Expat Life in South Korea

Hi, my name is Cam and today I will talk to you about being an Expat in South Korea (this is how all of my students start every writing assignment, so you can thank them for the creative introduction). We have been here for almost six months now so my inspiration for writing these blogs posts has lessened. That being said, Sarah gave me this idea to spitfire some random facts about what it has been like here for us.

a totally unrelated delicious brunch

When Sarah and I go shopping, like to a convenience store or browsing for shoes, most of the time people will look nervous and leave us alone because they are not confident enough that we speak Korean or they don't speak good enough English to interact. This is actually very nice most of the time, since our introverted nature typically prefers not being hassled. However, when we do need something, it does become a little bit awkward trying to convey our needs to an employee. In the very rare case we actually do try and speak Korean (which is very slowly improving, but not fast enough to be useful) it appears that our effort is appreciated.

a totally unrelated delicious ramen

Something else we notice is how people sometimes stare at us on the subway or on the streets, but they usually mind their own business. I've never felt a look of annoyance or disgust as a foreigner here, it seems that people are just curious about why we are here or where we are from. There was just one occasion where I was brushed off by an employee of a store, but that might have just been because they were very busy, or they didn't know any English.

a totally unrelated delicious view

In general, people really go out of their way to communicate and help us everywhere we go. It seems like this has been a big cultural shift in Korea in the last generation or so, and we appreciate the amount of effort people make to allow us to feel comfortable in their country. Everywhere we go, signs are in English and people often speak at least a little bit of English, which makes me really appreciate all of the extra effort made to make our lives easier. It also makes me realize the contrasts in North America and how difficult it would be for someone who doesn't speak much English to live there. Hopefully over time we can learn to be just as accommodating, rather than just tolerant of people from other backgrounds and cultures.