Reverse Culture Shock Two.

I meant to keep up my blog when I got back, and I would make up some fabulous excuses but to be honest I don’t have any. Coming home has been more of a shock to my system than I realised and I think that once I had recovered from the jet lag I still needed to recover from the reverse culture shock and the unnerving reality that I am now 24 and I am still very unsure about the next stage in my life. It’s not that I lack direction, it’s that I am not sure if it’s the right way.

I think that when you are away from your home country for a long period of time you tend to idealise it and compare it favourably with what you see around you, particularly in light of scattered nationalistic claims about how Korea is “number one” at something. (This mainly comes from the students, children or adults. However since I am usually the target for the crazies on public transport I did hear my fair share of stories). But when you arrive home you step through Customs at the airport and the reality of it all shatters the rose tinted glasses that made going home so exciting. Ok maybe it wasn’t that bad, but when I arrived back in Oxfordshire me and my Mum spent three hours in a hospital waiting room only to be rudely dismissed by some arrogant nurse who had never heard of a “high ankle sprain” (try using google then) and wasn’t interested in my x-rays because “we use computers now, this isn’t like E.R.” (Surprisingly I figured that out due to the lack of American accents, the fact my pain was real, oh and the fact I am not a total idiot). My ankle still isn’t 100 percent but the pain is nearly gone and I am no longer on a crutch, but I was hoping for some answers, and I was saddened by the lack of care that was shown.

Although life in Korea quickly became routine it doesn’t change the fact that it was different enough to maintain an element of excitement that I don’t get being back at home. Familiarity is not a bad thing, not by any stretch, and I don’t feel out of place at home, I just worry that all the changes that have happened to me will fall away at the wayside because of old habits and because the simple things (like having a conversation, ordering food) are no longer such a challenge. To be sure I have already been to London, Edinburgh,Glasgow, Barcelona and Brighton and made some more amazing memories (and you faithful blog reader are probably shaking your head at the computer screen and thinking that I need help, I probably do) since I have been back, and I am off to Dublin and South East Asia in the next couple of months, but that doesn’t explain the funk I have found myself trying to climb out of. By all accounts I should be bursting with excitement and anticipation of what has been and what’s to come, especially with a trip to see my favourite South African 친구 happening at some point in 2009, but the truth of it all is that being back home has made my own uncertainty about my future more noticeable. I can no longer use the “I will figure it out when I get home” excuse that allowed me to procrastinate while I was in South Korea, and I have reached a point where I want some solid direction in my life.

Maybe it’s because my money is slipping away faster than you can say “Do you want cashback?” Perhaps the fact it’s impossible to get signal on my mobile despite the fact I practically live next to a mobile phone mast/poorly disguised tree is driving me bonkers. Certainly the fact that the BNP and UKIP had successes at the European elections is leaving me disillusioned. Having my fringe butchered by a hairdresser for three times the price I paid for a hair cut in Korea didn’t leave me feeling warm and fuzzy about being home. But I think that my uncertainty and confusion is the key reason I have been in such a funk. Those age old questions that badger you during a period of change have been badgering me during this period of change. What am I doing with my life? What should I do next? When will I figure out what I want? Why is Big Brother still on? Why does the British public revel so much in destroying people through the media? Why do people insist on wearing flip-flops the minute the sun comes out?Being given simple patronising instructions from everyday machines such as ATMs (hide your PIN number…damn, that’s where I have been going wrong…) is definitely not inspiring me to greatness. Watching an entire generation communicate through facebook isn’t exactly soul cheering either, if I wanted to know the mundane details of your life I would simply ask, or I would stalk you.

I have not been taken over entirely by some self-loathing hatred for everything, honest. There are some things I love about being back, spending time my family and friends for starters. Buying books in charity shops (it’s the simple pleasures!). The weird and wonderful city that is Brighton. The sheer range of delicious foods and treats. Cider that isn’t 7UP. Having more than one room to live in. Baths. Sofas. Pub gardens. Watching the sunset over a field as a passenger in a car.

