Korea..Kor-eh-ah..you remind me of the west side story..growin' up in Spanish Harlem!

Oh Korea.

I love you alot. I have come to adore your food. Your people are kinder and more compassionate than I could have ever possibly imagined. Your scenery is serene and beautiful, your cities are bustling, and the nightlife is ridiculous. I love that I can't throw a rock without hitting a Budhist temple. I love that I can't go a week without craving Galbi . I love that ice cream tastes better here. Korea, I have even come to understand your obsession with delicous burning hot kimchi,(although that rumor that it cures everything from ADHD to male homosexuality....yeah Korea...I don't think that's a substantiated scientific fact).

I like most everything about you Korea... But sometimes, Korea, sometimes, I feel like you are the land that logic forgot.

Now Korea(and Korean friends of mine who might be reading this), I don't mean this in a negative way. The lack of logic I encounter(or rather the logic I don't encounter) makes everday a treasure trove of surprises. I love that I can never be one hundred percent positive that the bus I'm riding is going to end up where it the bus schedule claims it will. I love that my classes get cancelled at random and I'm often left with a ton of free time.I even love that the Korean sense of time is completely arbiatrary and that everyone is always late for everything.

I love it. I just don't "get" it. Why do you believe in fan death? Why don't you sell cheddar cheese? Why is my bus driver insane? Why is your sense of time different than my sense of time? Why is drinking and driving so common? Why do you both love and hate Westerners? Is your idea of punishment(corporal punishment) and your focus on personal appearances morally and ethically wrong? Or am I just socially constructed to believe one thing, and you're socially constructed to believe another? Perhaps most importantly, why, oh why, do you find insect larvae delicous?

Sincerely,
A confused and naive western girl