Learning How to Swim

My first two times I came to Korea, I lived in Seoul, but now, for my third time in here, I am in Ulsan. The difference between these two cities is startling.

I knew that Ulsan would be different. With Seoul, it is a 24 hour city, something to do every hour of the day. In Seoul, it is easy to get around without knowing Korean. Almost every young resident speaks at least a little of it. Every older residents of Seoul have some knowledge of English. Ulsan is not the sprawling metropolis that Seoul is.

Here in Ulsan, there is no English. Thankfully, while not fluent in Korean, I am competent in it. Yet even this competency did not quite prepare me for Ulsan. I forgot how much I relied on English in Seoul; if I was uncomfortable speaking Korea, I could just speak English, and I would be mostly understood. Now, all of a sudden, I lack the crutch that I had in Seoul.

I find myself now thrown in to the deep end of a pool with no idea how to swim. I try to learn things about the University of Ulsan, but the staff is far from cooperative, something that I am not used to when it comes to Korean culture. Even when asking in Korean, staff members who are to help the foreign students brush me off. There is a complete lack of communication at the university. While I am used to a relative lack of communication in Korean culture, I am not used to it to this degree.

So now comes my true challenge—being by myself, in a foreign land, learning how to swim. Let’s hope that I learn how to stroke through the water quickly.