Why Korea, Why Return?

I have gotten this question quite a few times and frankly have been asking myself the very same question ever since I started to even entertain the idea of coming back to Seoul to teach after I graduated from University.

It is a very hard question to answer, and maybe there is no real answer other than there is something about South Korea that keeps drawing me back to it. It is like a feeling, a deep urge inside me that is constantly pulling me back. When I am here in Seoul, I feel free; like I belong and I understand how everything works. Now granted the language barrier is extremely annoying ( I am working on that my Korean, so hopefully it will get better).

But I guess that I am trying to say is, that despite being on the other side of the world, Seoul reminds me a lot of home. Most people would not think of it, but the Korean culture really reminds me a lot of the stereotypical Southern culture that many nowadays are trying to revive: respect for elders, being polite to others, having a hierarchy of respect based on age and position, a family that seems to be centered around the children and food--everything seems to really relate. Plus the fact that Seoul gives off a 1950s America feel may add to the feeling of home.

But at the same time, Korea is a fast paced and quickly developing country in the world. South Korea is the axis of Eastern Asia right now. With all the political tension between China, Japan, North Korea, and the US right now, South Korea is the focus of many of the world's top political watchers. Korea is also one of the only countries to have such a quick economic and political turn around. Just 70 years ago, South Korea was still colonized by Japan, and now South Korean technology companies are at the same level and passing Japan in most global technical presence. So as a global studies major I am in heaven right now since I can experience all the changes first hand.

But like I said before, I love the person that I am here; I am happier, more confident in myself, and feel like I don't have to pretend about who I am. Not that I was pretending before when I was home in the US, but I felt like I had to fit into a specific role that people and society had told me that I must fill. But here, I feel like there is no preconceived role that I have to be. Yes there are stereotypes that exist about foreigners and white females, but I feel like they are not present enough to cause much issue, plus the fact that I love breaking them and changing them for the better.

So what I am mostly trying to say is that I came back to find out why I feel this way and to keep becoming the Sarah that I love (the one I am here in Seoul) in hopes that when I do come home to the US, I can bring her back with me!