And I am back with an update on life in this part of the world. Hopefully bringing in more insight into life as it is over here.
It’s been a month and a half since I left home. A lot of good has come out of this move, and well, since it’s life, it brings with it the bad parts as well. Academics are gradually showing their true colours: lots and lots of reading assignments that somehow can become hard to keep track of. However, since I keep enjoying most of it, it works out fine for the most part. I have midterms fast approaching so yes, it’s a tad bit scary since it’s been a very long while since I studied or took exams. As long as I feel like I can do it, I guess it should be fine.
Back to the adjustment topic of last time, I want to communicate a little to those wanting to make a move similar to myself. Firstly, moving out of Pakistan, even if briefly is a good idea. Our world seems to be closing in on us especially for those interested in the politics of the country. Listening to the same media screaming about corruption, terrorism and the plight of others can become tiresome and hence a break from that kind of routine is essential for us. The experiences that I am gathering are the kind that are helping me widen my way of thinking simply through interactions with a variety of different people from so many parts of the world. However, it brings with it its own toll; that of inclusion. It’s really hard to measure how far one should go themselves in forcing themselves to be included in social activities and when they should back off and do things alone. This issue is particularly difficult for me because I think I came to Korea craving more social interactions because I had always wanted to meet people from other places. However, it’s not that easy when you feel like you’re the one always asking to be included, or proposing that people accompany you some place. I’ve realized nobody does. You have to have fun alone. You have to do what you feel like alone. All you can do is keep asking people so that maybe someday people might decide to include you. I don’t know how to manage this for now, but I believe many who will make a decision similar to mine will have to face this.
However, people should go out exploring the world. Living alone is something I was really dying to do for the past few years of my life. In Pakistan, we really get too much special treatment. There is somebody who will cook for you, somebody who will do the dishes, wash your clothes, iron them too, clean your room and your bathroom. At my age, one realizes that this kind of a system cannot exist forever. The kind of dependency we have back home might never be available later on in life. The fact that time and circumstances are fluid and ever changing is at once a very depressing reality however, it can provide us with a catalyst to take our fate in our own hands. Managing my everyday schedules is proving to be good fun. The empowerment I feel when I walk out of campus to go eat ddeokbeokki or get on the subway in the evening just to catch The Rose busking is something I could never dream off back home. Home is always home, no matter how it is; clean, unclean, rich, poor, corrupt, honest. It’s home. I miss the smells of our own food from back home and the fact that I could go into a kitchen to cook for myself. I miss the smell of wet sand before the rain would come, and obviously the familiar streets and roads. Yet, I also know that this is what I needed at this time of my life. Moving forward no matter where life takes you will always be a better decision than staying in one place simply because you are familiar with it.
For this time, I am leaving a much more serious piece of writing, even though I have done plenty of fun things in the past few weeks. However, I really wanted to vent a little for today. My next post shall cover the happier things that I have been up to! That’s it for today!!
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