So as you know from reading my posts through this journey, I have been living in Korea for the past 10 months. At the beginning of July, I headed to Busan on a Friday night to meet my aunt and uncle who traveled to visit me. We stayed on Haeundae Beach, which is a popular tourist destination.

Because I live in a smaller city, going to Haeundae and seeing other foreigners every three seconds was quite the adjustment. But there were also some good surprises while I was there. Whenever I went into a store, the employee automatically switched to English, and when I responded in Korean, they were usually pleasantly surprised.

People in Jinju typically speak Korean first since there aren’t that many foreigners. Also because I study Korean every week, my skills have improved a lot since I arrived here and since my mom, sister and my brother-in-law’s sister visited me in February, which you can read about in one of my previous posts. Going to Busan and leading the way for my aunt and uncle was another test for me, that I like to think I passed with flying colors.

It’s always a rewarding experience to use what you learn and actually have Korean people understand what you are trying to say. I also enjoy the fact that my Korean skills made it a little easier for people to do their jobs.

Thanks for reading. 읽어줘서 감사합니다. Look forward to a longer post about the rest of our vacation in Japan! Stay safe and stay happy. 안건하고 해복하게 지네라료.