It’s likely I will do my PGCE this year, a couple of hundred miles from home. But all the hoops that I have to jump through is making my application disheartening and it’s not been made easy by the fact I applied so late in the academic year. As a career I am still not convinced that teaching is for me, some of that is because I doubt my abilities. However, a rational side of me just wants to be sure I am making the right decision before spending another year in what might ultimately be the wrong direction. You can never be entirely sure where your choices will take you. Admittedly I am getting really good at settling into new and distant places. Hopefully in a couple of months I will look back at this and wonder what I was going on about,

Reverse Culture Shock

Well, I am back in the United Kingdom, and adjusting is harder than I was expecting. The year in South Korea has changed me in ways I have yet to fully understand or realise, and I am returning to a town where the biggest change has been the colour of the Iron Bridge. Being surrounded by spoken English is giving me a headache and on my first day back the NHS actually made me long for the Korean hospital where I am considered fat and where the therapy involves being scarred for life and being subjected to naked old ladies. While it’s refreshing to see a range of clothes sizes instead of just “free size” (as in no hips, no fat free size) I am saddened by the increasingly amount of what can only be described as morbid obesity on the streets of Britain. I am all for eating good food and I will never be a size 8, but the key word is moderation, and once you have reached size 20 you have overstepped the mark by a long shot. To be sure, this was the right time for me to come home, and I can’t wait to make a start on my PGCE. At the same time, I can understand why people get addicted to the TEFL way of life, and end up re-signing or moving on to the next country.

I have come away from Korea with much more conservative taste in clothing. It’s considered unseemly in Korea to show your shoulders and chest area, though admittedly there are seemingly no qualms about showing the tops of your thighs. Prior to coming to Korea I spent most of my time in strappy tops, even in winter, but now I feel exposed if I am not covered up. It was refreshing to be able to put half my wardrobe in the charity bins, thanks to healthier eating (yes, I do miss Kimchi) and (from when I had two good ankles) lots of walking, but I am surprised at how my taste in clothing has changed. Newsflash, South Korea has turned me into an old lady prone to saying “cover yourself before you catch swine flu” and “you’ll have someone’s eyes out with those.”

The colours seem to be more vivid here, particularly all the greens, even the grey sky seems more vivid. But then again architecturally, much of modern South Korea is as dull as an evening with Ken Barlow-who is still the stud of Coronation Street apparently. I think the colours may seem more bright because England is a lot flatter than Korea, and everywhere I look there are bright gardens, something that apartment building laden Korea severely lacks. Being away has really made me appreciate just how beautiful the United Kingdom can be from the wide open green spaces, to the old intricate architecture. I definitely prefer houses to towering apartment blocks which to me can feel constricting and imposing. But I didn’t realise how much I liked being able to see mountains where ever I was in South Korea. As I have said before on this blog, I am a writing contradiction, I like flat green spaces, but I also like mountains. Perhaps this is the reason why the transition seems so difficult, I don’t know what I want from life at the moment and coming back my feelings weren’t as clear cut as I was expecting them to be.

One thing that is clear cut is the expense. The vast majority of things are more expensive here, a fact that I already knew but that doesn’t make parting with the money any easier. Shelling out £40 for a return train journey knowing that £10 would have got me a similar amount of time on a train in Korea, and on a train with more leg room and more comfortable seats as well, is not making me feel all warm and gooey inside about the UK. Admittedly I didn’t save as much as I was hoping to, but I don’t regret any of the travelling that I did while I was over there. I think a second year in the same country would enable you to save more. Nevertheless I am still of the frame of mind that there is so much more to see on this planet, and if I had spent longer in Korea the novelty would have worn off, and I would have developed itchy feet. Besides there is only so long a girl can go without roast potatoes.

11 Months of...Culture Shock!

Even though it’s been nearly eleven months since I stepped off the plane at Incheon International Airport, South Korea still has ways of leaving me very bewildered. Strangely, the bigger things I have just come to accept, from last second schedule changes, to the lack of helpful health and safety signage. Those annoying “no-win, no fee” companies would have a field day in Korea. “This week I ended on my arse in the lobby of Seoul Hagwon after my crutches did the splits on the wet floor. There was no warning sign in sight. Save your Kimchi managed to get me 1000won (50p) in compensation. I bought gimbap.” No, it’s the smaller things that still puzzle me. From serving Tabasco sauce and pickles at every slightly “western style” restaurant, to suggesting I go to the hospital every time I have a cold. I asked one of my adult students about the latter and she explained that one time her mother “endured a cold and it turned into pneumonia.” By “endure” it’s possible she meant her mother never rested and continued to both work 12 hour days and be the sole carer for the family. She also said that the Korean health system is very cheap. I countered that it’s free in the UK and if you went to the doctors with a cold (Korea doesn’t have an equivalent to your local GP/doctor) you would be laughed out by the receptionist and possibly fined for wasting valuable daytime TV watching hours.

