Foreigners

I don't know what is going on with me lately. I cannot stand to hang out with the foreigners here in Korea. By foreigners I mean the other teachers from the U.S., Canada, Australia, etc. It is becoming a real problem I think.

Lately I've been feeling the need to edit my life a bit. I mean that I'm now pulling my close friends closer and cutting loose those people that do nothing for me emotionally and spiritually. I have to say that the vast majority of the foreign teachers here flal into the latter category.

About 90% of the foreigners here tend to be completely superfluous. They talk and talk and talk but they don't say anything. They are acquaintences. I find them to be really disengenuous. Also, in my city they are very much like high school students. They talk about everyone behind their back and are constantly backstabbing. So, in order to save my own sanity I simply don't hang out with them. I won't do it. When I have to spend any time with them I get very stressed out. I'm sure they're nice people, but they are toxic to my wellbeing.

Anyway, my friend Jude experienced this first hand over the weekend. He was in Anseong for the Baudeogi Festival. He wanted to go to the bar where the foreigners go, Ouzo. I took him. The next table had a couple of foreigners and some Koreans all talking. Talking about nothing, but talking non-stop. After only 30 minutes of this Jude looked at me and said "get me the hell out of here!" He'd had enough. Needless to say, I will never go to this bar again.

I'm officially done with these foreigners. Keeping these "friendships" are draining emotionally and leave me feeling more lonely than if I were to just stay by myself. So I choose to keep in touch with the handful of foreigners who actually speak and have things to say. They contribute to my wellbeing. That's my life here as of late.