So Long to Songdo

Generally, I try to frame entries into the blog in an impersonal manner so as to showcase varies communication issues in a manner to which others can relate. This specific entry is going to be a bit different. Between February 25 and June 25 of this year, I taught communication classes at George Mason University's campus in Songdo, South Korea. I taught two public speaking classes and one public relations class. Collectively, I had 44 students. (As I write this, Mason has been a presence in South Korea for approximately one year. Enrollment is small but on the rise.) My experience with the students, staff and other faculty was nothing less than wonderful.


While I have traveled to other countries, this was my first experience actually living abroad for any extended period of time. No question, going into it I was apprehensive and nervous. Would I fit in? How would I resolve any problems I might have? Suppose I did not make any connections with my fellow workers or with the students? These were just a few of the many what I might term "insecure-based" questions I had the days leading up to when I traveled over there. Much to my delight, those and other related questions quickly vanished within moments of my time with the folks there.


In terms of communication, one discovery of mine was that so many of my feelings were not universal. My colleagues were very sympathetic to my insecurities and went out of their to help address them. That never stopped. Their attitude and behavior reinforced the notion that so much of we as individuals wrestle them are challenges that are not unique to us. This, I learned, is part of the reality that all of us - no matter where we live - have much more in common than not. Leave it to the good people of Songdo to remind me of that truism. All of us, including professional communicators, need to do a better of job of spreading that piece of news.