Although it’s been almost a year since I left Korea, I still find myself reading Korean blogs, following the Korean news, and speaking in Konglish to people who don’t seem to get the joke. I started blogging again, but I find that I am blogging about Korea, not America, Russia, or the Emirates, where I now live.

Although my general quality of life here is much better, what I really miss about Korea was being part of a community. Because any non-Korean is not welcome into the fabric of society, any foreigner, especially westerners, tend to stick together to form some kind of place or situation where we can feel comfortable and at home. The really nice thing about it is, unless you completely lack social skills (and sometimes even if you do), you’re going to be accepted into the community. You will be served a beer in our bars and someone will ask how your day was or how long you’ve been here in English. There are minor jokes, but it doesn’t matter which country you came from or if you’re a democrat or a republican, you’ll find someone to talk to and while away the time with. When you leave, people will use it as their excuse to drink and buy you a drink that weekend, and when you come back, the same will happen all over again.

Depending on where you get your statistics from, only 10-15% of the population of Emirates is local, which means 85-90% of the people here are from somewhere else. UAE, like America, is more or less an immigrant society, although it’s important to note that the vast majority of the people who come to Emirates plan to leave. They plan on making some money and going back home, whereas in the states a larger portion try or would like to stay permanently. In this way, the foreign communities in Korea and Emirates are similar.

The Emirates, especially in Dubai and Abu Dhabi, have places (again, bars) where we can meet other foreigners and share our lives and experiences as well as a drink. However, I don’t find myself connecting with these people the way I did in Korea. My thoughts as to why this is vary, but I’m pretty sure it’s mostly because we’re not looked upon as invaders, and are “normal” people in this society.

I’ll continue this train of thought later.