I garner a lot of attention as a foreigner in South Korea. Children stare and point as I walk down the street or shout out the three or four English words they know. One night Aaron and I took the train home and met some Korean teenagers while waiting for a taxi. They told Aaron he was handsome and called me beautiful. They also complimented us on our fashionable clothing and then one of the boys claimed to be a Korean superstar.
Older Koreans have accosted me at a park, a train station, and a street corner. They are not hostile, but merely curious why I am in their country. Of course explaining my presence can be difficult since our languages don't even have the same alphabet. I mean I understand the whole Tower of Babel and the division of languages but seriously couldn't we all have had the same alphabet? It would make life so much easier.
I've never felt so different in my life or felt the truth of that phrase about sticking out like a sore thumb (which by the way does not make much sense. does a sore thumb stick out any more than a perfectly normal one?) It is readily apparent from my physical appearance that I am not a native in this country. I am tall for a woman and my hair is not jet black. I am a curiosity.
It is a novel experience. I was three when my family moved to Germany and 5 when we left so I don't have any vivid impressions of the country or the people. In England I blended in well enough as a long as I kept my mouth shut. Besides, the English are happiest when everybody minds their own business; they are not a welcoming people.
Some days I can laugh at the children as they stare open mouthed at me and other days I want to lecture them on good manners. I think it will be nice to return to the US and blend in again.