Changes

Today I have been reflecting on some of the ways life has changed since I've moved to Korea. Some changes are large, while others are small. Here are a few that came to mind:

1. There is a man in my bed, and sometimes he's not wearing pajamas. TMI? Perhaps. But a large change nonetheless.

2. I have to care about the metric system now. When I was in grade school, a few of my teachers told me we would be using the metric system in the U.S. by the year 2000. ("Ooh!" I thought, "The future! How exotic...") By the time 2000 rolled around, I was relieved when the metric system didn't come to pass because I had forgotten all of my conversions. Now, my past has come to haunt me as I have to convert the temperature to metric each time I want to cook something. I also have to remind myself that 20 degrees Celsius is a nice day, not a freezing day.

3. I can't eavesdrop. I never realized how much I love drama from strangers until I could no longer understand what they were saying. Eavesdropping is now my primary motivation behind learning Korean. However, I am comforted by the fact that there have been times I've been able to eavesdrop based on body language alone, like the time on the subway when a woman was hitting a man repeatedly with her purse. He seemed apologetic; she wasn't having it; I loved every minute and stared openly.

4. I live in the future. Yes. I am fifteen hours ahead of the central time zone now that daylight savings time is over. The future is good, friends. No flying cars yet, but there are really cool cell phones.

5. I am really, really tall. I'm used to being taller than Nickie (hahaha thank you late blooming growth spurt!) but not the tallest woman around. I think it makes me more intimidating to my students, which is always a plus. However, it means chances of finding pants that fit are smaller than ever.

6. I am surrounded by Koreans. No, really. Surrounded.