Tuesday, July 1, 2014

Making Friends in Korea

Thankfully, Christian has been feeling better.  We went for a walk and met an English teacher at a local coffee shop.  I stopped and started playing with her cute black dachshund. I've noticed that a great way to meet people is to have a pet.  Wish we could have brought over Talon, I really do miss her.



My favorite photo I took of Talon

Day we brought her home



She is a kindergarten teacher and has been here for the past 2 years.  After talking to her for a few minutes, she informed me that she had just met someone in my department just last week.  Sure is a small world.

Glad to make some new friends who I am able to communicate with.  Hopefully, as soon as we take a Korean class we can broaden the possibility to make new friendships.

It was nice to meet the nurses at the hospital when Christian was admitted for surgery. They were so helpful with Jensen. We were lucky to have the whole private care center to ourselves during his stay. 

Jensen at Fatima Hospital courtesy of Kylie, one of Christian's nurses


I keep trying to find ways of meeting new people since we moved here.  The language barrier has been the biggest hurdle we still have to overcome. We definitely limit ourselves without knowing the native language.  I’m hoping to sign up at the local YMCA downtown.  Camp Henry offers free classes, but it is not an accelerated class.  The one that we are going to try is a boot camp type class and would offer a faster way to learn.

For the most part, Koreans are very friendly and since we have Jensen everybody is so quick to try and strike a conversation with us.  They love children and dote on him everywhere we go.  I can’t believe how much attention he gets.  Koreans generally love kids.  I’ve only been passed by a few Koreans who didn’t give him some sort of attention, be it a wave or hello.

I have noticed a big difference between Koreans that work on and off base.  Some that work for the US government like to flex their egotistical muscle when they have any sort of authority over you. They are rude and not as friendly as their counterparts off base. I do recognize the value of working for the US.  Filipinos feel the same way, but I would hope that we stay humble and not have an attitude towards others.  It’s quite irritating when anyone, regardless of race, gets an ego trip and tries to give me a difficult time.

No comments:

Post a Comment