Dear Korea,

You’ve made Starbucks a special place for me. In the states, it’s just been reliable coffee and free wifi. But here, it’s become part of my life. There’s one close to my apartment that I come to probably four times a week to write. I always order one of two things, either a Grapefruit Honey Black Tea or a Grapefruit Fizzio. Just sometimes, an Americano. I’m a regular. So much in fact that the girls at the register know me by now and always smile when I say hello.

Tonight as I went to pick up my order the girl had placed some cookies on the tray next to my drink. I looked at her confused at first because I wasn’t sure if it was someone else’s order. She tried explaining in Korean at first, and then I told her I couldn’t understand. Then she began speaking a few words in English and told me that she was really tired from working, but when I walked up and smiled at her, it made her feel better. With a huge grin on my face, I said thank you in Korean 감사합니다. Sometimes it’s the little things that make the biggest difference. And it’s these little moments of feeling acceptance by other Koreans in your birth country that just feels. So big. And so fulfilling.