I returned to the yog-won with a smile on my face but emptiness in my heart. Mr. Yoon came to meet me at 10:00am sharp. We walked to the institute. Once inside, friendly faces greeted me and Mr. Yoon said I could just look around and check out the place. It was all brand new.
Culture shock is a term frequently used to describe how people feel when they land in a foreign country. I didn't experience culture shock though and never do really. There is certainly a period of adjustment one goes through the first time they find themselves in an unknown land but it is more like jumping into a swimming pool for the first time. Disorientation, bewilderment and surprise are feelings that suddenly go through you. It goes beyond what you can imagine if you have not lived abroad. Travelling is very different than actually living somewhere. Certain people cannot cope with such drastic changes in their lives and are simply not meant to be there. They become negative, nasty people who can say nothing good about anything to anyone. They should go home. Their narrow minds do not accept difference.

Immersing yourself in a different culture is a fascinating experience full of surprises, good and bad. It's like throwing yourself into a work of fiction sometimes. I walked into a supermarket for the first time in Pusan near my apartment by myself. After about an hour of wandering through the aisles inspecting, touching and smelling things I had never seen before in my life, I walked out empty-handed, and hungry. I had no idea what this stuff was! I managed to locate a restaurant (which are fortunately plentiful), walked in and sat down.

When the ajuma (literally aunt but commonly used term for women older than you) came to serve me all I could do was shrug my shoulders and pat my stomach with a hungry look on my face. She laughed and gave me my first Korean meal. To this day I don't know what I ate but it was good. Hunger is the best seasoning but I really enjoyed it. I'll talk more about food later. I got up, paid in a currency I didn't know existed just a month earlier and walked out to the street. Looking up and down I realised I did not know in what direction I should proceed. I couldn't read a billboard let alone get to my school or even my own apartment! I re-entered the restaurant and managed to get the woman to call my hog-wan (private extra-curricular institutes), of which I was lucky to have the number. I guess the conversation she had with my boss brought quite a smile to her face and she was happy to help my lost soul. More to come in my next excerpt.....