too familiar to be foreign...

Over the week end a couple of my friends and

 I were on the beach in Sokcho and got to talking about life in Korea. 

We talked about traveling about how 

Korea wasn't exactly what we had expected to be. 

When I hear my friends telling me

"Omg, that is so wonderful you live in such a foreign place!"

but is it?

Sure, when I first got here it was new and exciting and also very frustrating. 

Seeing buildings and businesses stacked up higher than my eyes could reach was definitely something I marveled over. 

but at some point in my life here Korea just became Korea. 

As the years have gone by and the more Korean language I have picked up I don't feel like

#thestruggleisreal

anymore. 

This week end I went to Sokcho but ended up feeling sick so I decided to part ways and head back home on the bus.

 It's a 3 hour bus ride back to Seoul then an additional 45 minute bus ride back to where I live. 

As I hopped in a cab and got to the bus terminal got my ticket and settled in for the long ride home it all dawned on me. 

I did this by myself

Using my Korean skills (which aren't anything to brag about) but it wast like 

I didn't have to struggle or feel frustrated. 

I feel myself feeling overly comfortable here and I see how people have ended up living here for decades. 

Let me back track and explain a little more.

One of the girls is going to Vietnam this week end and another girl mentioned her experience there.

"Eat at one of the shops near the street! The feeling of scooters zooming past you and eating in the street like a local is unreal. 

It's nothing like Korea."

When you think of Asia, I'm sure you think of China and Vietnam or maybe even Thailand. The hustle in bustle is enchanting and it's so easy to get swept up in it's glory. 

Korea is the most westernize country I have ever lived in. 

Being here is like being in America but only the signs are all in Korean.

If I wouldn't have known better it was like I signed up for a job in Dallas and still lived in Dallas but secluded from my friends and family and just worked. 

... if that made any sense ...

What I'm trying to say is

There's a point where you travel around and you get a taste of what other Asian countries are like. Some more 3rd world than others but still it's an experience. You hop on a plane back to Korea and feel a sense of relief because you are "home." 

Home here feels very western. Very few instances leave me thinking like

Oh man I'm definitely living in Asia. 

Any who I thought this was interesting and thought I'd write it down to share. 

If you live in an Asian country, have you experienced this? 

Have you ever felt like Korea wasn't what you were expecting?

Or do you think I'm completely wrong? 

I'd love to hear what you think!

Cheers!

xoxo

Julie