“I am a teacher at an elementary school in Seoul, South Korea. There are days where I wonder how I’ve gotten to where I am in life. How a kid from a small town in Long Island, New York, has managed to find his way teaching English on the other side of the world? I am traveling in Japan for vacation, but my time in Korea has been one of the most interesting experiences of my life.

Being a foreigner in any foreign country is always an unique experience, but being a foreigner in a homogeneous society like Korea is something that I’ve never experienced in my life. From the stares on the subway, to the surprise from people for my ability to use chopsticks and eat spicy food, many seem to think that I am somehow different, just because I am who I am. And then, there is this rare hostility from some of the older people who simply hate my presence. But from all of that, I’ve been treated with kindness by almost all of the people that I have met in Korea.

It is the experience of meeting new people, and being able to interact, and live in a new culture that has made me travel halfway across the world. I hope, one day, to work as a diplomat or in a field where I can use all that I have learned and will learn, to help solve many of the issues that our world faces.”