We’re leaving Korea in one month. That’s four weeks. Four more Saturdays mornings with Andy Donnelly. And four more bags of Mandarin oranges from the women’s coat-wearing guy in Yongsan Market.
Since we’re nearly at the end, I’ve been thinking back a lot to the beginning; remembering what it felt like to arrive here and all the things we had to deal with. When I think about our first week in Korea, it seems like we stuck it out for a year rather than enjoyed it. But that’s not really the case. I’m not sure how we were ever able to create a life for ourselves here – and not just a mundane life, but a pretty enjoyable one – but we did. It’s difficult to describe the experience of culture shock, especially when it happens as a prelude to an entire year of being where you are. I remember reading a blog post from Daejeon James in which he describes his experience with this. It’s powerful, and while it may not be exactly the same as we felt, it shows how desperate and panicked you can become when you’re suddenly totally out of place and so far from home at the same time.
We got through it and, looking back now, it didn’t take much. In the grand scheme of things, a week of difficulties is smalltime compared to 365 days cultural coolness. I’ve realized that I’ve written relatively little on this blog, which seems lame considering what an oddity we are in this strange place, but after a while everything became normal and now I can barely decipher the foreign from the familiar. I think about the pace of life in Lethbridge and I wonder how much I’ve changed. I elbow old ladies on the subway. I push away people’s hands when they try to touch Cate. I rarely say please or thank you when being served. I never say sorry. And I haven’t left a tip for eleven months. Basically, I’ve become Korean. And when you put it in those terms, I’m the opposite of a Canadian. Carmen hasn’t become as cold as I have (probably because she’s the kindest person ever) but her patience is beginning to wear thin. So going back might be a bit difficult. But at least this time we’ll have the advantage of familiarity and, of course, the people we know and love.
It’s going to be a weird month. As much as we want to go home and get on with the rest of our lives, we know we’ll probably never come back here. This is all Cate knows. She doesn’t remember life before Korea. Our tiny, tiny apartment is her only home. Her dingy bedroom with nothing but a laundry closet, our wardrobe and a playpen is her comfort. All the nice things we have for her in storage back home – the girly decorations, the pretty rug, the pictures – they all mean nothing. I used to feel bad that we brought her here and gave her a strange life, but now I see that she’s happy with the way things are and I feel bad leaving. But, kids are resilient an’ all that, right?
At least she’ll be well-traveled. We finalized our immediate plans for post-Korea. We’re leaving Daegu on Wednesday, Feb. 27 and flying to Beijing. We’ll spend three nights there before flying to Calgary. Then, three days after we arrive, we’re flying to Orlando to meet my family for a week-long holiday in Key West. But before any of this happens, Carmen’s brother, Corey, is coming to visit us here in Daegu for a week. We’re picking him up in Seoul on Tuesday and then it’s party time over the Chinese New Year.
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