Happiness: Part 1 in a series: Tumblr
Over the next two months I want to write posts about the aspects of living here that have brought me happiness. It took me a while to find my rhythm in this country and I want to have a record of what made me feel my best if and when I read this blog in the future. They’ll be material and emotional, personal and universal. It’s for myself and what’s good about living here for me.
Hands-down, the best social decision I made before moving here was making a Korea-specific tumblr. I’ve had another tumblr blog for several years but wanted to have a blog that I could share with family and friends. I didn’t realize at the time how important the connections from this space would become for me. Like a lot of people here, I came to Korea within a couple months of graduating because I didn’t know what else to do. I knew a couple people here but they left a week after I arrived. I suddenly had no friends, no access to the language, no idea how to teach. I was frightened and clueless.
Enter tumblr. Getting involved with people I met through Tumblr was easily the most important factor in my building a social life here. Although I have close friends who live in my town (one of whom left this morning—I love you Brian), tumblr friends were there before I stepped foot on the plane. People like Kelly and Jessica immediately reached out to me when I decided to move here. Within a couple weeks of arriving, Kelly and I had met in person after months of emailing. Meeting her and later meeting the other tumblrs at the first meetup provided a network that has become a family. We come from different countries, have different backgrounds, different goals, and different points of view. I can’t tell you how valuable it’s been for me to have a group like my tumblr family around me. Although we’re spread across the world now (a few of us are still in the ROK!!), the friendships with them have become some of my most important. I missed out on a lot of gatherings because I’m a) lazy b) coupled up and c) live far from Seoul. Still, the events I attended were always a blast.
If you’re new to Korea, I can’t urge you enough to come to the meetup in a couple weeks. It was one of the smartest decisions I’ve made since moving here.
