We've moved into our new apartment. For those out of the loop, we were notified a couple of weeks ago that we got government housing on post (USAG Humphreys). We talked about the pros and cons. I could only thinks of one con against us moving on post. That "con" is that if we move on post, we are no longer surrounded by Korean culture. Living on post is like living in a separate world.....or more like living in the States....but we are still in Korea. We are surrounded by Americans. We will live next to Americans. See mostly Americans.
Living off post, I would look outside. And what I saw were Koreans living their everyday lives. Their everyday lives are harder, busier, and sometimes harsher than the average American. Koreans have many things that make their lives easier but rarely use it. They don't use electricity unless they HAVE to. They don't use transportation unless they HAVE to. Americans take life for granted and living outside post has made me realize we (Americans) are a spoiled country. Yeah, Koreans have KIA, Samsung, LG, Hyundai, etc.....but they (Koreans) would rather live a simple life than overuse what they already have. Maybe living in the shadows of war have kept them from becoming a spoiled nation.
Anyway, I loved living outside the American gates and living in the culture of Korea. I loved the smell of kimchi that permeates every air cell in Korea. I loved watching the elderly walking to and fro from wherever they were coming and going from. I loved "playing chicken" with the Korean drivers. I loved seeing the bus every ten minutes. I loved hearing the Kpop blaring from the loudspeakers as I walked down the main road while shopping. I loved the people who were always so friendly. I loved the children who would run up to the American and bow while saying "annyeong haseyo". I loved seeing the little old lady sitting outside in her chair when we walked to base. I loved seeing the red peppers lying on tarps outside in the sun every where we went. I liked our real estate agent (Mr. Lee) who was always smiling and was so nice....even though we had a huge language barrier. There was the money exchange lady (Mrs. Kim) who always opened her arms for hugs when she greeted us and was always giving Lauren candy when ever she saw us. She happened to live in the apartment next to us and was always giving us something to eat if she saw us outside. I'll miss "halmoni" across the street who always was watching out for the kids and who always made sure our neighborhood was safe.
I sound as if we are already leaving Korea. But in a way, we are. Like I said, living inside the gates of USAG Humphreys is like living in a whole new world.
Our wonderful landlady (Mrs. Oh) and her granddaughter (who always translated for us) were wonderful to live under. On our last day....the day of the move....Mrs. Oh bought us jjajangmyun for lunch and gave us about a month's worth of kimchi to eat (by Eric's standards, it'll be gone in a week).
And here I am, inside the gates of Humphreys. Now I must find more reasons to walk out the gates....even if it's just for no reason at all.
No comments:
Post a Comment