Adjustment.

Adjusting to life in an alien culture is always difficult. Whilst I've been living and working in the UK the time I spent in Asia seems at times just a dream, yet the reality is I have spent a lot of time in East Asia and that makes adjustment much easier. That's not to say there is no culture shock though, there's always something new to surprise and challenge you when you leave your comfort zone behind.
When we live our lives we don't always realise it but we spend much of our time becoming attached to things we find make us comfortable and push away things we don't like. That's how we build our comfort zones and we feel discomfort when they are challenged or we step too far out. So, it's nice to have things around us that make us at ease but the problem with becoming strongly attached to impermenant things such as places, people, possessions and even our own health is that the harder we try to hold on to them the less peaceful we feel as we know that however hard we try we will not be able to keep things the same forever. It is greed to try to do so and we become unable to actually enjoy the simple things in life such as the sound of the breeze in the trees or the rise of the sun in the morning as our minds are elsewhere, thinking about how we will afford certain things or what if so and so happens... this is not a pleasant state. Our mind and our attention is normally anywhere but on what we are actually doing so that we almost never notice that we are breathing or feel the ground beneath our feet. Why would that even matter we ask? Because when the mind is focused on these simple realities is the only time we feel truly at ease and have a peaceful heart. Everyone has lay on a beach and just listened to the sea or sat on a bench and looked at the grass and felt peaceful and happy for no reason other than that simple experience. Although usually it is just a matter of seconds before the next thought pops into our heads and takes us away again.
So, going out of your comfort zone is very good for you. Whilst the process of detatchment can be uncomfortable and even painful at times, it is also liberating and allows us to grow. A little bit at a time though, as it's easy to push yourself too far in one go.
Our comfort zones are at times also our prison boundaries, and our attachments are a source of future suffering.

What have I been up to in Korea the past few days? Been to a ski resort near the East coast, did some night time snowboarding, got a dodgy stomach from East Asian water and spent the whole second day of skiing in bed, recovered, visited naksansa temple on the third day and even made it onto the beach (very cold though!) then came back to Seoul. Done a lot of visiting relatives and friends and got a busy a busy schedule of more of the same for the last three days.