I recently received an e-mail from a friend of mine that I met in Korea. She is an American living in Arizona as of this writing. She moved to Arizona after doing a mission stint in South Korea for about 3 years where she and her husband worked with a wonderful little church. I doubt she will ever realize the impact she has had on so many grateful people due to her generous and loving demeanor. I will certainly treasure her wisdom and encouragement long into the future.
Reminiscing over her e-mail, it came to me that there are a lot of things that I miss about Korea and the relationships I created while over there. I am pretty sure I met some of the best friends of my life while working over there for total of 7 years. That's right, 7 amazing years.
I will never forget the events that led up to my taking off for the foreign land of South Korea. I had just graduated college and had started work as a host for a restaurant in Blacksburg, VA. This was just after I had gotten over the worst of the kissing disease, mono. I was "lucky" enough to contract this wonderful sickness during final exams. I have no clue why they call it the kissing disease. I sure didn't get it that romantically. But that's beside the point.
Anyway, one of my friends at the time had told me that she was going to teach overseas and she had contacted a recruiter in Vancouver, Canada. She knew that I had always had a dream of wanting to work in Japan and said they might have openings over there and to check with the recruiter. So I sent them an e-mail and my resume and not more than 2 weeks later, they got back with me and asked me when I could start. To say I was floored, would have been an understatement. First of all, they said they didn't have any openings in Japan but would I like to teach in Taiwan or South Korea. I thought it over for all of 2 minutes and said South Korea was the place for me. I packed my bags, got in the car, and went back to Illinois and then Minnesota (where my sister and her family lives) and was on a plane in a matter of a month to a new world. Well I suppose it is in the old world, because technically I live in the new world (according to Christopher Columbus, bless his heart).
Let's rewind to the friend that got me all interested in the whole Korea affair. Rather than go with me, she up and decides to join the Army so she can become a paralegal. What am I doing today? Trying to get into the Army. Does life ever cease to amaze?
So there I was, on the plane to South Korea, not knowing what to expect save that one of my dear friends who is of White and Korean heritage, tells me the name for dog-meat in Korean so if by chance it should be on my pizza I can politely decline. Let me tell ya, they do not even put dog-meat on pizza over there. Corn and potatoes, yes, but not dog-meat. And another thing, they don't give you marinara sauce with your pizza either. They give you pickles. Blasted pickles, I hate pickles. I think they are the worst food man has ever concocted. Oh and here's another story. They don't tip in Korea either. The first time I ordered pizza over there the pizza boy comes to the door and I am standing there with more money to give him because I am of the habit that you are supposed to tip. So the poor guy won't take my money so there I am running after him in my pajamas and bare feet trying to make him take my money. I think I scarred him for life.
There were lots of fun moments like the pizza boy incident which occurred during my long stay overseas. Learning about a new culture and food can be loads of fun. I remember sitting around a table in a restaurant, on the floor no less, and I got my first taste of what is known as ta-galbi. It's pretty much spicy chicken that at the time would put hair on the hair of your chest. To say that my mouth was on fire would be to not give the situation the justice it deserves. And to provide myself as an example of the following statement also deserves mention: if it burns going in it sure as hell will burn coming out. Toilets in Korea are also a wonderful experience, to be sure. And always be sure to bring tissue with you. They can usually tell who the foreigner is when you are yelling, in English, that you are in need of assistance cause the roll is empty in the stall. Those empty rolls I am convinced are for decorating purposes only. Either that or to tease the dumb foreigners who don't remember to bring toilet paper with them. The good thing is it only takes one time to learn this valuable lesson.
I gained many tools for life while in Korea. I can now eat spicy food that would peel paint off the wall. I can also scare vampires due to my new found love of all things garlic. My hips are much stronger now due to discovering the muscles in my legs that enable one to squat over a toilet that is no more than a urinal. Which happens to be embedded in the floor rather than on the wall. (Note to others: it pays to take off one's pants so as to reduce splashes from happy little "plops" in the squatty-potty.) I have friends who have not quite managed to master this useful skill and have the skid marks to prove it...okay so maybe that was a bit too much information. But you get the gist of it.
There are many more stories that I could tell of my time in Korea but I will save them for another time. And I do indeed miss my life there and the antics that entail. A truly unforgettable experience.
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