6 Things I Don't Miss About South Korea after Moving Back to the U.S.

 

Since moving back to the United States, I have to say that there are certain things that I don't miss about my life back in South Korea. I do miss some aspects of South Korea and I will mention them in my next blog. Today, I will list things that I enjoy more in the United States compared to South Korea:

1. I love being able to drive anywhere I need to go. I could not go to Costco in Seoul unless I had a car. But because of the traffic, lack of parking available, good public transportation, and crazy drivers, I never bought a car in Seoul. Not having a car also prevented me from seeing more of South Korea.

2. I love the multicultural aspect of Southern California. You have Caucasians, Hispanics, African-Americans, Asians, and people who interact well with each other here. The media may make America out to be a racist country (yes, there are times where racism is a problem here), but in Southern California, no one sticks out because everyone is different.

3. The convenience stores have much better stuff than in Korea. You can get 100% juice, salty snacks, a huge selection of chocolate bars, and a huge assortment of gum. 

4. The laidback life has been missed. It's not a rat race here except during rush hour on the freeways. You don't feel guilty for not being busy. Sometimes that can tend to make you a bit lazy here, but it's nice not to feel like your competing as you're walking fast in a subway station on your way to work.

5. The food is outstanding! You can get great Italian food, Mexican food, Middle Eastern food, and great hamburgers. My wife would totally disagree about the food though. She thinks the food isn't spicy enough here, except a burrito containing especially hot sauce.

6. People are friendlier. You never feel shy to speak to strangers at a store, people say "excuse me" and "thank you", and you will probably get a "hi" as you pass a stranger on the street.

Scott Worden

Instagram: l.a.seoulguy

January 2021: Got a job and then.....QUIT.

In the second week of the new year, I applied for a behavior technician position on Indeed. The company was called Behavior Frontiers. Since I had experience working with autistic kids, I thought I would try and see what this company had to offer.

The recruiter from the company responded back and we had a short conversation on the phone. Things went pretty smoothly. Then he said he would like to go to the next step and have someone conduct a remote interview with me. I was excited and a week later, the guy contacted me via Google Meet. The app wasn't working very well on my computer, so he called me via video chat on his phone. 

The interview wasn't that difficult and the guy was really energetic and positive. I got hired! It was my first job in America since 2003! I had a good impression of the company and went through the typical pre-hiring process of filling out and signing documents. 

However, the next step was a bit rough. The new hires (including myself) had to watch 5-6 hours of training videos per day in one week. On top of that, the four of us had to meet with our trainer via video call. It seemed fairly useful, but it definitely wasn't as effective as having the training done in person. Nevertheless, the training was helpful and I was ready to get started with field training.

My first day of field training was planned by my scheduling coordinator. I was to go to a home in Simi Valley (24 miles and about 40 minutes from Santa Paula) and a trainer would conduct the first lesson. While she was doing the lesson, I would watch the trainer and take notes. I would also check off to see what was being done and ask questions if I had any. I was supposed to be at the home by 9:00am to begin my field training.

I overestimated the time a bit because I left at 7:30am and arrived at a shopping center near the home at 8:15am. I prayed, tried to get myself to relax, and played a game on my phone. Then when it was about 8:45am, I drove to the home. Then it got a bit confusing. The home was an apartment, but it looked like only tenants could park in the parking lot of the apartment complex. I couldn't find where guests could park, so I parked across the street from the apartment complex. When it was all said and done, it was 8:55am when I was on my way to the front door of the home.

After I rang the doorbell, a woman peeked out and looked very surprised. A Vietnamese woman opened the door and she told me that she had canceled the lesson because her daughter went to the doctor's office. At that point, I didn't know what to do because it was my first day and it was totally unexpected. I told the mother that I would figure it out and that she didn't need to worry. I called my training coordinator while outside the mother's front door, but she didn't answer the phone. I called the main office, and the man from the main office said that I was indeed scheduled to be there by 9:00am. He said he would call me back in a few minutes. A few minutes passed while I was outside the home, and he finally called me back. He said that the mother DID call and cancel the session and he apologized. I realized that I had driven all the way to Simi Valley for nothing.

The shocking thing for me was that the scheduling coordinator didn't call me back even after I arrived back home at 12:00pm. I got the hint that this company wasn't the best fit for me. In fact, it was probably more suitable for younger people that are looking for experience and will do anything to get a paycheck. Think about it: You get paid $20/hour (not horrible) but have to drive to 1-2 homes to teach an autistic child for 2-3 hours. Not only do you have to teach that child, but you have to correct their behaviors, take data (behavior and learning data), and you have to do it with the parent watching you or at least in the home with you. I came to the conclusion that I needed to quit and sent in my resignation letter. And of course, the scheduling coordinator immediately responded back. It was ironic, to say the least.

