Concluding my abroad trip in Seoul, South Korea, I have returned home and everything feels different back in America. After being abroad in such a different location for an entire month, I feel strange. Four weeks seems short, but when surrounded by so many other cultures and backgrounds besides your own, it is easy to accept and embrace that difference. For example, my classes had many students from different countries including Indonesia, Germany, Singapore, China, and America.

I find South Korea to be more interesting and more fun to live in than the States, mainly because I felt so accepted when I was there. No one was rude to me, and I had such an easy time getting accustomed to classes and the country (on and off campus).

It felt like I could be myself more there than I could back home at CofC. Even the students got along better because we were somewhat required to make friends quickly, but it still felt genuine. Everyone felt friendlier than they did back in Charleston; not in a bad way but it just felt like those students understood me better and we got to learn about each other’s countries, and differences, and we got to explore similarities.

I think this trip opened my eyes to how many countries there actually are in the world, and it only made me want to explore more of them because the students I made friends with were all so nice and welcoming. I found that I disliked my country in comparison to South Korea, it feels so much more efficient there in almost every way. The subways and public transportation are so easy to use and always clean. The streets are walkable at night, and you can leave your bag or phone on a table in a cafe and you know it won’t get stolen. There’s more peace of mind and ease of living there.

Looking at my identity, I realize how much this trip has changed me. I’m in a sort of limbo right now, almost trying to decide between countries. It’s nice to be home but I’m craving going back to South Korea after only two days at home. It was so life-changing and I felt like I found a side of myself that was more at ease and welcoming to change as well as stepping out of my comfort zone. I hope I can take some of what I experienced there back to college here and find ways to channel the person I was there into the person I am at CofC.