Homesickness. It comes with the territory when you live in a foreign country. No matter how awesome that country may be, no matter how many great new experiences you encounter, you still find yourself missing the familiar. Many people deal with homesickness in many different ways. Some people dedicate their time to creating a place that alleviates that sadness. In Gwangju, we are lucky to have several people that bring tiny parts of Western culture to our bustling Korean city. Two such men are Michael Simming and Tim Whitman.
The First Alleyway and The Underground Grocer are marvelous places. They are places one can go to eat familiar foods impossible to find elsewhere, and to have company with people who understand you. The simple experience of a slice of Key Lime pie, English conversation, and music you know and remember is a priceless experience, that happens to only cost 4,000 KRW.
Both of these men constantly look for ways to bring pieces of home to Korea for us so that we can go somewhere and feel like we spent a little time there. The Alleyway provides a dining experience that is delicious and familiar, be it a burrito, macaroni and cheese, or pie like mom used to make it. The Underground Grocer brings us grocery items that are either extremely difficult or impossible to find elsewhere, i.e. deli meats and Root Beer. I don't know if they realize how much the foreign population of Gwangju appreciates them, but they are definitely appreciated in our household.
Since I became pregnant, life has been very fast and eventful. I have found myself several times feeling extremely frustrated with life here be it as simple as food I want but can't find or something more inconvenient like a broken air conditioner and a language barrier. The last two days in itself have been very testing and a trip to the Alleyway for dinner was just what the doctor ordered.
Michael and Tim, if you read this, I want to say thank you for what you do for all of us. It makes living here that much more wonderful :)
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