When being in a new country alone, after the honeymoon phase of study abroad you begin to miss aspects of home; even mundane aspects of home like going grocery shopping. At Korea University, the quarters are 14 weeks long, so I am currently on week 10. Back home at DU, the fall quarter is done and winter break has begun.
Firstly I am lethargic from school because I would be done with school right now, enjoying the break. So a major change from US college life to Korean college life is not having days off to relax. Besides Chuseok, which is celebrated at the end of September, there are very few days off from school. After living through the newness of Korea and experiencing all of the items on my Korea bucket list I have begun to miss things back home. For example, I miss American chips. While this may sound strange, I miss American Cheetos, Doritos, and Lays because a majority of the chips in Korea are sweet; even garlic bread in Korea is sweet.
To combat homesickness there are numerous ways and it depends on what sort of homesickness you are experiencing, so I will just share what I have been doing. One way I am combating homesickness is by constantly going out and finding new experiences to enjoy. This helps because my mindset is to experience anything and everything because one day my study abroad will conclude and who knows when I will come back to Korea. So by continuously staying busy, I find myself not feeling as homesick.
Another way I combat homesickness is by regularly staying in contact with my friends and family. While this is difficult due to the time difference, we still talk about whatever. Denver is 16 hours behind Seoul so when it is morning for me, it is nighttime in Denver and vice versa. I will update friends or family about my day or anything on my mind.
I’m fortunate enough to be in a country that I have family in, so in that sense, I don’t feel lonely or don’t feel like I don’t have anyone to turn to. Another thing that I am thankful to have is the ability to speak, read, and write Korean. My friends who are new to the Korean language are having a more difficult time adjusting to society because they do not know Korean. Seoul is more foreigner-friendly and is fairly easy to navigate if you do not know Korean. Many restaurants and stores in Seoul will be accustomed to interacting in English. If you decide to travel outside of Seoul, the need to understand Korean is greater because those cities are less likely to accommodate English speakers. For example, my friends are I traveled to the seaside of Korea and my friends relied on me to speak to taxi drivers or order food.
If you decide to study in Korea, it is important to understand what you are signing up for and what culture you are walking into. Korea, while travel-friendly, is still a highly conservative and homogenous society.
