
      &lt;h2&gt;An alumnus describes his initial culture shock after moving across the globe
&lt;/h2&gt;

&lt;p class=&quot;info&quot;&gt;
  &lt;span class=&quot;section&quot;&gt;Pillbox&lt;/span&gt;
  | &lt;span class=&quot;byline&quot;&gt;Mark Rudnick&lt;/span&gt;
  
&lt;/p&gt;

  &lt;div class=&quot;body&quot;&gt;
      &lt;p&gt;Only a few hours into my stay in Korea and I was already sweating. No, it wasn&rsquo;t my concern over starting a new job, nor was it my apprehension at moving to a country halfway across the globe. It was the &lt;em&gt;ddeokbokki&lt;/em&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;After graduating from Carnegie Mellon in 2009 with a degree in English and history, I decided to pick up my life and try my hand as an English teacher in South Korea. At the time, I knew almost nothing at all about Korea and its culture, people, language, or food. I wanted to see the world, and I had never been to Asia. The prospect of desperately searching for an offer in the black hole that was the American job market wasn&rsquo;t especially appealing to me. Plus, I&rsquo;d spent a semester as a junior in Barcelona and loved the experience of living abroad. &ldquo;How different could it really be?&rdquo; I thought.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;As it turns out, I had almost no idea what I had gotten myself into. Nearly everything about living and working in Korea required a sizeable adjustment for me. Overcoming t...&lt;/p&gt;

      &lt;br /&gt;
      &lt;strong&gt;
        Read the full article
        &lt;a href=&quot;http://thetartan.org/2011/10/10/pillbox/talesfromabroad&quot;&gt;online&lt;/a&gt;.
      &lt;/strong&gt;
  &lt;/div&gt;

  