Scott Worden

Instagram: l.a.seoulguy

December 2020- Moving back to the United States

 

The last day (December 17) in Korea was tough. We had to get rid of our mattress, clean up our tiny apartment, go to the phone company to disconnect our lines, and then wait for my friend Erik to pick us up to go to the airport. Eunhee's sister, mother, and brother-in-law came and they said they would follow Erik to the airport to say goodbye. Unfortunately, Erik was stuck in traffic and he was about an hour late. Thankfully, we left early enough to still make it on time. We said goodbye to Erik and he drove away. Eunhee's sister, mother, brother-in-law, and our nephew came into the airport and waited for us to check-in. Then we said goodbye to them and it felt a bit strange because we knew we wouldn't see them for a very long time since Eunhee would be in the green card process. Then we got in line to get though security before arriving at the immigration desk. For the first time in 17 years, I gave up my alien registration card for good. Bye bye, South Korea....

Since Incheon Airport was fairly quiet, we didn't have any major problems getting to our gate. The weird thing was seeing most of the restaurants closed, and less than 20 people on our way to our gate when we got through immigration. Observing an airport that empty was a little surreal and a bit sad. Once we got on the plane, the plane was HALF full. California was in its peak period for the pandemic, so this worked out really well for us. Eunhee was able to lay down and sleep from Incheon to LAX. I was too energetic, so I watched a few movies. Sadly I can't remember what I watched at the moment. 

When we arrived at LAX, it was a ghost town, but not quite as bad as Incheon Airport. That also worked to our advantage since Eunhee and I were able to stand in the same line in the immigration line (Normally they separate US citizens from non-US citizens as most countries do). Eunhee went ahead of me and talked to the immigration officer. He asked her who I was with and she said "my husband" and he asked where I was and she pointed to me. He then asked me to come over and he asked where we were staying and I told him we were staying with my dad. Apparently, he asked Eunhee the same question and when I confirmed it, we both passed through immigration without any issues. The Lord was right there with us guiding us back to the U.S.! 

Scott Worden

Instagram: l.a.seoulguy

Two "Only in Korea" Situations Happened to My Friends This Week that I Won't Miss about Korea

Situation #1:

My church friend was riding his bike in the Gangnam area. While on a side road, his light was green but all of the sudden he saw a car running through a red light, so he slammed on his brake and he flew over the handlebars and landed on his right arm. To make matters worse, the middle-aged woman (affectionately known as an "ajumma" in Korea) look back and saw him lying on the street, but kept driving any way. If that wasn't bad enough, 10 different people saw him, but did nothing to help him out.

Situation #2:

My coworker is a young American guy from L.A. like me. He was smoking outside an office building where many other Korean middle-aged men were smoking. A woman approaches him and drills him by asking "Where are you from?", "Where do you work?", and "How long have you been in Korea?" He said that he thought it was okay to smoke there since every other business man was there and there were two Korean males smoking next to him, but they weren't approached. So he asked, "What about them? They're smoking too." The woman's response: "Well, that's just how we do things in Korea." Then she fined him W40,000 while the other two men got away without receiving a fine. My coworker was annoyed to say the least.

Scott Worden (The L.A./Seoul Guy)

Instagram: l.a.seoulguy

Two "Only in Korea" Situations Happened This Week That Will Make Me Miss This Country

 

Situation #1:

Last Thursday, while the Election was happening, I couldn't focus on teaching, I was glued to my phone between classes, and while I was grabbing a burger at McDonald's. Due to that, after I ate my burger at the McDonald's next to my work building, I left my jacket on the stool opposite the stool I was sitting on at 3:00. If it had been a colder day, I don't think I would've forgotten it, but because it wasn't that cool and I was so wrapped up in the elections, I easily forgot about it. 

By the time I left work at 9:00pm that night, I realized I immediately that I had left my jacket at McDonald's since it wasn't where I left. I quickly went back to McDonald's and it was exactly in the same position that I left it untouched. This is one thing I love about Korea. Stealing is rare and people never mess with things that isn't theirs.

Situation #2:

My friend Nate Richey and his fiancé were getting married on Saturday at 12:00pm. I decided to get there early, find a cafe and get some coffee. It took me about 15 minutes to find one, but I found a great one that was playing classical music, had comfortable seating, had great coffee, some fancy chandeliers, and a very kind cashier. The only thing that was weird about this place was the name as you can see in this picture....

I guess I was a deadbeat for getting coffee here! It still amazes me that the largest city in South Korea, 18th largest city in Asia, and the 28th largest city in the world, often has businesses with strange, funny, or weird English names like this. Regardless of that, this is also one of the reason why I love Korea!

Scott Worden (The L.A./Seoul Guy)

Instagram: l.a.seoulguy