Personally, in order to feel normal and to even maintain a respectable level of motivation I must must must must must must exercise regularly. That's the thing which has been bogging me down. The days which I exercise, in turn letting off steam and letting in the wonderful endorphins, I am able to function like I was back at home. Eating things which aren't healthy aren't as big of a deal, and I feel less bogged down. So, the conclusion for this little bit is that if you enjoy exercising, it's a great idea not to stop when you travel abroad. I hope I remember that for the next trip I take.
However, this principle definitely extends past just physical activity as well. It's the simple things which keep you sane that are the most important to keep doing when you're abroad. Whether it's partying, whether it's playing an instrument, sports, drawing, whatever it is, on a long trip (and especially where you're out of your element) it's incredibly important and even more rewarding than one might think.
Getting past all of that, I must apologize for not blogging for a few days. Nothing has really been going on, to tell the truth. It's true that on Friday we took a trip to a cool provincial park where a tea festival was going on, but besides that, my weekend has been less than spectacular. Mainly it's just revolved around studying and getting schoolwork done. I finished a paper I'm actually proud to have written and I am understanding more and more Korean as time goes by.
To be honest, sometimes I feel like I'm not even on a study abroad anymore. I don't know if this is a normal feeling, or if this is the stage directly following the terrible culture shock stage, but I really feel as if I just live here now and that nothing is really even a big deal. I easily can deal with all the crazy things going on around me, and everything is getting much easier to bear. I know it seems like kind of a funny thing to write down like this, but to go from a state of mind where I hated everything, including my own situation mind you, to a state where basically nothing can touch me is personally astounding. Sure, I can't ignore the fact that I may have bad days still or that I am going to be missing home way more now that I can see the light at the end of the tunnel, but for now, this feeling is just about all I can ask for.
Deep inside myself I hope that this feeling isn't just a product of the aforementioned happiness at this journey being almost complete. I would love nothing more than for these feelings to be based only on the fact that I have actually come to terms with life here, that I've come to a place about as different as possible while still being in an industrialized country and still carved out a nice little spot for myself. I really hope that maybe I have conquered Korea, at least, the barrier keeping me from being happy in a place this different. I'm not complaining about being happy, I promise, but I would be very disappointed with myself if this happiness was only because I'm leaning on the idea of leaving.
Today I went to church again. I go to mass sometimes with Kayla, mainly because I am kind of afraid of being alone here with just myself. I know it will be that way in ten days, but till then I will take advantage of being able to tag along with friends. I'm not a very religious person at this stage in my life, but going to mass has been nice. I can go there and just kind of let myself get lifted up by the encouraging message being taught there. I'm not sure if I will choose Catholicism if I do become religious, but I enjoy the shared happiness emanating from the room. It's a pretty nice feeling in a foreign country. But I digress.
We went to church today. The church is mainly for english speaking migrant workers (it also functions as an easy way for Koreans to improve their english), and is also home to the catholic workers' center. What I never realized, even in my time as a landscaper, and all the time before today, how hard it must be to be a migrant worker.
Life is tough, that's nothing new. Imagine going to a mentally taxing yet maybe physically mundane job every day. Life is tougher. Imagine being the only source of income for your family, which is in your home country, but you're thousands of miles away from them. Life is even tougher. To be a migrant worker, even an english teacher, must be one of the hardest things a human being can put themselves through. As a student, I'm still relatively independent. Sure I have a better half, a family, and a good life back home, but I'm in that awkward stage where my only real responsibility is to learn and carve out a place in life. I can gain personal satisfaction at least through my own personal growth and the process of learning.
Migrant workers, though, their job is to produce funds for someone else. They aren't independent in the least. They are bound on all sides by familial obligation, maybe debt and the pursuit of alleviation, a real job, and maintaining a sense of satisfaction. I couldn't imagine being in that position, and I honestly respect each and every migrant worker who is providing for a family thousands of miles away.
Church let out and it was time to look for interesting things in Daegu. Unfortunately, today, as well as being Mother's Day (Happy Mother's Day!!!!!), is also International Forget-Everything-You-Previously-Learned-About-Directions Day. It's sparsely celebrated in the states, but I hear is big in Europe. I managed to get disoriented several times somehow, and I think maybe it's due to the fact that basically Daegu looks like a tiny version of Seoul. The layout streetwise is the same, with the same subway time system for crossing streets, and the same style layout of its downtown. I was basically useless when it came to directions today.
Thankfully, though, it was nice out and all the walking we did wasn't in the brutal cold or blistering heat. It was nice, and we managed to make good use of our feet as we walked to stores and shops.
We made it back in good shape, I finished my paper for culture class (finally), and I went for a run. This is the whole exercise thing I spoke of before, and tonight was an amazing night for a run. It was cool so it was basically like being air-conditioned in transit. If I had the wind I would have been content with just running for hours on end tonight, but there was studying to do.
Somehow, the more lost I think I am in Korean, the more I seem to just kind of fall into it. Maybe that's how the east-Asian languages have to be learned. Somehow, the english speaking part of our brains must be turned off, and we just kind of have to let the grammar rule (so to speak), even though it seems against everything we know. It's kind of like finding one's happy place really. Until you let everything go holding you back, and just let it happen, this language isn't going to come to you. I don't really know how to explain it other than that. I tried hard to equate everything, but everything about this language just won't let that happen.
You turn the many words of english into few words in Korean. An eight word sentence in English may turn out to be 4 or 5 words in Korean. Dealing with that isn't as easy as just assigning multiple words in English to one Korean word. While that may work at first, that severely deprives one of finding the neat little complexities those strange verbs and conjugations hold. They just don't equate.
Tomorrow it's looking like I'll be busy, but I think I may be able to publish another video, about the trip on Friday. We'll see how it goes.
For Now,
Aron Huckaba International Vagabond
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