Friendships happen

So we've been living in South Korea now for almost 6 months and for all but two of those weeks we've lived our life on beautiful Jeju Island. Living in a foreign country has its difficulties, but there's something to be said about living on a tiny island off the coast of a foreign country were your language is rare and where foreign goods are rarer. 

Lance and I had our hopes set on Seoul when we decided we wanted to move to South Korea. We wanted city life, the subway and a ton of fresh new faces. We wanted to experience life in one of the biggest cities in the world. It would be a lie to tell you that we weren't a little disappointed when we were sent as far away from Seoul as possible to this remote island. 

The truth is that we were pleasantly surprised. Jeju is far cleaner and far more beautiful than Seoul. Life here is more relaxed and slower. We have seen some truly amazing natural wonders on this island. Jeju is more like home than Seoul could ever be.

However, lance and I have had to cope with the disabilities that come with inexperience. We're struggling to learn the language and its really crippling. We've tried to sign up for classes but they're hard to find on the island and our split shift class schedule really doesn't help. Everyday things are challenging because of this, such as going out to restaurants were food is often written. On the wall in Korean and there aren't any pictures. We have very kind people help us often, like the lady at the bank who helps us pay our bills, but we're not as self sufficient here as we were In the United States. I suppose that was to be expected.

Shortly before we left the United States my car was totaled in an accident where I was rear ended. I was pretty upset because I love that car, it had taken me there and back again through a lot of changes in my life. I took that car on adventures and driving it -having access to it-impacted who I am today. It was good timing though, because I was planning on leaving the car with my mom anyway while I was in South Korea and I was really looking forward to living life without a car. No insurance payments, no gas, no repairs. I wouldn't have to worry about parking and I could walk where ever I needed to go. The thought was liberating. Jeju is a car city. There is no subway, and while the bus system is better than what we have back home in Florida, it can't take you everywhere. Buses can be rough rides and taxis can be rougher rides and are expensive. There is so much we cannot do here because we don't have a car and simple tasks become for more involved without one. On shopping trips you can make many stops and simply store your purchases in the car, now we have to carry purchases from place to place or go home in between stops. Grocery shopping is an exhibition. It takes several hours to make a large trip and usually eats into a chunk of our weekend because we can't do much of anything during the week. Picnics and camping are made harder because all of your equipment has to be carried onto the bus . A lot of beautiful things on the island can only be reached by car. It's true, cars on the island a pretty cheap second hand, but the debate lance and I have been having is really whether to buy a car or to move to the mainland. Both have perks and both would cost is a fair amount of money.

The hardest thing about living on Jeju has been meeting people and making friends. You'd be surprised at how much you value spoken English when it's not everywhere. Granted, working a split shift is more than half the problem when it comes to meeting people. We can't stay out late because we have to be up at 6am nor can we do things early because we work until 8pm. It's a hard schedule to come to terms with. On Thursday nights we've been going to a board game club, we've done various events like saw a local play and also visited the foreigner market, we've joined a book club and we've purchased used goods from other foreigners on the island. We're trying to meet people but its been a slow trek. Finally I can say its starting to pay off. This past weekend we went to the beach (and turned into lobsters) we played pool and went out to dinner after. We've done all these thing by ourselves, of course, but connecting with other people around the world really makes you feel like you're a part of something. The horizon is bright and I think I'm finally coming out of culture shock. Even though we might still move to the mainland next year, I won't regret the time we spent on Jeju Island.