Welcome"Home" ...at last

Home, home at last and without any glitches. My flights back to Korea ended up being just as planned. I was so relieved.

I experienced a bit of culture shock at the airport in Frankfort. International airports are oddities, I think, because within them lives subcultures--little Korea's, little North Americas, little Africa's, and little China's, etc. Depending on what gate you go to, what company you fly with, or what flight you are on determines the culture, the language, the amount of times you have to hear the emergency proceedures before the plain takes off, and what inflight menu will be offered. For my case I entered into a German brand of Korea. I prolonged my entrance into the gate just to have a few more moments in Europe. Saying goodbye is tough! When I finally got up from my leaning against the post in the middle of the hall, I entered into Asia. Immediately as I entered the seating area for my Lufthansa flight I felt so out of place. No, no... I really do not want to leave the land where I almost fit in, where people do not assume I speak English, where I can hide (almost) that I come from the USA. As I looked around feeling the weight of leaving the west I noticed how I was one of a handful of white faces. It hit me, "You are going "home" to Asia. You may be going "home" but you are not going home. Already I heard the familiar sounds of Hangul (Korean) in the air. I was reminded how different the concept of space is as all chairs were full and people were rubbing shoulders and pushing...already!! There was a blond girl who shares my whiteness who looked like she was having trouble and she was asking, "Do you speak English?" She was half way across the room and I about shouted, "I do". I was thinking I could help her. No, she was needing Koreans who spoke English for some work project. She was doing interviews. Here I was thinking I had entered Korea and thinking I might be of some help to a foreigner..like me! Oh well, so much for trying to be helpful. I had not technically left Europe but at the gate of my flight to Korea I had already entered Asia. It was my pre-home "welcome home".