Oh, Canada

After months abroad, coming back to your own country can be an amazing feeling. You've come home to your family and friends, homely comforts and soon enough you'll be back to the daily grind. Some though, have quite a difficult time getting used to what was once instinctive in their home life. Some call it reverse culture shock, others call it reality, no matter what you want to call it, there is no question that coming home after a significant time away, can have its challenges too. Here is a list of 9 encounters that you may struggle with after the hugs, kisses of loved ones have subsided...

1. Nothing has changed: You've experienced so much. You feel different, your life feels different, and surely this is not simply internal. The world must be a different place! Wrong. Your hometown has stayed exactly the same as you left it, and they like it that way.

2. You can drink the water: After living in a country where the water can be hazardous to drink, remembering how lucky you are to live somewhere where water everywhere is drinkable and, infact, good for you, can take a few days to sink in. That's when you realize how lucky we really are.

3. The economic situation still sucks: You've lived under a rock for the past few months, holding onto outdated economic predictions that this financial drought would be over by the time you returned home. But you've come home only to realise that it will still be a struggle to find yourself that dream job, and you will be back to serving tables before you know it.

4. You can speak to everyone again: The language you know is the language everyone speaks in your home country, which means you can finally talk to everyone again! Coffee shop baristas, taxi drivers, and bus drivers, beware - this girl has been longing for interactions and she's out and about and ready to chat!

5. Tipping: Servers hate foreigners for this, and, once being a server, so did I. But I finally get it. Tipping is hard to remember to do when you haven't done it. You mean I have to put more down then the bill asks me for? Huh?

6. People actually follow traffic laws: After spending months somewhere were traffic lights and stop signs are simply a suggestion, it's shockingly difficult to remember that jaywalking is, in fact, illegal, and others aren't comfortable doing it.

7. Google maps is my friend again: Because of Korea's hidden alleys, winding roads, odd street names and random clusters of apartment buildings, Google maps could rarely give you door to door instructions. Instead you'd have to look up lengthy walking directions from subway exits or just have someone meet you at the station. What a pleasure Google maps is to have in your back pocket once again. Goodbye organization, hello reliance on technology!

8. Garbage cans: Korea has an odd garbage collection system where some sort of infrastructure picks up random smelly garbage piles from every corner, but garbage cans are few and far between. Being back in Canada, garbage cans are so plentiful, how anyone can even imagine litering is beyond me.

9. It smells so good: Canada's wide open spaces, beautiful mountains and plentiful greenery makes our country smell so fresh and fantastic. Take a breath, doesn't that fresh air smell amazing?

There can be difficulties to coming home, but being away can also remind you of all those small things we forget to appreciate about our home, that makes it such a very special place. So drink the water, breath the air, and put a smile on your face. This country rocks.

From the Eye of the Storm

Last Saturday afternoon was a gloomy, rainy one and, as one would do on such afternoons, I was sitting on my friends couch watching some brainless comedy. Suddenly, we heard a siren coming from outside. I looked at her, she looked at me, and we shared a confirming glance:  this siren did not sound normal. In an adrenaline filled Google search (yes, a Google search. What would you have done?), a peak out the window, and a mass text, we realized that there was no cause for concern and we had simply overreacted to a police siren. Funny? yes. Eye opening? Definitely. This was the first time I realized that this was a situation that I was taking seriously.

Though, false alarms aside, the only reason I am feeling anxious about the rising tensions in my newly claimed home is from the sensationalized news. Walking through the streets of Seoul, South Korea, an easy 6 hour drive to North Korea, and of course the North's main target, you would have no idea that a war, let alone a nuclear war, was feasible to arise at any moment. South Koreans are going about their daily lives, making plans for tomorrow, next week, next month and next year as if nothing was happening. We haven't spoken about it to our students nor even brought up the idea of practising an evacuation plan should anything happen. People are happy, parties are still being planned and a unconcerned attitude remains throughout the flow of daily life. This, to me all seem pretty shocking. If Canada was being threatened with an imminent nuclear war, you'd think at least, our schools would plan a 'what if' scenario. A threat this huge and hardly anybody has even blinked. Why? Well frankly, nobody here takes North Korea seriously. These threats have been happening every spring, each year for the past 60 years, while basically nothing comes of them. Some think the threats are fuelled by Kim Jong un wanting to establish power within his own country. Some say he wants more money and resources for the North. We've heard it all before, and so far, these theories have been correct. I, personally, don't quite know what to think of it all, but for now, I still feel safe. North Korea's threats have become an undeniable case of the boy who cried wolf. Lets just hope this one has a happier ending.

What's in an Age?

Age: We have measured ourselves in age literally, since the day we we born. Our parents based landmarks on it. We celebrated our coming of ages in many different ways, from Bar Mitzvahs, Sweet 16s, learning to drive, drinking legally, and so much more. This was a number that, up until this trip, I assumed was simply universal. Well, my friends, I thought wrong. Here in Korea, age is measured differently. I, for example jumped from the easy and simple age of 24 right into the ripe old age of 26 as quickly as a 12 hour flight (talk about a quarter-life crisis!).

Now you're probably thinking "Huh?! This doesn't make sense? The earth doesn't rotate around the sun any faster in Asia...Or at least I didn't think it did..." Well, don't worry, you are not crazy. I will explain how this age thing works.

 Firstly, everyone pops out of the womb at the age of 1. Why waste any time counting those measly months?!

Secondly, although individual birthdays are recognized, nobody actually changes age until the lunar New Year where everyone changes age at the same time.

 Make sense?

Well it's true and it's crazy. This means that, layered on top of the ridiculous expectations schools in Korea are putting on their young children to learn, these young kids are in fact 2 years younger than my Western brain thought. So, the 6 and 7 year olds that I have been teaching are actually 5 and 6? My brain is about to explode.

On top of this, age is a really important defining factor in Korea, and the term 'respecting one's elders' is an understatement. There are seats in every subway car designated for elders and this is taken extremely seriously. You could be in the most packed subway ever, hardly breathing, while that section remained empty, just in case an Ahjumma (Korean older woman) strolled on in.

This has an interesting affect in the workplace, where younger employees will not criticize an employer even if their work and ideas are horrible. A story floats around that there was once a Korean Air flight that was in trouble, and, although the younger co-pilot knew how to solve the issue, out of respect for his older pilot, didn't speak up, and the plane crashed. Now they only hire co-pilots who are older than their pilots.

This age thing isn't all weird and bad though. It also makes for very strong family bonds, creates respect for elders in one's life like your teachers (me!), and people who hold authority. It even helps limits the country's crime rate.

...But age is just a number...Right?