Thoughts on Culture Shock

Things that I'm currently adjusting to:

1) I am responsible for my own transportation. That's right, look out Southern California! Melissa is on the roads again. I spent four months on buses and trains only having to think about which song I wanted to listen to next on my iPod. NOW I have to pay attention!!! I need to check my blind spot and make sure I take off the emergency brake. I love my car, but she is really high maintenance... She wants baths, gas, oil changes... man oh man, this is a lot of work!

2) There is a serious lack of fermented cabbage in the American diet. I miss kimchi. Certainly NOT what I expected before I left, but I really miss the collection of spicy fermented side dishes that came at every restaurant in Korea. I agree with the South Koreans that a side of pickles is the best addition to any meal.

3) You actually have to CALL people to hang out with them. I had completely adjusted to having social activities planned for me and then only having to show up in the lounge downstairs to be entertained, or having friends show up in my dorm at all hours to share their funny stories, drink coffee and eat snacks. NOW I have to call friends, organize dates, and work around schedules. I had gotten completely lazy. I loved dorm life, all of the relationships are low maintenance.

4) We speak English in the USA. I didn't really learn a lot of Korean in my time in South Korea, BUT I find myself using the few words I know at completely useless times. No one I know in San Diego understands when I greet them in Korean and the workers at most stores don't know "How much does it cost?" in Korean. I am NOT letting that stop me... it comes out involuntarily and I sound a little retarded.

5) TV is the same... and it is still rotting my brain. I find most of the same English shows filling the air waves here that I saw in South Korea, only now they don't seem so interesting. They were something precious and familiar while I was there. Amid a sea of shows featuring people screaming in Korean and laughing their heads off (I'm sure I would have too, if I had understood), certain shows seemed completely enthralling simply because they were in English. Here, they are not so entertaining (I mean I can get English anywhere) and yet... I am STILL watching. I have been glad to get back to channels in Spanish... yesterday I watched a lot of soccer.

Those are a few of my recent lessons... I'm sure that there will be many more to come. NOW I need to go buy some interview clothes and work on my resume. The real world is about to rear it's ugly head!