Coming Home

NZ from above.

Well it's been a while and much has changed since I last posted. Suffice to say my time in Korea has come to an end for the present and I am back in New Zealand enjoying the comforts of home and the love of my family.

It is very lovely to listen to English 24/7, to be able to talk to anyone and know they will understand me, to use big words, to talk as fast as I want. My sister tells me my speaking has become more correct/crisp.

I'm also loving the fact that cars drive on the correct side of the road over here - no more looking three times  before I cross a road to make sure I don't get run over! I'm loving driving again!!!! I missed driving in Korea - but I had no intention of driving there - those are scary roads - too many cars and too many signs I am too slow at reading.

Driving around Auckland has been fun, but I can't help making comparisons to Korea, all the low one or two storey buildings - in fact not counting the CBD you can count the high rise buildings in Auckland on two hands and a foot.

One thing that has been really interesting is reverse culture shock. I wasn't expecting that!

It started on the plane on the way home. My first flight, Seoul to Hong Kong, was with Korean Air and the flight attendants were young, beautiful and tiny. Then from Hong Kong to Auckland I flew Air New Zealand and the flight attendants were old, ugly and huge! I wondered if Air NZ had purposely chosen the ugliest people the could find??? Having said that they were also incredibly helpful, the person who booked my flight forgot to book vegetarian meals for me and the Air NZ people went out of their way to find me vege food.

Once I arrived in Auckland I was shocked at how old, everybody looked, and how fat we are and how scruffy, and what huge noses we have!! (Korean's don't really get wrinkles until they are very very old, we on the other hand wrinkle in middle age.) I guess a year and a half of seeing slim and trim Koreans with small noses and business style clothes has altered my perception. I realised then that the Air NZ flight attendants probably weren't ugly, it's just my warped perceptions. It's been about a month now and I'm finally starting to see NZ'ers as normal again.

Another aspect of reverse culture shock has been the bathroom - I hated the toilet paper bin in the bathroom in Korea but it's become such a habit to use it that several times I've caught myself looking around wondering where I was supposed to deposit my used paper ... habit ... duh!

Since I've been home I've been working my way through my list of food I've missed:

• Crunchy Peanut Butter on Vogels toast - yes I know you can get peanut butter in Korea, but it's all imported from the US and has added sugar, Peanut butter should NOT be sweet! NZ peanut butter - delicious!!!
• LnP - if you don't know what this is ... ^^ come visit me in NZ and find out!
• Feijoa's - it is the wrong season for feijoa's but my Step Father bottled some for me, had them with Tip Top French Vanilla Ice cream - Heaven!
• Watties Tomato Sauce - on everything :-D Much better than Ketchup!
• Avocado - wonderful!!! In Korea they cost around $5 each when you can find them.

and the list goes on, but I won't tell you everything, wouldn't want to make you jealous ;-)

Another interesting thing has been seeing my families new home - they moved while I was away. It is in the country and it is like a park, there is a large hill, a stream and lots of green grass. In fact that is one thing I'm really really enjoying seeing all the grass and trees, in Seoul there is hardly any grass and very few trees. Here is a pic of their place - I shall have to take a better one, maybe when all the spring growth has sprung.

What happens next? Where is this Gypsy adventuring to after her holiday?? I don't know yet. Still praying and waiting to see where God sends me - to be honest I'm hoping it is back to Korea. But I do know that He has a plan and He will reveal it at just the right time and it will be glorious and fun and worthwhile for building up His Kingdom. And in the mean time I have the opportunity to sort all my stuff in storage and rediscover old treasures, and wonder what I was thinking when I decided to pack such and such, and get rid of some of the weirder things, and repack the rest. But that is a story for another post.

Cheers

Cat