I am Vietnamese. That is what I call myself when people from America ask what ethnicity I am. But when I am outside of America, people ask of my nationality, in which I address that I am American. It makes sense, right? A few days ago, one of my Korean students told me that I look Asian. I replied with, "Yes, I am. My parents are from Vietnam." They were in total shock, and followed up by asking "I thought you were American, not Asian!" This is the first time I have encountered this kind of situation, for my belief in American culture is that no one is American by an ethnic background, but by a nationality. I'm not sure if other Americans feel this way, but I have been at a loss about discovering myself as both an Asian and American for so long and a part of me doesn't know how to carry on. I learn American culture while at the same time, try to learn my parent's traditions. I find it hard to do both while pleasing my parents and doing what I want as well.
Other things that I have learned here is that Koreans really love foreigners. Since I am Asian, I blend in with them. A few Koreans have spoken to me in Korean, assuming that I know it. It's pretty funny though! Also! My partner teacher is from Wales, and I don't know whether his presence is the reason why I feel more homesick for the UK than the US, or just by being here makes me miss my former home.
Other than these discoveries, I have been having a really good time. I am currently sick, which refrains me from going out as much as I want. I went out every day of this week and the only time I got to blog about this is today because I am resting from being sick! It's nice to have some time to myself though - I've been hanging around with big groups of people and it can get exhausting. This morning I walked with some music on. I haven't listened to music in a while. Something simple like this helps me rejuvenate.
Koreans are very nice. I love my students, they make my experience a whole lot more amazing. I am enjoying teaching so much that I don't want the next two weeks to pass by so quickly. I also don't want to start the summer school classes. I think I enjoy teaching more than learning in classes. But for now, I will leave with a few photos.
Before posting my photos, I just want to thank everyone who has been reading my blog. It means so much to me that people are reading it.
