Before coming to Korea last July, I had never been out of the United States. I didn't even own a passport until a few months before I left. I grew up in the same small town with the same people my whole life. While the area was in some ways diverse, it severely lacked an Asian population. I think that might be what made Asian culture so interesting to me when I started to research it. It was just seemed so different from how I was used to acting and thinking.
When I made the decision to come to Korea, a lot of people asked me "why?" Why did I choose Korea. Why didn't I want to go to Europe? But I just felt like I needed to go somewhere completely new. I am a teacher. As a teacher, I knew I would have to have a lot of different types of children in my classroom, and I wanted to do something that was completely new and so far away from my norm, that I would change how I thought about others.
When I first arrived, I was not immediately thrusted into the Korean population. Instead, I was, thankfully, placed in a six week orientation. Just being around 86 people from all around America for six weeks was eye-opening for me. Everyone had their own story, their own views and beliefs. Even their own ways of playing classic games like UNO!
