By Yoon Chay

It has been one week in Seoul, and I have been fully enjoying the elements of modern civilization – hot shower, a soft bed, AC, internet, TV, coffee, safe public transportation, few bug bites. It is nice to spend time with my family and friends and be physically comfortable. However, there is something missing in this city – a simple form of life.

When there is not enough running water in Nepal, people collect rain water for cooking and bathing. When electricity goes out at night, they go to bed early. Children do not need a playstation or fancy toys to have fun. They play volleyball or football (ok, ok, I know you Americans call it soccer) with flip flops. When there is not enough of something, you just live with the shortage. As long as they have enough food to feed their family, people seem satisfied. All these sound very basic and inconvenient, but for some reason I miss this simple life style in which I was able to smile quite often and rarely get stressed about anything except spicy pepper, bug bites, and Korean football team losing to Uruguay.

Life is just a lot more complicated in the US or Seoul – school, family, friends, emails, Facebook, credit cards, cell phones, TV, news, and etc. There are just too many things to meet and people to do – higher expectations I have to fulfill everyday. At the moment, I am little confused whether these elements of complicated modern life actually make me and other people happier than ones in Nepal. I miss Nepal, its people, and its simple life. Dah-dah (bye), Nepal, for now. I will be back!