I don't want to leave Korea. I've been going to lots of cafes lately because there's just so many to explore. Now that my time in Korea is wrapping up (t-minus one week) I'm starting to consider coming back. I'm currently sitting at a cafe, studying for my final tomorrow and there is a foreigner and native Korean next to me having a fluent conversation in Korean. I understand much of it and often go to cafes with my Korean roommate myself, but seeing them makes me want to achieve fluency. Maybe it's the other Koreans around me who are amazed by the fact that a foreigner is speaking Korean so well that makes me want to be thought of in the same way (in other words, I'm almost jealous of the other foreigner's fluency). But maybe it's also the fact that I've fallen in love with this city and want to continue making friends and having interesting conversations in cafes.
Today I went to get a massage. At first the owner started speaking to me in English, but it was actually harder to understand, so I asked her if she could speak in Korean. She was thrilled by this and cutely kept telling everyone that I could speak Korean (though I am still very amateur). Then, my masseuse, who was an older woman, started talking to me as well. She corrected my Korean in a kind way, almost as if she was a relative. She talked to me informally and kept saying I was doing good. That really reassured me and made me feel... comfortable for lack of a better word. Okay, just gonna flat out be direct and say it felt like she was my grandma, which sounds weird. BUT the point is it made me want to continue Korean.
On a more personal note, I've learned a lot about myself on this trip. I was reading my journal entries from the beginning of the summer and was shocked at how much my mindset has changed. One of my biggest flaws used to be comparing myself- something that has naturally faded quite a bit since I've been here. Part of it is because I've been using far less social media and part of it is because I don't feel the need to compare myself to people here because that feels like comparing an apple to an orange. This has been very good for my mental health because I'm pretty sure 95% of my problems came from making comparisons. I've also become less judgemental myself. Naturally, any judgement towards others is automatically in comparison with yourself, but when the comparisons are gone, the judgement fades away too.
Now begins my last week in Korea. I will try and savor it as much as I can, but I also feel like I will return, so I'm not too worried. For now, I'm just going to try not to think about the fact that Yale classes start next week. :(
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