Blog Revival, Future, Etc
Greetings and good tides after yet another long drought from posting. I am reviving this blog mostly due to my impending move in less than 80 days as an attempt to stay in touch with my friends that will now be 14 time zones away. This will be the lazy way to keep up with what is going on in my life, a better way would be to figure what times of the day I could be online.
This move is going to be huge. I am moving to South Korea to teach English as a second language. I was kind of randomly contacted by a recruiter after placing my resume online and after a couple of interviews, was offered the job. I thought about it for a week or so and decided to make the leap.
At first, even when I had decided to go for it, I was a little nervous, somewhat scared about moving 14 time zones away from everything that I have ever known. I have never lived outside of Illinois. I have only left the country to sight-see (Niagara Falls) or party (Toronto and Cancun for Spring Break). I wanted to get away from central Illinois due to a rush of drama that engulfed my final semester of college, but I figured getting away would mean Chicago or some random city like Seattle.
I have to commend all of my friends and family in helping me with the decision to do this. I have received nothing but support from everyone that I have talked to. I was definitely afraid to tell my parents that I was thinking of doing this, but they were surprisingly supportive of it from the beginning. There has been a definite shock factor with them and with my friends, but that shock is quickly replaced by good luck wishes and support. I cannot count the number of times I have heard some of my older friends say "I wish I had done something like that right out of college when I had the chance." I have always tried to live my life with the motto of "No Regrets" and I feel that passing on this opportunity would be something that I'd always think back to and say 'what if.' Through all of the support, I have become very comfortable with my decision and am definitely looking forward to a new world of adventure.
Just to add a little more, I will not know what city I will be living in until after my first week of training in Seoul. I will fly out there the last week of July, go through a rigorous week of training, and then be placed in an agreeable situation that benefits me and the school. I do get a preference of where to go and my top choices are Busan and Seoul (in that order). Look up pictures of Busan and tell me that you wouldn't want to visit. It's a coastal city with beautiful beaches and a picture-esque backdrop. MUCH different than central Illinois' cornfields. From my research, Busan appears to be the most liberal/laid back of the major cities in South Korea, thus my draw to it. I would also enjoy being in Seoul and have heard only good things about living there, I just want to be in Busan. Both will be packed full of people with huge populations, but that is the least of my worries.
To summarize, I'm very much looking forward to the next step in life. I expect my experience in South Korea, which could be as short as 1 year or as long as 2 or 3, to be life changing. I want to challenge myself to prove I can live on my own and assimilate myself into a new culture. I will be meeting people from all over the globe, so I will be able to learn about what life is like in other parts of the world. I will come back with a greater knowledge of what I should really value in life, what I took for granted all these years in the United States, and also hopefully be a better person. I do not expect my penchant for finding my way into good stories to stop upon my move, so I look forward to coming back and sharing all of my experiences with all of you...and learning about all the fun I have missed out on while I was gone.
fin
This move is going to be huge. I am moving to South Korea to teach English as a second language. I was kind of randomly contacted by a recruiter after placing my resume online and after a couple of interviews, was offered the job. I thought about it for a week or so and decided to make the leap.
At first, even when I had decided to go for it, I was a little nervous, somewhat scared about moving 14 time zones away from everything that I have ever known. I have never lived outside of Illinois. I have only left the country to sight-see (Niagara Falls) or party (Toronto and Cancun for Spring Break). I wanted to get away from central Illinois due to a rush of drama that engulfed my final semester of college, but I figured getting away would mean Chicago or some random city like Seattle.
I have to commend all of my friends and family in helping me with the decision to do this. I have received nothing but support from everyone that I have talked to. I was definitely afraid to tell my parents that I was thinking of doing this, but they were surprisingly supportive of it from the beginning. There has been a definite shock factor with them and with my friends, but that shock is quickly replaced by good luck wishes and support. I cannot count the number of times I have heard some of my older friends say "I wish I had done something like that right out of college when I had the chance." I have always tried to live my life with the motto of "No Regrets" and I feel that passing on this opportunity would be something that I'd always think back to and say 'what if.' Through all of the support, I have become very comfortable with my decision and am definitely looking forward to a new world of adventure.
Just to add a little more, I will not know what city I will be living in until after my first week of training in Seoul. I will fly out there the last week of July, go through a rigorous week of training, and then be placed in an agreeable situation that benefits me and the school. I do get a preference of where to go and my top choices are Busan and Seoul (in that order). Look up pictures of Busan and tell me that you wouldn't want to visit. It's a coastal city with beautiful beaches and a picture-esque backdrop. MUCH different than central Illinois' cornfields. From my research, Busan appears to be the most liberal/laid back of the major cities in South Korea, thus my draw to it. I would also enjoy being in Seoul and have heard only good things about living there, I just want to be in Busan. Both will be packed full of people with huge populations, but that is the least of my worries.
To summarize, I'm very much looking forward to the next step in life. I expect my experience in South Korea, which could be as short as 1 year or as long as 2 or 3, to be life changing. I want to challenge myself to prove I can live on my own and assimilate myself into a new culture. I will be meeting people from all over the globe, so I will be able to learn about what life is like in other parts of the world. I will come back with a greater knowledge of what I should really value in life, what I took for granted all these years in the United States, and also hopefully be a better person. I do not expect my penchant for finding my way into good stories to stop upon my move, so I look forward to coming back and sharing all of my experiences with all of you...and learning about all the fun I have missed out on while I was gone.
fin
posted by JayD at 1:38 PM
1 comments
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