I was told people my age had something significant and traumatizing happen to them in their life to get them to Korea. People our age are running from something.
I've worked with people in their late 50s and 60s in this country and met a handful in that age range. There's absolutely nothing wrong with this, but I just wonder what got these people to the point where they left their entire families behind: children, grandchildren, friends, etc. to come to South Korea to work with children. It just blows my mind and many of them have no intention of returning to the U.S. or wherever they came from. Granted, given the current state of the United States and the ridiculous government, I can't really blame them for not wanting to return.
When talking to many people around my age who do come abroad to teach and live, I do sense a certain undercurrent of a troubled past or something significant happening to them that forced them to run away. The majority of teachers here, and the new teachers arriving daily, are fresh out of university and are just here for an adventure. Many of them are trustfund babies and just thought it would be fun to party it up in a different country and travel. However, the ones my age are looking to forget something or a few are looking to pay down monstrous amounts of debt accumulated through years of higher education, but most are looking for a little of both. There are a token few who are just wanderers and nothing more (and obviously also end up being trustfund babies).
The beauty and abominable nature of Korea is that it's not reality for foreigners. We're here, for the most part, for a short amount of time. It's like a year-long holiday. Nobody knows us here, nobody knows anything about our past or where we came from. Essentially we can get lost in this place and it's ok. We can party like rockstars when we're not at school and we can drown all that we feel or don't want to feel with endless socializing and cheap alcohol.
Relationships and dating are not normal in Korea. It's the absolute twilight zone when it comes to dating and relating to people. You have foreign men who know full well that they wouldn't be given a second glance in their home countries, but in Korea subservient Korean girls fall at their feet hoping for the distinction of dating a foreign man. You have Korean men who have completely different cultural ideas about the responsibilities and role of girlfriends and spouses. Or you have the lovely last group of men, the members of the military. Dating someone in the military is just a whole different can of worms that I just don't want to get into. And these are our options in Korea as foreign women. Dating is not dating in Korea. It's not normal and it's unlike anything I've ever experienced in my life. I'm definitely looking forward to leave that aspect of Korea behind.
I do often wonder if those people who have trouble in their souls and pasts ever do figure out what it is they're looking for here. I can't help but think there is probably no real resolution due to the endless numbing in the waegook way of life of drinking excessively. Bars don't close in Korea and drinking EVERYWHERE is completely acceptable. Open container laws don't exist here. I could drink on the steps of a police station at 8 a.m. if I wanted to and nothing would happen to me.
That being said, I have met some really great people here and I've had some amazing experiences here that I will never forget, but I'm definitely looking forward to a little taste of real life. Granted, as soon as I get back to that real life I might be ready to leave again. Such is the nature of a restless and mercurial soul.
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