We're Not in Kansas Anymore...

I'm 25 years old and until now I have never lived outside of Kansas. Sure, I did a study abroad trip in college and I have tried to travel abroad as often as I could... but these activities never actually amounted to me living somewhere "exciting" for more than several weeks. And by "exciting" I mean somewhere OUTSIDE of Kansas! [FYI mom, I love that I could grow up in Kansas and I miss it already...] But today my husband Nir, our little daughter Ayalah and I are officially residents of Seoul, South Korea. We have now lived in our Korean apartment for 30 days and will be hanging our Mezuzot scrolls tomorrow. These scrolls will hang on every doorpost of our home and indicate to all who passby that we are a Jewish family.

Before sundown tonight Ayalah and I went out to get some Coca-Cola from a local vendor. As she and I left our house we saw the sun setting against an amazing view of the city's sky scrapers. This image is what you see when you walk out the door of our apartment; the glass globe structure is a main train station called Noksapyeong. Suddenly as we walked up the street all the sights that had seemed foreign to me for the past month felt different. There was the man on the sidewalk handling glass with white workman gloves stained with red paint; workman gloves are actually manufactured in Korea with ready-made red paint stain splotches on the fabric (I know, somewhat odd but kinda cool so long as you aren't a perfectionist.) A large wagon of fresh fruit was being carted down the street by a man on foot - a powerful flashback to a scene that might have happened in the U.S. in the 1920's. Yet modern cars passed by busily, nearly each one with LCD TVs and GPS systems gleaming from their windows.

All these and other sights of Korea that my senses seemed to rebel for the past few weeks seemed to change in a single moment. Suddenly they felt familiar to me. I wonder if this is why Mezuzot should be hung only after 30 days, is this how long it takes for someone to feel comfortable enough in a place to call it their home?