Bouts of Unfamiliarity and Experiencing Homesickness in the 3rd Person

YO, YO, YOOOO How are ya doin??

I found out people actually read these which is wild, but thank you for finding my life interesting 🙂

Today I want to talk about homesickness.

I would like to start by saying that I am not homesick. I have yet to experience it, and I love being here so much. If the air quality was better I would want to stay here forever — haha 🙂

But there are moments of unfamiliarity. For example, I have been sick for the past three days, and the first day I was really, really, confused. I don’t think enough people acknowledge that homesickness can be more than just missing people. When I was sick I missed the comfort and ease of knowing what to do when I need medicine, where to buy it, how much to take. You don’t have that comfort in another country. There’s lots of googling and calling your parents, and asking your RAs — I asked one of them what to do and his actual answer was “I don’t know, I don’t get sick” (hehe).

The other day I bought Korean medicine from the convenience store, and had a legit “F-it” moment because I didn’t know what it said and I was just so tired of feeling bad (not the best move I’m know, but google wasn’t working out). Bless my spontaneity because that random stuff I bought works wonders. It costs two dollars, and it tastes gross, but I feel way better than I did before. You can also get this drink in the hotboxes of all the convenience stores that’s kind of syrupy and helps if you have a sore throat. It costs a dollar at all stores but if you go to the smaller store in the student lounge you can get it for 45 cents. (I’m hitting you up with all the fun facts)

I am also experiencing homesickness from my roommates perspective. Sometimes I feel bad for how happy I am here when she is struggling to adapt to this new environment. She’s this fiery ball of chaos and I love her, and watching her home culture (as a Mexican-American) clash with Korean culture is…interesting. It’s not my place to comment, but I wouldn’t go into study abroad while in a relationship. The miscommunication that can occur across thousands of kilometers and different time zones is too much for some people to handle. My roommate is currently going through this and I know it’s contributing to her homesickness because she misses home, misses stability, and there’s this lack of it because her partner isn’t communicating on the same level, and therefore in turn, she wishes she was at home where everything could be easily explained.

Again, not the happiest post, but I’ll end on something happier.

First, if you come to Yonsei, go to the cafe on B2 in SK Global House — sounds weird but you’ll get it when you come here — the ajumma (older woman) that works there is the sweetest person you’ll meet and always makes sure to smile and wave whenever you come in. She definitely makes everyone feel at home which matters a lot for several hundred kids that are as far from home as they possibly could.

Secondly, my friends and I went to see a movie here and I HIGHLY recommend going. Tickets for the premium theaters are cheaper than tickets at home for regular theaters so it’s great deal.

Finally, I LOVE my life here. Sometimes I think about how this is going to change me in the future and I get really happy because this is such an amazing thing that’s happening and every time I experience something new, I am just overwhelmed with the desire to hold onto these positive moments.

So yeah! There’s today’s posts, I promise to talk about happier things next time :))

— Isis