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[tuliptutu]

Living in a foreign country can be very isolating, even if that foreign country is one of the most densely populated and developed countries in the world. Because of the language barrier and because anyone who is not Korean (i.e. a wei-guk) sticks out like cold sore, there are few of the daily, meaningless interactions that punctuate a normal day

Comments

[robo_day]

Yeah, I too felt this isolation in the first few weeks of Brazil. So hard to be a social creature without the simple ability to communicate. Brazilians tend to be super friendly though, and it was not long before I made many body-language friends. Had the language school too, and was running around speaking english with a lot of folks. A basic grasp of portuguese won me more circles, but it was so aggrivating only being able to speak in simple child like terms. Weird to have complex thoughts and no way to get them out.

Smiles do go a long way though. People seem to feel happiness even if it's in another language.

Keep the posts coming!!!

[tuliptutu]

aaron! i was just thinking about you..how weird! i think the isolation has been furthered by the fact that i'm here with another person. that way we don't have to force ourselves to be as friendly as we would be if we were alone. but i'm trying! i can't say i haven't made some friends but we communicate on a pretty rudimentary level.
brazil and korea are much different, i'm sure. other than their love for plastic surgery of course. i do wish that i was in a more gregarious place sometimes but c'est la vie.
where are you? what are you up to?