You get used to hearing the buskers singing and the Korean pop songs playing wherever you go. The most wonderful thing about moving to a new place is making the place a new home.
The “honeymoon” phase will fade. The initial fascination of all the little differences in the culture becomes something you grow fond of and accustomed to. In my few months of living in Seoul, South Korea, I have grown to love nearly everything about it, even the things that sometimes irritate me. Sometimes people push on the crowded trains and sometimes you feel frustration from not knowing the language fluently. However, one look down a side street of Seoul, dipped in art and lined with unique little shops, takes all of the frustrations away. I learned to appreciate small things, like Seoul’s little shops and wall art, and I even learned to appreciate my hometown when homesickness finally dug its claws into me!
Every place that you visit teaches you something amazing, even if you don't like it as much as you thought you would. Seoul taught me to take problems in stride and to be confident in solving them. Seoul taught me to see beauty all around me, including in people! Seoul taught me that living far from my family is hard; Seoul taught me that Alabama will always be my first home, but Seoul will be my second. At the beginning of my journey, I would have not been confident saying Seoul would be home for me. Why? I was too unsure of the changes and it felt too much like a vacation to be real and true. However, as I formed a daily routine here, I am saddened to imagine going home.
I hope with all of my heart that each and every student experiences traveling to a different country.
