Homesick

Jet lag has caused me to go bed around 9:30 or 10:00 p.m. (which I almost never do) and wake up at 2:30 a.m. (which is normally the time I go to sleep). Friday night I returned to Seoul from a three-week vacation in my beloved hometown of New York City. I don't get homesick often, and when I do get homesick I don't like to admit it to people. However last Christmas in Korea, as wonderful as it was, I began to ache to walk the streets of New York and to eat in its restaurants, among many other things. So when I discovered that Chang-Woo was planning to travel to New York in February to study English for six months, I decided it would be a good idea for us to travel together. It was three of the shortest weeks of my life. Thursday I left Chang-Woo to stay at my mother's place and explore New York.


Much of my vacation consisted of hitting my favorite restaurants and cafes around town. I also walked around downtown and snapped pictures like a tourist. New York's architecture has taken on a new significance for me after months of looking at identical, nondescript apartment buildings and ultra-modern office towers around Seoul. (I generally don't like either.) I took advantage of the opportunity to buy clothes I can't buy in Korea, as well as several books, CDs and DVDs. Actually I spent way too much money on shopping. My consolation is that some of the stuff I bought I intend to use as resources for my students. I visited my church as well as a couple of the discipleship groups I was once involved with. I greatly miss all of these, even though I know it was time for me to move on. I also visited a few of the offices where I used to work or freelance to say hi to former editors, managers and co-workers. Everyone I spoke to seemed very happy for me. I'm quite happy for myself.

A few weeks ago in Korea I went with Chang-Woo to his hometown of Daegu and spent some time with his parents. It was a lot of fun to have him in my hometown, introduce him to my family and take him to some of my hangouts downtown.


Probably the trip's funniest (or most awkward) moment came when I went to buy some music at Librería Cristiana Esperanza de Vida, a Spanish Christian bookstore I used to often go to when I lived in New York. I had to communicate in Spanish, but I found it quite difficult. Instead of saying "Estoy buscando el nuevo CD de Gadiel Espinoza" (Spanish for "I'm looking for the new CD by Gadiel Espinoza"), I wanted to say "Gadiel Espinoza CD를 찾아요" (roughly the same thing in Korean). When she didn't have it in stock, instead of "Oh, ¿no está aquí?" I wanted to say "아, 없어요?" And so on. It took every last bit of my mental energy to speak to her in Spanish and not Korean.

I met my good friend Eric T. one night at 11 p.m. and we drove around the city until about 2:30 a.m. His mother and uncle were with us. Incredibly his uncle, who was visiting from Puerto Rico and hadn't seen me in almost 20 years, remembered me. I couldn't believe it. Eric took us around the South Bronx, Yonkers and East Harlem, where we attended high school together. It felt strange to ride down East 116 Street, where I walked countless times from the subway to the school building. Although 65 to 70 percent of my high school memories are not positive, this was a very nostalgic moment for me. I do remember my fourth year of high school being much more enjoyable than the previous three and part of me wants to relive those experiences. We stopped at a local cuchifritos place for yellow rice and grilled chicken, among other stuff. It was good to reminisce with Eric. Also, I understood much of the Spanish conversation between he and his family members, which made me feel a little better about my apparently diminished Spanish skills.


I also had a chance to eat dinner with Matthew S. downtown. Matt and I were born two days apart in the same hospital, and our mothers shared the same hospital room. It's not an exaggeration to say I've known him my entire life. Perhaps because we grew up together, it's always a little surreal for me to see him as an adult and chat about stuff like work, travel and relationships.

I didn't study very much Korean, but I did do a little study with Chang-Woo. We spent a lot time at Think Coffee, a really cool cafe I discovered near NYU downtown. I also spent a little more time than normal memorizing vocabulary and phrases, which usually I avoid because it's not much fun. However, riding the subways in New York (which have more delays and less frequent service than Seoul subways) provided several opportunities for spontaneous study. Other than "Are you married yet?" the most common question people asked me was related to my Korean ability. I don't need to rehash where I stand with that, but I had a handful of enjoyable study times. One night I went to Think Coffee alone and studied for a couple of hours. It was one of the highlights of my trip. I showed a couple of friends at church how to write Korean script, and they actually got it. Now that I'm back in Seoul and having to use Korean more often, the relative break from Korean in New York seems to have been good for me.


Aside from seeing family members and old friends, I also saw several friends who work as teachers or professors. It was great to compare our experiences. I also saw several people I met in Korea, including Katie R. (one of my co-workers from my first teaching job who came to New York to be with her fiancee), Yunhee (a former student from last summer, backpacking around the U.S.) and Lian (a Burmese brother who served as a lay pastor at my church in Seoul last year and is now studying at a seminary in upper Manhattan).


I wasn't able to visit with everyone I wanted to, but I was able to enjoy some significant conversations with the people that I have managed to see. It will take some time for me to process everything. And now it's around 4 a.m. and I'm wide awake.

You can see more pics here:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/eastcoasttiger/sets/72157600957035360