The Life of a Foreigner

I've been in Korea for about a month now. I can say that I've enjoyed every part of it. God has really changed me and my outlook on things.

First, I'll say this, my writing hasn't changed yet. Since I can't exactly use the people around me as characters or subjects in my writing, I've turned to writing about the Introvert inside me. Besides, you should only write about the things you know, right?

Anyways, my poetry seems to be more about longing and poetry. Not being in my native land and surrounded by native tongue 24/7 has impacted me in some way. But there's something unique about it. First of all, I haven't experienced cultural shock. My worst culture shock experience was when I moved to South Carolina from Upstate New York. Moving from a European/Agricultural-centric culture to this Southern American culture is tough for a nine year old. But moving from America to Korea hasn't been that bad. Actually it has changed my perspective on words.

I realized that the words here are different from the words at home. I don't mean it in the sense that English is different from Korean, that's obvious. What I mean is that every place has something to say. The things here say something different. It's a love-hate relationship I think. I mean that everything has a name, and everything has a creator that named it. Even the universe itself was created by words from the Word. But here, it's as if something is struggling for air.

Second, the city life is a bit difficult for me. Growing up in the mountains around woods and rivers to a huge urban area is very difficult. Just to give you an idea about how BIG this place is, take the Upstate of South Carolina and make every part of it a city. Not even Incheon, Seoul, and Gyeonggi-do are separated by trees or some clear point of separation like it is in the US. It's all just ONE giant city! So, any time I get close to some piece of field or wood I get very excited. My feet just want to feel fresh soil between their toes again!

Third, I'm thankful that I'm a foreigner who can speak English. If I spoke French, Spanish, Italian, or any other language I wouldn't be able to communicate at all with the Koreans or other foreigners. I can't tell you how this feels because it's so new to me.

Finally, I find myself depending on God more and more. It's not even an option most of the time. At church, I'm now getting involved in various ways. Last week I was asked by one of the pastors if I would lead the welcome team. He said what IWE (International Worship in English) needs is more foreigners on the team. Right now, every one on the team is Korean. So, I decided to do it. Basically, not only do I have to send out emails to the newcomers, but also I have to lead the greeters, meet the new people who come, and just do some follow up work. It doesn't sound like much, but I'm taking it very seriously. Not only is this a very important job, but also it's something God has given me the responsibility of doing for His church.

So, yeah, that's about the big extent of it. In addition to studying Scripture, teaching English, writing poetry, and serving at church, I've been trying to learn Korean. It's actually easy to learn the Korean alphabet, but once you get past that part it's just learning grammar and vocabulary. That will be the hard part.

I've been praying for you guys. I know that you're praying for me. God has blessed me here in Korea. Though I don't know what God has planned for me here, I think this is definitely where I need to be.

Peace.