It's How You Get There

You have to taste a culture to understand it. - Deborah Cater So, I haven't seen anyone (well hardly anyone) from my local congregation since October. We've been meeting through zoom, and video etiquette determines that if you're not speaking the video and audio stays off. Since I'm not quite at church speaking level, most people haven't seen me for almost 4 months now.  Which leads to something that will be a secret between you and me - my goal is to lose enough weight that the ladies at my church start asking me if I've been eating enough. Yeah, it's a weird goal, but I don't do well with numbers. Just ask my Mom - she's the one who's suffered most from my stubborn dislike of numbers (the fact I can do any math at all is 100% due to her tireless patience). But reactions? Subjective responses that have little or nothing to do with anything?  Sign me up.  Honestly though, that has been an interesting side effect of moving to Korea - I'm shrin...

“Live your life by a compass, not a clock.” – Stephen Covey How did I end up spending my first Korean Thanksgiving in one of the most historic cities of South Korea? Well, it wasn't entirely by accident, and it wasn't entirely on purpose. It was entirely Tharek Teacher, and that's really all that can be said. My plans for the five day holiday had mostly consisted of watching dramas (Chinese or Korean was TBD), continuing with my rice and dumpling diet, and maybe possibly going out for pizza towards the end to finish it all in a style that all my previous roommates will attest to being very Shayla-esque.  So when Tharek texted me asking if I had any plans for Chuseok, I wanted to say yes. But I also knew that while Tharek would be polite about it, he'd still call me out my lameness. So I said no, and he presented me with this proposition to go traveling over the break. Immediately the part of Shayla that GETS REALLY NERVOUS ABOUT GOING PLACES jumped forward to remind me ...

There have been so many times lately where I've wanted to do something, and had a crippling wave of fear and doubt come crushing down on me. Grocery shopping was one of those things actually. Going back to "Diagon Alley" with money, to actually buy something, was really difficult for me. All the possible worst case scenarios fought for first place in my mind, and all I could think was that I would fail horribly and never be able to buy anything again. Then of course I would starve to death and die.  Yes, I'm aware my inner thoughts are a titch dramatic.  But I hadn't come this far just to come this far, and it's ridiculous to move to a country where you know you'll be shopping in a foreign language and then be totally put off by it. At this point I've had the COVID test done twice here, taken all the buses everywhere, found my local congregation, successfully handled a drunk ahjussi, bought ice cream at a convenience store, and walked home in the middl...

As of August 4th I'll have been in Korean for a full month, and there have been a lot of things that have been new and exciting to see and experience. That being the case I wanted to list some things that I've learned in coming here that are a little different fro what I'd typically see and experience in the US. This is far from comprehensive, but just some fun things that I've learned and experienced as a new expat.  BYOTP - If you want to use a public bathroom here, be prepared to bring your own toilet paper. Many (if not most) restaurants and businesses don't have their own restrooms in their establishments. This is especially common in the tall high rises that hold a wide assortment of restaurants, officetels, and other businesses. Instead, you'll find a public bathroom out in the hall that is shared between the businesses on that floor. It isn't clear to me who's responsible exactly for their upkeep, but I'll tell you one thing, if you look for ...