Parallel universe

It isn't until the realisation that life as you know it is about to change sets in and forces a gradual, yet significant shift in perspective.

Not a day has gone by in the last two to three weeks where I haven't wondered whether leaving Korea was the right decision. I've come to the conclusion that life in Korea (or rather the figurative rollercoaster ride it takes us on) is very much an inverse bell curve. It's starts out by welcoming you with open arms, offering new experiences, food and a culture unlike our own - opportunities abound and things are rosy. Next comes the period where you are no longer a newbie and you've settled in to your life - it's a little less bright than when you first came in, and many of its idiosyncrasies have made the transition from endearing to frustrating. You long for time to accelerate, for the ascent back to reality to begin. As you're nearing the end of your time here, things start to look bright again, and you begin to wonder whether signing that contract renunciation was a good idea. Is spitting in the street really that disgusting? My apartment isn't great, but it must be preferable to living with my parents or dirty flatmates. Perhaps I could stay and study the language after all. I'm going to miss kimchi...

Still, life must go on and reality beckons with that all-too-familiar finger. Whenever I begin to think that perhaps I should have re-signed, I have to remind myself that it's better to go out on a high than to remain here and be thoroughly sick of the place in another years time.

In retrospect - what will I miss? Quite a lot, I have to say. For starters:

• The ridiculously low cost of living
• The general expat lifestyle and (more importantly) the other expats!
• The cultural challenges that keep me on my feet
• Discovering new things around every corner - even after almost a year here I'm finding restaurants, stores and attractions I didn't know existed
• Interaction with my students
• Being 'different' and sticking out like a sore thumb. Sometimes it's not fun - you need to be mindful of the image you portray and how it reflects on all foreigners. Unfortunately not everybody does that (especially the US military!) so the rest of us normal, decent folk try to pick up the slack!
• The food. 
• The food
• Did I mention the food?

On a more negative point, things I won't miss are the constant language barriers, the 100-decibel hoiking and spitting  in the streets and the driving. It has to be said, at times these things do serve as a source of mild entertainment (with the exception of the spitting which for the most part effects only my upchuck reflex) but I won't miss them in any way whatsoever.

I also have to say - I will greatly miss the Engrish I see scattered about town. Despite their best efforts to teach and learn English as a second language at all levels of education, it seems that for the most part what is taught doesn't translate to any practical situations - like advertising for example. If anything, the use of English in Korean advertising and marketing is almost cargo cult-esque: that the sentiment is there, however there lacks any real underlying understanding of substance. Still, it makes for great entertainment while you're out and about, and I am going to try and document as much of it as possible before I leave Korea.

And on that note, I'm going to leave you with a little excerpt from Alex Garland's 'The Beach'. I watched the film again recently and the final scene really resonated with me for some reason. I guess we all find our own parallel universe - the time has almost come for me to exit this one and return to reality. Apropos The Beach ... next stop, south east Asia!

And me? I still believe in paradise. But now at least I know its not some place you can look for. Because it’s not where you go, it’s how you feel for a moment in your life when you’re a part of something. And if you find that moment, it lasts forever.   - Alex Garland