Detox
Last post! I got home a couple of days ago. I had the WORST flight from Seoul to Atlanta. About four hours into the flight, we hit some major turbulence. The stewardesses were serving 'dinner' (if you can call airplane food that) when all of the sudden the plane started shaking so bad that they were falling all over the place, into people's laps onto the floor. So then the pilot came over the loudspeaker and told them to sit down and turned on the fasten seat belt light. Then the plane just dropped. It felt like being on the Tower of Terror at MGM except it was that much more terrifying because it was a plane as opposed to a amusement park ride. So then pretty much every baby on the entire plane starts crying. This one woman was screaming. I was trying to stay calm so I started praying one of those 'HOLY CRAP I'M GOING TO DIE PRAYERS' which basically consisted of me saying "God, you can't let me die on the plane back from Korea because it would break my parents' hearts" haha. Eventually the pilot moved to a safer altitude. But I just want to point out how unhelpful the stewardesses were. At one point one of them came over the speaker and was like "We're experiencing some turbulence but it's not that dangerous." I personally think that there is a big difference from 'not dangerous' and 'not that dangerous.' After that the flight was fine, I watched a couple of mostly crappy movies. ("Stop Loss" which was sad but still enjoyable because of Ryan Philllippe/Channing Tatum, "37th Dresses" which was horrible, and "The Other Boleyn Girl" which was ridiculous because there is no way anyone would pick Natalie Portman over Scarlett Johannson).
And now to end with a couple of things I've learned:
things that will never make sense to me about Korea
1. Why there is no bigger bill than 10,000 won- The largest bill in Korea is equivalent to $10 USD. I had a friend who had to pay her rent in cash because they didn't accept american credit cards and she literally had to bring in 50 bills.
2. Why there are never any trash cans anywhere
3. Why I can't get youtube to switch back from the Korean version
4. Why Koreans hate Cranberry juice and don't know what Ginger Ale is
Life Lessons
1. It's a super powerful thing to have someone make the effort to act in a way that is culturally relevant to w/e your cultural identity may be. I can honestly remember every Korean person that tried to help me when I looked lost (the majority of the time that I was in the subway lol) or tried to be friendly to me in a way that they thought was 'american.' That is honestly such a powerful relationship building tool to make the extra effort to show appreciation for another culture. I'm not sure if this is something that we really do in America. For example, a common gripe that I've heard about immigrants to the U.S. is that Americans don't believe that they make enough of an effort to learn english/assimilate themselves to American culture. Although I think that immigrants should try and learn english mostly for their own comfort and advancement, I understand now that there is a huge degree of homesickness that they are dealing with. So to go against the grain and as an American (or as a Korean interacting with Americans, etc) and make an effort to try and relate to someone that you really have no responsibility to relate to is a really amazing witnessing tool. Just a thought.
2. There is fun and happiness to be had everywhere.
And so ends my summer adventure. Thanks for reading the blog! Korea was pretty much one of the most amazing experiences of my life. I'm happy to have met so many cool people this summer but I'm also so happy to be back home with my family (esp. my Chicago peeps who are coming this weekend) because I don't think there are any other people who are quite as ridiculous and can make me laugh as much. I can't wait to see my friends in NJ/NY next week. Other than that, I plan on doing absolutely nothing until I go back to Penn Aug. 24th (besides studying for LSATs of course). holla. If I like you, you should come visit, we can BBQ, go in the hot tub in the new house, and drink cokes. America.
And now to end with a couple of things I've learned:
things that will never make sense to me about Korea
1. Why there is no bigger bill than 10,000 won- The largest bill in Korea is equivalent to $10 USD. I had a friend who had to pay her rent in cash because they didn't accept american credit cards and she literally had to bring in 50 bills.
2. Why there are never any trash cans anywhere
3. Why I can't get youtube to switch back from the Korean version
4. Why Koreans hate Cranberry juice and don't know what Ginger Ale is
Life Lessons
1. It's a super powerful thing to have someone make the effort to act in a way that is culturally relevant to w/e your cultural identity may be. I can honestly remember every Korean person that tried to help me when I looked lost (the majority of the time that I was in the subway lol) or tried to be friendly to me in a way that they thought was 'american.' That is honestly such a powerful relationship building tool to make the extra effort to show appreciation for another culture. I'm not sure if this is something that we really do in America. For example, a common gripe that I've heard about immigrants to the U.S. is that Americans don't believe that they make enough of an effort to learn english/assimilate themselves to American culture. Although I think that immigrants should try and learn english mostly for their own comfort and advancement, I understand now that there is a huge degree of homesickness that they are dealing with. So to go against the grain and as an American (or as a Korean interacting with Americans, etc) and make an effort to try and relate to someone that you really have no responsibility to relate to is a really amazing witnessing tool. Just a thought.
2. There is fun and happiness to be had everywhere.
And so ends my summer adventure. Thanks for reading the blog! Korea was pretty much one of the most amazing experiences of my life. I'm happy to have met so many cool people this summer but I'm also so happy to be back home with my family (esp. my Chicago peeps who are coming this weekend) because I don't think there are any other people who are quite as ridiculous and can make me laugh as much. I can't wait to see my friends in NJ/NY next week. Other than that, I plan on doing absolutely nothing until I go back to Penn Aug. 24th (besides studying for LSATs of course). holla. If I like you, you should come visit, we can BBQ, go in the hot tub in the new house, and drink cokes. America.