More importantly, what is the doctor going to give you for a cold that you can’t buy in a pharmacy? A stern and condescending look? A prescription of kimchi and soju three times daily? Or is Korea harbouring a secret cure for the common cold that it’s refusing to tell the rest of the world about? Judging by the amount of colds I have seen “endured” in this country it’s unlikely. Perhaps if the country wasn’t so anal about sick days and the fact they require a doctors note/all your limbs being severed/death, it would be less of a problem because you could take a couple of days to rest and recuperate. The same would be true if covering your mouth with your hand when you sneeze or cough became a common part of etiquette.

Last week was a first for my time here in Korea. I had a schedule change with an explanation. Thankfully because of my leg I was already sitting down. Ok, I said I had come to accept them, but I meant in a "admit they are going to happen kind of way!" Not that "I have to like them!" Apparently my lessons were too short and the parents had complained, strangely though it was just my lessons that were too short, so the change in schedule only saw my lessons being made longer. I noticed on Thursday that with the first class of the day the kids can’t get from their school/piano hagwon/maths academy in time so they are around 10-15 minutes late for their first class, which is with Yu (the manager). However, instead of moving the start time later, the time has just been added on to my class. I am sure that there is some very flawed logic there. Though why the parents just can't be told that the English monkey is unable to perform to the best of her ability at the moment, and quite frankly doesn't care that you want an extra ten minutes without your children, is beyond me. I am home in just over a month, so my reservoir of enthusiasm and energy has run dry. There's only so much a girl can do with her leg propped up on a chair, only able to use 10 percent of the board, and without books or resources before she gets very frustrated with it all!

We are sold out of Seoul/Soul jokes........

As I will explain in my next entry, I have a lot of free time on my hands so you can expect lots of updates. First though, I want to take a trip down memory lane and tell you about a trip I took a whole 2 weeks ago. On 18-19 October me and Viro met up with Rachel and Paul in Seoul. Once a month Rachel and Paul have a session in the capital city for the kindergarten, I meet them once they have finished and we explore Seoul. It’s a good way to experience the city, and slowly but surely we are seeing all the major sites, museums, and Yongsan Motels!

This weekend was no different. We went ice-skating at Lotte World, we went shopping in the malls of Dongdaemun (minus Paul who went to the cinema), we checked out some free art galleries, we explored a palace (Deoksugung) and we went to Chongdong Theatre for a traditional Korean cultural experience.

Ice-skating was good fun, and surprisingly I managed to stay upright. For any of you who have seen me on dry land you know this was no mean feat! Plus since it was the second time I have been ice-skating for around seven years, so I was chuffed! Since May, Rachel and I have promised ourselves a shopping spree in Dongdaemun, home to cheap malls and pineapple sticks. This weekend was that spree, though Viro spent the most. I should mention that despite any weight I have lost I am still considered “large” by Korean standards, which is why I am half grateful for “free size.” Some things are just ridiculously small, but the fashion at the moment seems to be baggier clothes which fit ok on me. I felt a bit violated when trying to buy a belt, but all of us were pleased with our purchases and Dongdaemun (which is the Great East Gate) looked beautiful all lit up when we made our way to the subway station.

We met back up with Paul in Yongsan and went to our new favourite motel, characterised by hard pillows and a Christmas tree in the lobby. Located on the edge of the red light district, but just a minute away from Yongsan station and 30,000 won a night, it’s become our regular motel when we visit Seoul. After a quick fashion show of our new clothes, (the motel is worth it if only for its mirrors!) we watched some Simpsons and went to sleep.

Rachel had booked us tickets for the theatre on the Sunday afternoon, so to fill time before the show we checked out the area around City Hall. I visited Deoksugung palace earlier in the year, but I still think it’s an impressive palace and it has the added bonus of the changing of the guard ceremony. It’s always nicer when you experience a place with other people too. We also went to the Seoul Museum of Art, free admission and lots of modern art. Before we headed to the show we grabbed some food at a cutlet restaurant, none of us braved the “spawn of kimchi,” though we all wanted to know what it was! 

The show, Miso (Smile), was really interesting, a combination of traditional Korean songs, dance and instruments meant to capture the various emotions that a woman experiences when she is in love. I have to say I particularly enjoyed the drumming and the fan dance, and probably didn’t fully appreciate the underlying message. Definitely recommend it though.

After that action packed weekend we grabbed the train back from Yongsan. It was packed, so we only managed to get one seat. Me and Viro found ourselves a spot on the floor of the café carriage (number 4 on both the Saemaul and Mugunghwa) and didn’t leave it until we got back to Hongseong. Definitely another weekend for the “good times” pile!

Since my next entry will be about the Hagwon, just wanted to say now, I am very pleased and relieved that Obama is going to be the next President of the United States.