#INTRO

Have you ever heard of reverse culture shock?

It refers to the feeling of disorientation that can happen when someone returns home after spending a significant amount of time living in another culture. Home is still home, of course, but strangely enough, some things that once felt completely normal can suddenly feel a little unfamiliar. I think I might be a living, breathing example of it. Every time I go back home to India, I find myself pleasantly surprised by how different certain things feel. These are the same things I grew up with and never really thought twice about, but after living in Korea for several years, I sometimes catch myself reacting to them differently.

In fact, I don't realize how many habits I've picked up in Korea until I go home and someone points one out,"Hey, what's up with you? Did you already forget how things are done here?" And that's usually when I think: Wait... when did I start doing that?

So today, I wanted to share three little habits I've picked up while living in Korea—habits that have slowly become such a normal part of my life that I hardly notice them anymore.

1. Being on time—actually on time

This probably sounds obvious to you. Some might even be thinking, Wait, do you mean you were you just late your entire life? Not exactly! Of course, when it came to classes, appointments, interviews, or anything official, being on time was expected. But living in Korea taught me something slightly different: punctuality in my personal life. Back home, at least among my friends and the people around me, we were always a little more relaxed about meeting times. If we decided to meet at 5 p.m., for example, there could be an unspoken understanding that people might actually start appearing around 5:30. Nobody really questioned it. It was simply how we worked.

Then I moved to Korea. Here, if someone says 5 p.m., I learned very quickly that they generally mean... 5 p.m. After living this way for a few years, something changed without me noticing. I started checking how long the subway would take, calculating when I needed to leave, and making sure I arrived when I said I would. Now when I go home, I'm sometimes the only person sitting there at the agreed time wondering where everybody is.

Living in Korea made me realize that being punctual isn't only about following a schedule. Time is precious, and showing up when you said you would is also a small way of respecting someone else's time. Somehow, without ever consciously deciding to change, it became my default..

2. Saying the little things out loud

This one might seem random, but I find it incredibly cute. Before learning Korean, the greetings I thought about most were basically variations of hello, goodbye, good morning, and thank you. Korean, however, seemed to have an expression for every little moment of the day. Before eating, there is 잘 먹겠습니다, and once the meal is over, 잘 먹었습니다. When someone has worked hard, you can say 수고하셨습니다, and when someone is heading out and coming back, there is 다녀오세요. If I'm the one leaving, it becomes 다녀오겠습니다. And these are only a few of the many little expressions that gradually became part of my everyday vocabulary.

At first, I used these expressions because I was learning Korean and thought, Okay, this is what I'm supposed to say now. At some point, though, I stopped translating them in my head. And that's when I realized how much I actually liked them. Of course, you don't necessarily need a special expression before every meal or whenever someone leaves the room. But there is something lovely about having these little moments of acknowledgement built into everyday life.

Saying 잘 먹겠습니다 gives a real voice to gratitude before a meal. Saying 수고하셨습니다 quietly honors the effort someone poured into their day. 다녀오세요 is such a simple thing to say, yet it holds a genuine wish for a safe departure and a smooth return. None of these phrases take much effort to say, but they make kindness and consideration just a little more audible. Now they come out almost automatically and occasionally even when nobody around me speaks Korean. Another when did I start doing that? moment.

3. Learning to enjoy my own company

This one, more than a habit, feels like a personal achievement. Before coming to Korea, there weren't many things I would willingly do alone. Eating at a restaurant alone, visiting somewhere by myself, or even just sitting and working at a café alone were things I couldn't really imagine doing. My thinking was always, “Why would I go all the way there alone? If it's going to be just me, I can just stay at home.”

But over the years I've lived in Korea, I started noticing just how natural it was to do things alone here. I learned about 혼밥, saw people spending afternoons by themselves in cafés, and slowly started doing the same. Somewhere along the way, my thinking changed. Just because it's only me doesn't mean the plan doesn't have to happen. I deserve to take myself out too! It sounds simple, but it is honestly one of the most empowering things I have learned while living here. I stopped feeling like I always needed someone beside me to enjoy an experience.

And this is probably one of the changes I notice most when I go back home. If there's a café I want to check out, a museum I want to visit, or simply somewhere I feel like going, not having someone available to come with me doesn't automatically mean cancelling the plan anymore. It might still be a little different from what people around me expect sometimes, but I don't mind. I've learned to genuinely enjoy my own company, and that feels extremely fulfilling to me.

#OUTRO

Four years in one country might seem like a relatively small chapter in the grand scheme of a lifetime, but to me, these four years have been incredibly significant. Maybe it's because of how intensely I've lived them. Moving away from everything familiar and building a life in another country made me grow in ways I probably couldn't have while staying within the comfort of home.

And the funny thing is, a lot of that growth didn't happen through big, life-changing moments but through tiny, little, seemingly insignificant moments. I didn't consciously decide to pick up these habits. Somewhere along the way, they simply became mine.

This will probably also be my last column here, which makes writing this one feel a little more special.

I've only been able to share a small part of my experiences through these columns, but putting them into words has been surprisingly cathartic for me. Writing about my experiences in Korea has often made me stop and think about things I otherwise wouldn't have noticed,including how much I have changed along the way. It has also helped me understand and navigate my own identity a little better: what I brought with me from home, what I've learned here, and the person I've become somewhere in between.

So, to everyone who has taken the time to read my columns and receive my stories so warmly, thank you. It has genuinely meant a lot to me, and I'm very glad I got the chance to share this little part of my life with you.