return!

To start out this returning post, I'll answer some common questions I got while in the States about life in Korea:

1. Is it summer in Korea now?

Answer: No. Korea is north of the equator, about the same latitude as Pennsylvania, and has a similar climate.

2. Do you live in North Korea or South Korea?

Answer: South. They do not allow people with blond hair and blue eyes into North Korea. Except Diane Sawyer. They do not, actually, allow anyone into North Korea. (okay, I only got this question once).

3. Is Korea a third world country?

Answer: No. South Koreans are very wealthy. I cannot afford their clothes. They own some household name businesses like Samsung, Kia, and LG. The average home is much smaller than in the US, but that's probably because they have 49 million people in a country somewhere between the sizes of Indiana and Kentucky.

4. Why are US troops in South Korea?

Because shortly after Korea was freed from Japan in World War II, North Korea claimed sovereignty over the whole peninsula by a god-leader, and invaded Seoul. The US came and fought alongside the Koreans for three years, until they came to a cease fire. Technically they are still at war. Do the South Koreans still need us there? I don't know. But the North Koreans have the 4th largest army in the world (according to a National Geographic documentary I found on youtube), are test launching "experimental satellites," may have undiscovered tunnels under the DMZ, and learn from childhood to desire the reunification of Korea under Pyongyang. So maybe we're better safe than sorry.

5. Do you get to see much of your husband?

Yes! We live together and he works regular hours, most of the time.

6. Do you miss American food?

No, but only because I buy groceries on base, where I can get almost any American food I want. If that were not the case, I freaking would miss American food. Most Korean food is extremely garlicy, fish saucey, and often fermented. But I like it in moderation (and when it doesn't smell like fish). I've yet to find an American candy that the Korean students in my studio haven't heard of. They even know what Girl Scout Cookies are, which I can't figure out because none of them have been to the US. I did leave a Fresca in the fridge once, which some of them found and are now in love with.