It takes a
lot of effort to truly feel at home in a foreign country. The reason home feels so good is because
everything is familiar. We know what
will happen, when it will happen, and why it will happen. Of course, that familiarity is completely
absent on arrival in a foreign country.
I remember
being first dropped off at my apartment last March and subsequently going out
for a stroll. As I walked around my new neighborhood,
I felt slightly overwhelmed at the idea of living in this little enclave called
Guyeong-ri. It’s a 30-40-minute bus ride
outside the city center, and very much a family oriented neighborhood – Not exactly
a happening place full of young people.
Nonetheless, I made a mental decision that day to really make this place
home.
Now, just
over 1 year later, I can honestly say that I feel like a part of the community
here. There’s the guy at my local
convenience mart who always wants to practice English and give me free
gimbap. There’s the women at one of my
favorite restaurants who always ask me how my job is, and if the students are
well behaved that week. There’s my
favorite little hike right outside my door that affords me a view of the entire
city. And of course, there are always my
students who wave and say hi to me literally every time I leave my house.
I always
kind of chuckle to myself when I tell people where I live in Ulsan. More often than not, people feel sorry for me,
because where I live is “the countryside”.
But to me Guyeong-ri is and always will be my Korean home. I only wish I could show it to more people.
