Hey, it's HowBIM. The weather was so nice I even filmed outside. I'm setting BIM aside today and talking through my first three weeks in the US. If this isn't your thing, feel free to skip it. 😊
I was in Melbourne, spent two or three months in Korea, and now I'm in Duluth, Georgia. Before I got here I told myself, "Okay, time to actually use American English." I studied for it. Then I showed up and… most of the people I meet are Korean. I barely need English. Weird, right?
Duluth is almost a little Korea
A lot of Korean people live in Duluth and nearby Suwanee. Korean signs stand out on the street. I went to the bank and the staff member was Korean too — at Bank of America. I thought, "You really could live here without speaking English."
Korean food is not something to worry about here
When you live abroad, Korean food is one of the things you miss most. Duluth has plenty of restaurants, and the Korean grocery stores are huge. In Australia, banchan and soup were so hard to find that I used to stuff my bags whenever I went back to Korea. I don't need to do that here. Banchan, soups, a huge frozen section, even the seafood is sold the Korean way.
Even better: after 5 p.m. the side dishes are often half price. At that point, buying them can feel smarter than cooking.
The town feels like it is in the middle of a boom
It reminds me a little of the Melbourne suburbs I used to live in, but Duluth also feels like a city that is still lifting off. In the last few years, Korean companies — especially battery and auto-related plants — have been moving into Georgia, and the area has been developing quickly.
It does not feel fully settled yet, but you can feel money moving and opportunities growing.
Opportunity is closer than it looks
With immigration policy changing, just being in the US can itself be a large opportunity.
People often fear going abroad because of language, food, and a new environment. Here, those things are not that frightening. Competition also feels lighter than in Korea, and there seem to be more openings. Construction in particular looks much more open than the Korean market. The land is wide, and something is always being built.
And this matters: Korean people are really capable. Wherever they go and whatever they do, the baseline skill is high, so they often earn trust locally. When a Korean company is involved, they often prefer hiring Koreans too.
Closing
If you didn't mind this more personal one, tell me in the comments. I'll keep comparing life in the US, Korea, and Australia, lightly, one piece at a time.
#life in America #Georgia #Duluth #immigration #Korean town #settling overseas #US construction market