Now I am based out of Hong Kong, with hubby still in Korea. It's been a month in which I jetted around Hong Kong, Beijing, Singapore and Korea. To my surprise, when I got back to Korea, I saw the notorious immigration sign saying "Foreign Passport" and "Korean Passport" instead of "Foreigners" and "Koreans".This small change does make a difference. Although it still doesn't sound as courteous as "Visitors" and "Residents" as in Hong Kong, at least they now assign the nationality to the passport, and not to the person.
It reflects the already mentioned changes in Korea over the two years that I lived there. Today I was carrying a parcel from Amazon up to our apartment in the elevator when the woman standing next to me asked (in perfect English) if it was now possible to order directly from Amazon. Because two years ago it wasn't. I said that Korea has changed a lot during these two years - to the good - and I mean it. Having been part of that transformation process is a true priviledge.
I often wondered these days what "home" is for me. Is it Switzerland, where I spent most of my life? Hong Kong, where I'm based now and where I speak the language of the locals and life is amazingly convenient? Or is it Korea, where I've lived for the last two years of my life? The reason I felt like coming home to Korea has to do with the fact that I realized how much I've fallen in love with the way I'm being treated by the Koreans. Nowhere else have I felt as warmly received and more friendly treated as in Korea. If someone asks me what I like about Korea, the first answer is the people's friendliness.
Yes, the country might not be as easy and convenient as Hong Kong is for foreigners, and there were many things I did complain about. But imagine, I got into a ridiculous fight with a taxi driver in Hong Kong because he was not willing to drive me up the hill into a dead end, even if I had a heavy suitcase to carry, and that just because he wasn't willing to maneuver his car out of there again.
On my way back from Beijing, a Hong Kong flight attendant of Dragonair snarled at me that I can put up my bag into the overhead compartment myself instead of helping me, and that because my American neighbor upset her by asking why she had to put her bag up. The flight attendant snapped at her in a harsh tone that it was blocking her from taking her life-jacket, and that it was very important. When the American lady said sarcastically: "Only if you plan on crashing", she took it very personal and picked on me.
Hong Kong people tend to be rude. Many of them. Opposed to that, on the Korean Air flight, the flight attendant asked me politely and with a smile if she might put my bag in the overhead compartment for take-off. And when I got into Korea, I met the taxi driver I ordered. He politely bowed in front of me and carried my suitcase. He even drove the car to a dry spot because it was raining. For no extra tip.
Now you tell me why I feel more at home in Korea, even if I am greeted there as "Foreign Passport" instead of "Visitor"?
