to make a special post about it!
-Brett Powell Ray
평화가득한 날 되세요!
(pyung-hwa ka-deuk han nal dweseyo!)
Have a peace filled day!
Thanks for the post, Brett!
ReplyDeleteDid you start learning Korean the first time you went to Seoul or did you start learning before you left? I know you said you practiced with your homestay, but I can't imagine how difficult it would be to go to a new culture with a language and an alphabet so different from my own without first having some practice. On the other hand, I totally get what you're saying about culture. When I was in Italy, the intricacies of the language still kept me challenged daily, but in my looks and actions, most people mistook me for an Italian by the time I left.
Some people say that, in other languages and cultures, many people adopt a new personality. Do you feel like you express yourself differently (not just in terms of customary action, like bowing) or "become a new person," when you are abroad using your new cultural and linguistic identity? Or do you feel like it adds to you as, what Marice previously posted, a third culture kid?
Are you with the same homestay family again? Are you traveling on your own? How did you keep in touch with all your friends from before? I know these are a lot of questions, but I think that, in this global environment, figuring out how to stay in contact and keep those connections is really important. Do you think a homestay is the best way to get integrated into a culture? Things to think about.
Also, pictures of food are always appreciated. :)