Final Post

There will be some reflections on my experience here. Let's start with the negative.

What I won't miss:
-Koreans who can't hold their liquor which includes most Koreans. Take blackoutkorea.com for instance. For a country that drinks so much (as much as Russians and Irish), they really don't know how to keep their shit together.

-The limited nightlife, the number of hot clubs here can cover half a block in the Meatpacking district. Also will not miss how said 'hot' clubs here always play house music. I am American, we don't do house music.

-The screaming to get waitstaff attention. Convenient as a diner yes, but seems a tad barbaric to be screaming for someone to get your water.

-The crowds everywhere. Parks to see foliage-packed. Beaches during summer-packed. Caribbean bay/lotte world/Everland-packed. Korea needs more stuff or less people.

-Fashion. Yes, I miss shopping in Seoul. Do I miss the outfits that Koreans put together? In a word, no.

-Fake bags. Your shoes are from Dongdaemun and your shirt is from the bus terminal, we all know your Louis ain't real.

-People not knowing how to
1) stand to the right, walk to the left despite the line of paint dividing the sides on escalators. They just don't get it.
2) hold open doors, not really considered rude here to slam a door in someones face behind you
3) let people out of the subway before you get in. Do they not realize how inefficient this is?
4) move into the subway cars when you see 100 people trying to get into said subway car.

-Kimbap. I never want to eat kimbap again. I never really loved kimbap. Growing up I just thought of it as poor man's sushi. In Seoul, I ate it every other day because Kimbap Heaven is the McDonald's of Korean food and I just had no time to eat anything else between class. I am not touching kimbap for another 3 years.

What I will miss:
-GT Black Bean Soymilk. They sell it in the states, but I will miss drinking 2 a day and being able to buy them everywhere. Also, warm GT Black bean soymilk in the winter=heaven. I was really hooked on this stuff.

-Manners (besides ignorance mentioned in thethe 'What I won't Miss' section). People are well mannered here and very polite. It's just the way it is.

-The bus. The bus system is amazing. I havent taken the subway in 3 months. The bus will take you anywhere and everywhere for 90 cents. Extremely thorough and comes much quicker than the subway.
*Not that the subway is bad. The subway is extremely clean however the system is flawed. You really take the NYC street grid for granted. The Korean subway sucks in that you always required a transfer. Really they need a line that connects Gangnam, Sinchon, Hongdae, Sinsa, and Apgujeong. Because really, no other neighborhoods mater.

-The bus+Manners=Bus drivers yelling to the exit in the back 'goodbye and have a nice day'. This is priceless, this does not happen in NY. If I get a hello, that is a big deal and worthy of NYTimes Metro Diaries.

-Constant reminders of my grandma.
My grandma passed away when I was 16. I know it's not suppose to be a big deal since that is what grandparents do-they die when you are young. But I took it particularly hard and it was a big turning point in my life because up until that point I saw my grandmother more than anyone else in my family. My parents and grandfather worked at the dry cleaners and it was just me and the granny all day, everyday.
It took me many years to get over it, and living on my own in NYC, I was getting good at not thinking about her all the time. It was a new city where I didn't have any memories of her.
When I moved here I was surprised at how many things reminded me of her. When I saw rock candy at Insadong, I remembered her bribing me with it and it being the reason why all my baby teeth rotted (I was that cute kid with all black teeth because I was spoiled literally rotten). I once cried over a bowl of knife noodles eating dinner alone because I remembered my grandma's knife noodles. Hers was so superior to the bowl in front of me. It hit home that I would never get to eat her version again. I will miss these moments of thinking of her at unexpected times.

-Shopping. The shopping is unbelievable here. End of story.

-The food. The food is unbelivable here. End of story. And cheap.
Notables: Duck BBQ and ChoonChun Chicken BBQ

-Proust moments:
When I tried a watermelon ice cream bar, I thought it was new to me until I bit into it and had a Proustian moment where it instantly took me back to my childhood. Memories of playing near the Han River and biking around my apt complex flooded my brain.

-NB. Listening to BigBang and Biggie hits in one venue sounds like a great friday night.

-Karoake/norebang for super cheap 24 hours a day.

-7-11. Even though my bougie friends would call this a 'commoner' activity, I am a commoner so I will miss eating cup ramen and drinking Cass outside a 7-11.

If I can sum up my entire experience, I could say my experience in Seoul has been as a happy outsider. I thought I would move to Korea and feel like I belonged because I would be surrounded by people who looked like me. Growing up as a minority American, you never really feel like you belong in your own home. I realized in Korea, as a gyopo, I am more of an outsider in my motherland than I am in my adopted home. I did look different by the way I dressed. I could not speak the language even though I should. My tolerance for spicy food is not as high as previously thought (no really, try the bibimnengmyun in Seoul and regardless how many times you had it in Flushing, you prob will in fact, die). But that is the beauty of being Asian American. You don't really fit in anywhere. And you learn to come to terms with it. And one day you realize maybe that's OK.