Day 12: What do you miss? (a person, a thing, a place, a time of your life...)
visiting The Garden of the Morning Calm when I was 34 weeks
Being an expat living in South Korea is an amazing experience. I love to celebrate the differences and try out new things but sometimes I really just miss not standing out; the ability to be able to be in a crowd where I am not physically different or garner attention for my differences - good or bad.
I remember last year visiting Sydney, Australia for job training and suddenly being overwhelmed with reverse culture shock (a.k.a 're-entry shock') where returning to one's home culture - or close to it - after growing accustomed to a new one can produce the same effects as culture shock. I just sat on a bench watching people walk past, totally oblivious to me, I could read every sign - never got stared at... I was pretty much ignored. It was so weird!
I can be an overly perceptive person when it comes to people's body language and tone of voice. Sometimes, being out and about can get me down only because I tend to take this attention all too seriously. When I feel like that I just slip on earphones and listen to music or have sunglassses on and keep positive. Nowadays baby Hub is the centre of attention for his big blue eyes and I love having him doted on, that is the amazing thing about living here.
So yeah, there you have it. An expat missing her 'normalness'!
What would you say that you miss?
visiting The Garden of the Morning Calm when I was 34 weeksBeing an expat living in South Korea is an amazing experience. I love to celebrate the differences and try out new things but sometimes I really just miss not standing out; the ability to be able to be in a crowd where I am not physically different or garner attention for my differences - good or bad.
I remember last year visiting Sydney, Australia for job training and suddenly being overwhelmed with reverse culture shock (a.k.a 're-entry shock') where returning to one's home culture - or close to it - after growing accustomed to a new one can produce the same effects as culture shock. I just sat on a bench watching people walk past, totally oblivious to me, I could read every sign - never got stared at... I was pretty much ignored. It was so weird!
I can be an overly perceptive person when it comes to people's body language and tone of voice. Sometimes, being out and about can get me down only because I tend to take this attention all too seriously. When I feel like that I just slip on earphones and listen to music or have sunglassses on and keep positive. Nowadays baby Hub is the centre of attention for his big blue eyes and I love having him doted on, that is the amazing thing about living here.
So yeah, there you have it. An expat missing her 'normalness'!
What would you say that you miss?
guess this is pretty new to hear. :)
ReplyDeleteYes, it is something I didn't really even think about at first... It just crept up on me. Love your blog, Jane!
Deletethat would be super hard!
ReplyDeleteIt definitely helps you develop thick skin here!
Delete