Resident alien

One thing that's been really salient to me since I've been in Korea is my utter cluelessness--and, as a counterpoint, my good intuition. When I studied abroad in Germany, I'd already taken five and a half years of German; I was quite comfortable getting around, asking for what I needed, conducting my business, and getting to know people. Here, I don't know anything. Y'all, I don't even know how to say "hello." Or "thank you." When I buy something or order food, I'm reduced to a mime....and a bad one, at that. Such utter cluelessness of the language is uncharted territory for me. And it's WEIRD.

[Sidenote: I'm planning on devoting more time to learning Korean...just as soon as I settle into school a bit. I'll let you know how it's coming along.]

The first observation--that being so clueless is raw and new for me--has led into a second observation. Y'all, I've been surprised at my own intuition. For instance, when I sign a credit card signature pad, I don't know which button is "ok"/"accept"/whatever, so I just press one...and it turns out to be the right one. Or yesterday, when I was working on my lesson plan on the school computer, I was able to easily find my way around Microsoft Word even though all the pull-down menus were in Korean. Ok, that second example is probably more recognition than intuition, but you get the idea: I've been surprised at how often I'm correct when I guess at something I don't know.

It's only my sixth day in Korea, and already I've returned something at a store, filled out forms, gotten an x-ray taken, asked for directions, and done lots of other things--all without speaking a word of Korean. It's amazing to me how much I've been able to figure out--and how I've been able to communicate to other people. Being here has forced me to think outside the box a bit; it's been an interesting exercise in self-knowledge.