pogoism

It’s amazing how fast you can adapt to living in a totally strange and foreign place…

• Paying for a motel or hostel and being given little more than a sheet to put on the floor to sleep on is completely normal.
• I can eat anything, any size, any shape, with chopsticks. I can dissect food of any kind. On the rare occassion we go for a meal and we’re given a knife and fork, I sometimes have to take a few seconds to remember what to do with them.
• I’ve honed my eye for spotting the smallest piece of meat in my meal, and can whip it out without even thinking about it.
• I can zone out of general lab conversation (in Korean), but my ears prick up as soon as anyone starts calling for me.
• I bow when greeting or saying bye to people, and when thanking people.
• I speak a strange mix of Korean and English to other foreigners. Ballie ballie! (quicky!) Opseyo! (means so much… generally along the lines of “not”).
• Drinking alcohol isn’t the same without gombae! or Korean drinking games (banny banny banny banny… tangbang! tangbang!)
• I accept things with 2 hands, and I give things with my hand that’s not in use on my opposite elbow. It’s a respect thang.
• I speak much more slooooooowly and clearly than I used to. I suspect certain people back home will be thankful for this.
• I eat lunch ridiculously early (11:30), but still eat dinner quite late (6:30pm), which means I can go most of the day without any food. I’m not sure if this is a Korean thing, or specific to where I work.
• I know this is a bad thing, but I don’t hold the door for people. It’s the Korean way…