Home is where the food is

I don't usually get homesick here, but yesterday I got news that a friend is going to have a baby (congratulations!). It made me think about all the things I miss out on by being in a different country.

On the plus side, baby clothes and such are really cute and really cheap here. So she has no idea what can of worms she opened by telling me.

The great thing about Seoul is that when you feel like something from home, you can usually find it or a close facsimile. I mean, I live a block away from TGIFridays. Outback steakhouse is a five minute cab ride in either direction, and Dunkin Donuts is everywhere. I don't actually go to those places, but they are an option. There's also Costco, which can be a source of those hard to find items. A foreign food market is in Itaewan, not to mention a plethora of foreign restaurants.

So in short, I have a lot of food from home available to me. Food is a big factor in how homesick I feel, so that's helpful. Granted no amount of McDonalds can make up for the fact that I can't have my mom's homemade cinnamon rolls or turkey tetrazzini. I can make some of those things here (but let's be honest, it always tastes better when she does it). Then there are always those kind of disgusting items that you crave but can't find as easily. My parents remedied that by bringing me candy corn for Christmas. Mom was a little concerned about it being old, but it's candy corn after all. It was probably already a year old when she bought it. I think it was available around Halloween, but I had trouble finding it. Now I'm holding my breath for Easter jelly beans.

Though in a funny twist of fate, I got homesick for Korean food when I was in China. I'm not sure what that means for me when I get home because I'm not sure South Dakota has any Korean Restaurants.

I guess that means the main source of my homesickness is going to be when people I love and care about have positive or negative news. So far, I haven't been able to be home for a wedding, the baby news, or a friend with serious medical worries. Maybe it doesn't make a HUGE difference to them, but when I can't even call someone to say "OH MY GOD! YOU'RE HAVING A BABY!" without planning the time days in advance, it kinda sucks.

Stupid fifteen hour time difference.