After waiting for an extra week, which felt more like an eternity, my visa was approved and I re-booked my flight. I made it to Seoul about a week ago. Technically, I live in Suwon which is just outside of Seoul. Being here has been a welcome, but difficult change.
Culture shock is no joke people! It's especially trying during these uncertain times. Making friends and seeing new things is hard when everyone is self-quarantining and creating social distance. For someone like me who thrives on human interaction, it's been a little extra tough. I reached out to a forum for company and was immediately reminded that although things are slowing down, we're still in the thick of it.
The hardest thing of all has been being apart from Alex. I know I am an independent woman who don't need no man, but he's also my best friend. He is one of the only people on this earth who sees me at my most vulnerable, and being apart from him is hard. The only thing giving me solace at the moment, is knowing he's joining me soon.
Lucky for Alex, he's not the only person I'm bugging on facetime multiple times a day. I've been in contact with a few friends and my family. It's definitely not the same but it is enough for the time being.
On the bright side, because schools are closed until April 6th here it's given me time to explore my neighborhood. There is a nice lady who I believe owns a convenience store in my building. There is also a kebab place that's pretty good. The mall is only a 10 minute walk from my apartment, so I've spent some days walking around there as well as tasting some boba tea.
I have gotten to know my coworker pretty well, especially since he's my neighbor and the only other person I know. My second night here we went out to dinner together to this little place near our apartment building. We had no idea what the food was when we ordered and the server did not speak any English whatsoever. We ended up getting food though and to our surprise it was boneless chicken feet!! It wasn't bad, and I ate a few of the feet. The soup it came with was delicious though. It was made with jalapeños, and bean sprouts. I'm sure there were other ingredients in there but those were the ones that stood out and made it yummy.
Other than doing my training for work and doing some other administrative things keeping busy has been rough. It's been so easy to just stay in bed and watch Netflix all day. So, to combat this boredom and to help with the culture shock, my boss set me up on a sort of blind date if you will. Next Saturday I am going to be meeting up with one of her friends, and we are going to be doing a sort of barter. She is going to be teaching me Korean and I am going to be teaching her English. Hopefully this helps a bit with the adjustment period and maybe I'll make a new friend out of it. Only time will tell.
I'll keep you posted. For now from my rinconsito here in Suwon, hasta luego.