I’ve found that making local friends in my classes is the best gateway to understanding the traditions and heritage here, in a manner that’s unobstructed by the lens of colonization.
Although I was born and raised in Korea, I left home at the age of 12 and I grew up in two different countries. Being in an environment with very few Korean people around me, I often felt disconnected to my own roots and this exchange seemed to be a great opportunity.
The second that it drops below 25 degrees you’ll see more Patagonia jackets than the morning lineup at 49th Parallel.
“When I arrived, the several months of Duolingo practice and watching Italian movies with subtitles proved useless when spoken to by locals.”
