Surviving in Seoul

Have you ever felt that the whole world knew something that you were clueless about? Ever felt that something was going on right in front of your eyes but you simply could not comprehend it? If you have dared to travel to another country, sooner or later you will acknowledge these and probably felt the same thing. The feeling that everyone was going in one direction and you were going right opposite… Or even worse, you were just standing in one spot and felt completely lost in the myriad crossroads scribbled in an alien language that your mind fails to register. If all your answers were yes, then welcome to the community called FOREIGNERS.

Culture shock is an interesting phenomenon that doesn't affect everyone the same way. Culture is not just food, clothes and language. It's what time you show up for a dinner appointment, and how late at night you can call someone on the phone. It's body language and seating patterns and whether or not you talk to people in an elevator. In short, culture is the entire milieu of customs and values through which we live our lives and relate to other people.

It’s been nearly ten months since I shifted to Seoul and I never once felt that I suffered from culture shock, personally. I always felt it was more like culture fascination rather than culture shock. I was amazed with everything that I saw and encountered. I often felt English signs would be very helpful for me and also for other foreigners. What I didn't think about was that the people that live here can read the signs just fine, and it certainly isn't necessary for them to change them all just for me.

I still remember my first day in Seoul when I left the comfort zone of our new home in search of food. Strangely I was taken aback by the persistent smell hanging mid-air leaving me gasping for breath. With a conservative Indian upbringing, my appetite is limited to vegetarian food with the addition of only milk products. My greatest challenge in Seoul was to survive with my meager dietary patterns. The foods which I am used to eating are hardly heard of in the place that I presently made my home. I had quiet a few Korean pitying me for my so-called bad food habits and assumed that I literally starved. What they didn’t realize is how many dishes one can make out of Potato other than French Fries and nuggets. I often wandered aimlessly across streets staring at people relishing live octopus and silk worm stew. To add on to it, even the so called vegetarian food Kim chi, is said to contain star fish powder in it leaving me with no other option than packing my own food wherever I go.

Shopping in Seoul is a big adventure for me. I try reading the ingredients on the back of a package though I don't understand the language. Supermarkets are usually swarming with friendly local co-shoppers pondering into the ingredients and often try to be of some help to foreigners or to pick up a conversation, even though uncalled for. I have learned to basically ignore everyone versus being pulled into conversations I can't possibly understand, or respond to with any sense. Normally this procedure works because I can briskly walk away from whomever, and be on my way out without any embarrassment or misunderstanding. But mostly I fall prey to such conversations and after failing to understand the question three times or more, I land up explaining in my best possible Korean and body language, that I do not understand them. It’s the same situation while asking for directions also. Once we were lost trying to locate a pizza outlet and no amount of body language worked. After many attempts we bumped into an extremely helpful Korean couple who spoke little English but did not know the place. To our astonishment they hired a taxi and dropped us at our destination and helped in ordering our pizza too. Friendly people, polite children, nice pets etc. are few things which are very rare to witness.

Being a foreigner in any country has its positives too. I remember feeling so peculiarly excited on my first step abroad that I could talk whatever I felt like in my mother tongue without anyone understanding me. It is such a relief to let out your frustrations in your own language, right in front of the person causing your anxiety. After the initial thrill and novelty wears off, almost all foreigners experience the same problem, the need to communicate with people of a similar upbringing. This, however, might be difficult to achieve before one gets used to the surroundings, the new culture and starts looking for people from the same country. Nationalities also play a social role. I often found myself socializing with others from my own country for no other reason than that they share a common flag and find them also reeling under culture shock. Everyone indulges in a few good whines from time to time, but when that’s all the conversation is about, I often land up asking myself: so why do I stay if I can’t stand the country or its culture?

Realization struck me rather a bit late and I learned to rise above pettiness and gossip. I realized that in all matters of culture, there is no right or wrong. Just difference! And that applies to members of an international community who make different choices in the way they choose to live abroad. I figured out how to work around it, lead satisfying lives, and most important of all, I learnt to laugh about it. I started to marvel at the technological advancement of the country with the latest gadgets and gizmos in the hands of a school kid. While this form of culture shock is all too real, so is the privilege of living abroad. In the depths of this shock, I remind myself on a daily basis of my good fortune to be leading a luxurious life that most can only dream about.