The final class of my last semester teaching for Chungdahm Learning in Seoul, South Korea was one of the most bittersweet moments of my life thus far (as cheesy as that sounds). Saying goodbye (or annyeong 안녕) to the land of kimchi, soju, and gorgeous mountains was not an easy choice. The joys of overindulging on Korean bbq – and singing way too late into the night (or morning) at a local noraebang – aside, I will miss teaching and the amazing people I met there.
The nervousness I felt before landing in Seoul was all about the excitement for a new adventure and new experiences. And through my year living in Seoul, I felt like I grew a lot as a person. As cliché as that may sound – it’s true! There’s that famous quote from Mark Twain: “Travel is fatal to prejudice, bigotry, and narrow-mindedness”, and while I didn’t leave the United States as an intolerable bigot (we have enough of those already) – I did learn a lot about living in and being a part of a different culture, and came out the better for it.
Moving to Korea I did not know what to expect, whether I would like or dislike the job – the country – etc. What I found was a lively metropolis filled with kind, friendly people, delicious food, a genuinely fun place to explore, and a job that I enjoyed. While there I was lucky to witness the Winter Olympics, the successful impeachment of a corrupt president, and the election of a new president (sidenote: elections in South Korea were really fun to witness, each candidate had their own K-pop style dancing group to promote them. Don’t believe me?). Through some effort, or trial by fire, I was able to learn how to read and communicate in another language (albeit at an elementary level). I was also able to travel all around the country, visit Vietnam, and am heading to France and Italy on the long journey home. And, although the job had its inherent struggles, I enjoyed joking around with my students, and made life-long friendships with co-workers.
Often in social media and to the public we show only our best face: the highlight reel filled with all the positives, keeping the times of struggle to ourselves. Living outside of my own country for the first time in my life wasn’t all easy. There were definitely moments where I felt like crying out of frustration trying to navigate the complexities of doing something in a foreign language – hospitals and banking particularly come to mind. As an obvious foreigner, there was quite a bit of intense staring that broached on awkwardness, and was sometimes hard to ignore; and people approaching you only to practice their English could sometimes result in fun interactions with strangers, or not… And then there was the obvious pang of missing family, and only being able to talk to my parents rarely as they have not mastered Skype/internet things very well.
Most significant were the difficulties of teaching amazingly bright Korean children in a problematic and stressful education system. As an academy (or hagwon) teacher, students would often come in to class exhausted from a full day of school for a three hour long class – which was piled on top of their numerous other math, science, and etc hagwons, as well as homework from school that would keep them up late into the night. It was painfully obvious how little sleep they were able to get, and they are so young! I did my best to help them laugh and express their creativity in class, but there was only so much I could do as such a small cog in the Korean education machine.
Even through these difficulties, my experience in Korea was wonderful. My daily life was comfortable, and it was gratifying to work in and be able to explore such a beautiful country. I will forever be thankful that I was able to accomplish this personal goal.
So…what comes next?
It was an exceedingly hard decision to leave. My entire last term I waffled back and forth between the choice of staying another year or returning home. My main reason for leaving was wanting more than just an easy and comfortable life, something I could have maintained indefinitely in Korea. I love teaching, and it is something I was unsure about before actually doing it in Seoul. Because of this, when I return home I will be pursuing my teaching certificate to become an Art teacher – and hopefully help inspire the creativity in more students.
If you’re considering teaching abroad, I cannot encourage you enough. It is absolutely worth it. You will have a memorable, impactful experience that will change your life for the better. Korea will always be in my heart, and I’m looking forward to the day when I can visit again.
Clumsy Adventurer 