Little Things I’ll Miss About Korea

In the months before I left, I started writing a list of the many things I would miss about Korea. Also a list of things I never want to forget about my life in Korea.

1. This corner spot at this cafe, where I go only when I’m by myself
2. Killing time by people watching
3. Sitting outside in the sunshine when it’s fall
4. That moment when the first student comes into the classroom and says “good morning teacher”
5. Watching the Seoul sunrise during summer runs when the streets are empty at 5 am
6. When the soju bottle is empty and we look at each other and without a word know that we need another one
7. That really friendly crossing guard at work that always smiles and says good morning; he always made our day
8. All of the hilarious things that happen in a school day; things the kids say in English, Jana coming to my classroom and messing with the kids, eating snacks together, when Jean and Jana send their kids to my class with cups of 꿀떡, 편의점runs with Allie during break time
9. My legs feeling sore when I sit down for the morning teacher meetings
10. When restaurant workers know our order because we’re regulars
11. Getting service
12. Riding the bus to visit the first city I lived in; getting 계란빵 from the best stand ever in downtown Gumi
13. Walking to work listening to 00000 Million after 7 am yoga
14. Walking anywhere, anytime, with both headphones blasting, and never feeling unsafe
15. Solo hikes in the fall
16. Going to to run with my crew every Thursday night
17. The routine that makes me love the life I created in this city
18. That old man who I always see running on summer mornings (who sometimes passes me cause he’s a speed demon….)
19. The grandpa who I always see walking on the track that waves and cheers for me when I run
20. When the soccer players accidentally kick the ball toward me while I’m running on the track and I panic that it’s gonna hit me in the face, then it doesn’t and I laugh at myself
21. When my crew or yoga friends say “우리 크리스틴” and my heart is happy
22. When random children (or anyone really) try to speak English to me
23. When I zip my kids’ jackets up and for like half a second I pretend that they’re my child and I’m sending them off the school
24. Going for evening walks by myself in the winter, wrapped in a scarf and listening to music
25. Fighting at the restaurant about who’s gonna say 여기요
26. Seeing my yoga teachers handing out flyers in the morning when I walk to school and getting hugs from them
27. The way people hug at the studio
28. Crossing the Han River on the subway and looking outside thinking that I came to this city to be a part of it but instead it became a part of me
29. DK, our favorite chef guy at the BBQ restaurant 한남돼지집
30. Having the fastest internet in the world
31. Never carrying keys ever
32. My favorite Hershey’s cone
33. When Jana and I go on trips and get excited for our “airport sandwich” which we later discovered exists in Paris Baguette stores everywhere and not just at the airport
34. Transportation apps that accurately live track the subways and buses and also tell you exactly what door to stand at to make your transfer the fastest possible
35. Blending in, in a country of Asian people, and for the first time not feeling like a minority
36. Being an invisible foreigner
37. Going to Daegu to visit Michelle
38. All of our favorite restaurants
39. Random moments where I feel like I really made a life here
40. Walking around and reading signs and advertisements even though I have no clue what they mean because just reading characters makes me feel accomplished
41. Convenience stores actually being extremely convenient
42. Being in situations where being a foreigner makes things so much easier / Playing that foreigner card
43. Living in the same building as my best friends
44. That feeling I get when I do something by myself for the first time and with no help from a Korean person
45. Standing in a store perusing Korean snacks
46. Getting to see the moon change phases every single night while walking home from the yoga studio
47. Feeling like a proud New Yorker when I completely disobey crosswalk signals
48. Bowing to every single person ever
49. Monster pizza
50. All the people we meet when we go out; the next day when we recap the night and laugh so hard
51. Staycations with Michelle
52. Heated floors
53. Heated subway seats
54. Awesomely cheap medical insurance
55. Meeting Koreans who lived or studied in America and asking them what they miss, and hearing “Chipotle” as the answer
56. Going to the grocery after school and buying basically the same exact things
57. Costco trips and taking the wrong bus and ending up somewhere far away; aborting the mission and going to get food
58. Crazy and hilarious taxi drivers, and taxi drivers that speak English
59. The anxious and possibly exciting feeling every time I go to the Sinsa area that I’ll run into Sway
60. Drinking soju at convenience store like the foreigners we are
61. Ordering 네네치킨 and watching a movie in my cave
62. Leaving school immediately after the last bell on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays so that I can make it to yoga class on time
63. When we sit and have tea together after class and the people at the yoga studio discover that I’m not Korean
64. When Jana has to buy BTS tickets and it’s the funniest thing in the world because life depends on this moment. Literally
65. Waiting on line at Downtowner and feeling VIP when Mojito personally delivers our burgers and gives us free french fries
66. When people visit me and I already know exactly what we’re going to do and what they’ll love
67. When people ask to do tarot
68. All the help from Jean and Harim when it comes to Korean stuff
69. Walking behind Rob and looking at all the girls that stare at him in adoration of his 스몰 페이스
70. Beerday Sunday Fundays!!!!!
71. Waking up early and going to run races
72. Meeting up with Margaret to eat ice cream and laugh about how we met in Korean class and bought matching pants an hour later
73. Eating endlessly basically every meal
74. How so many things feel like second nature after two years in Seoul
75. Requesting music at the club (sometimes by screenshotting “Rihanna” and holding it up to the DJ booth ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ”