Things I miss about being a missionary in Korea now that I am back. A few of the cultural things that I saw as a missionary and not so much as an employee.
- A companion/friendships: Believe it or not I miss always having someone to talk to. The friendships you gain far out weigh the few frustrations you experience living with another dude 24/7.
- Getting fed in every house: Whether it was a full meal, some cookies and milk, some sort of fruit, yogurt, water, or some sort of weird food or drink I had never experienced we were always getting fed something.
- The amount of weird people/experiences you encounter: I don't know if it's just a Korean thing, or a missionary thing, or just comes about because the percentages demand it (you talk to that many people for that many days you're bound to see some stuff that gets cemented in your memory).
- A nametag: Having a nametag in Korea was so much fun. I would be standing in a crowded subway or on a bus and a Korean person (usually an older man) would stare at my nametag from about 3 inches away. Looking at eye to eye he would read it over, once maybe twice, sometimes even three times and then go back to what he way doing. You can picture this probably and might be chucking a little but the game was in trying to get that guy to talk to you because 9 out of 10 times that I would go to introduce myself and would get a nice waving hand right in the face. No words, just hand wave saying "don't you dare talk to me. I got everything I needed from that eye frisking I just completed all up and down you. Oh, and i'm too busy to use words. Can't you see how busy I am sitting on this subway, ultimately doing nothing but looking like I have something to do?" I loved it every single time. I also miss being a representative of something important and proudly showing that on my chest every single day.
- Ice cream after every meal: This is one of my favorite traditions. I don't remember if I learned it from someone and then implemented into my daily life or if all of the missionaries did this but after every meal I would usually find a convienant store and buy an ice cream bar. They were so cheap and had so many to choose from it was like a kid in the candy store, literally. Ice cream was also used to combat the viscious burning in my mouth from the spicy Korean food. I still try to get ice cream after every meal here now but since I eat at the company during the week my opportunities have decreased significantly.
- The language: The only you to do here is say "I can speak Korean" in Korean and your fluent, not a word more and you're as good as a native. Oh wait, that's still the same. I get out of a kick of every Korean that I talk to that is absolutely floored that I am even attempting to speak their language.
Those are the things I miss, I'm sure there are more but that's what I'm thinking about at the moment.
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