Rushing to make the most out of Korea

Since arriving in Korea, I’ve been thinking only about what I can do to make my experience “worthwhile”. How can I accumulate enough interesting experiences to make myself an interesting person when I talk to someone in the future? I get angry with myself after I wasted time instead of doing something interesting for my future riveting conversations with who knows. I look down on the people who have yet to find a job after college: what have you been doing the whole time? Just living with your parents? What kind of things have you been doing? Are you anymore interesting? I’ve been working as an English teacher in another country. You haven’t been to Korea, have you? I’m taking TaeKwonDo. I’m learning Korean. What have you been up to? Seen any good movies? Been getting drunk with your old boring friends? That’s about all right?

And then, when I’m not thinking about what experience I should gather next for my treasure trove (it’s never big enough), I’m looking at facebook albums of people who have gotten another experience that I haven’t yet. And then they post statuses and write on walls: “Busan this weekend: sun, sand, and fun!” “Just had an AWESOME weekend…I LOVE KOREA!”

I look at these life experience stat sheets and plan ways to catch up. I try to squeeze as much “fun” and newness into my free time as I can. But then I never have anyone to tell about any of it.

I sometimes long for home; sitting around with old high school friends, talking about nothing, making the same inside jokes that are still funny after they’ve become annoying to everyone else, drinking and not caring about tomorrow, relaxed, talking about past glories in high school, how lame we are now, but still enjoying it. Talking about how great life is. Laughing about things that aren’t so great. Talking dreamily about the future, but not feeling pressure from it. I think that one moment like that is worth any mountain climbed, any museum visited, any cultural experience had, any weird food tried, any landmark photographed. If you can talk, you can talk. If going around doing things just to say you’ve done them is all you’re doing with your life, there’s no point. No one will be impressed.

What’s better, a man who travelled the world and never really saw it, or a man who sat in his living room with a beer and enjoyed every second of it?