With the completion of week four approaching, I finally feel fully settled into my life in Seoul and my internship placement. This past weekend I did so many activities, including exploring an interactive exhibition called HiKR Ground, eating lunch at Namdaemun Market (one of the traditional markets here in Seoul), getting a tarot reading, and having a dinner of street food in Myeongdong followed by two hours of karaoke, called “noraebang” in Korean. I also went to a garden show held by the city of Seoul that was quite far from my accommodation in a place called Boramae Park. It was really nice to spend time surrounded by trees and flowers, and despite the quite large amount of people there, it was quiet and peaceful, which is a wonderful aspect of Korean culture that we unfortunately do not see in the US. As this is my second time in Korea, I’m becoming more aware of the aspects of daily life here that I like and that I don’t, and the way people behave on public transportation and in areas that should be quiet is something I really appreciate. People are almost never loud in public spaces– although this adjusts with the setting. In malls, people are a little louder, but in parks people keep their voices down. In public transportation, people speak only in hushed tones and it is seen as impolite to take phone calls. These are things I really appreciate, because in Western cultures people tend to be very loud which can be really overstimulating!

Since this is my first professional internship experience, it is impossible for me not to learn and grow. So far, the hard technical skills I have developed include further practice working with spreadsheets, writing motivation and cover letters, and writing job and volunteer application emails. Along a similar vein, my soft transferable skills include communication skills via zoom, phone calls, and email, and the ability to lead conversations with people who are uncomfortable and often nervous as well as part of a different culture than me. This improvement in my communication skills is incredibly important for my future career as a social worker, especially since my goal is to build communication between communities and legislators to address the true needs of people rather than just their perceived needs. As a social worker, I need to be able to foster environments in which people feel safe to be themselves, acknowledge their weaknesses, and ask for help, so this internship is valuable to me in that I can practice my ability to communicate and comfort Korean students who often feel uneasy and unsure about speaking in a foreign language during our calls.

One thing I have been quite good at since I studied abroad is quickly adapting to my environment. I am extremely observant, so this quality along with my cultural understanding of Korea allows me to fit into all different settings here, and easily maneuver the different aspects of Korean life like the frequent use of kiosks, how doors slide open by pushing a button, and how elevator buttons can be un-pressed. When I don’t know how something works, like ordering food or other cultural practices, I watch the way other people do it and quickly adjust myself. This seems simple, but in reality it can be hard to slow down and watch others when you are so hyper aware of what you are doing wrong and how you may be being perceived; I have learned that it is best to stay calm no matter how flustering a situation may be, and observing others or looking things up will pretty much always answer your questions. If not, there is no shame in using a translator and asking a worker your questions. 

When going abroad, it is important to go with an open mind, as it is guaranteed that there will be aspects of daily life in that country that do not seem natural or familiar to you, so being open to anything and everything really is important. These combined skills of being able to stay calm in difficult situations, feeling shameless enough to make mistakes and ask questions, and being open to new ways of doing things make me a much better, well-rounded person. These are skills I have gained and refined through being abroad in the past and present, and they make me more patient and confident in my everyday life. Thanks to having experience abroad, I am comfortable with being uncomfortable, and to me that is the greatest skill one can have.