Note: my very first blog entry.
Living in Korea is a curiously excruciating experience for a person who has the appearance of a Korean, but a mind of an American.
I look like everyone else.
I speak the language - well, at least I don't have any distinguishable accents that may attract attention.
The problem is, I lack the knowledge of some of the every day terms they throw out so casually; when I look puzzled, they look puzzled that I'm puzzled. Now, if a non-Asian displayed the same puzzled expression, the Koreans would immediately assume that the foreigner didn't understand the words just spoken, but when a guy who looks like Korean and sounds like a Korean shows the same expression... it's just weired. They're thrown off and don't know what to do. It's really stressful -- the uncomfortable several seconds of silence -- and I can just imagine some of the thoughts zapping in their head; moron? spy?
I've never felt so out of place since when I first moved to the U.S. I think it would be much easier for me to move some European country than to live here... where I was born and raised until I was 11. Odd...
