A Weekend In Gwangju

When I came to South Korea as an exchange student, I pretty much stayed in Seoul the entire five-and-a-half months I was there.  Being such a huge and busy city, there was always something to do, something to see, something to eat, someone to meet etc and I never felt like I wanted or needed to go somewhere else.  In the years after I went back to Australia though,  I always looked back and thought: "Why didn't I go explore the country more? I had so much time! So much energy!" I did visit Jeju Island with my family for three days when they came over to visit but it was raining for 80% of the trip so it wasn't the most ideal experience. But now, since I live in such a small city and there is not much (read: nothing) to do during the weekends, I have no excuse but to go out and see more of this beautiful country!

My ESL Teacher's Life So Far

I have a feeling that every time I write a new post on this blog, I am going to get the exact same phrase popping into my mind: Wow! I can't believe it's been (amount of time since last post) already! So much has happened! I once read an article which said that it can feel as though life moves really quickly when you picture yourself living in one place for years or decades into the future.  Daily routines turn into weeks, which turn into years and life seems to be passing you by without you even really appreciating it.  But when you move abroad, it's like there is a different switch activated in your brain telling you "Pay attention!  Don't miss out!"

"Every minute matters.  Every smile, every word, every action has greater depth because you know it is one of very few you might have in this new place you call home."

It hasn't even been a month since I moved to Korea, and only three weeks in my adopted hometown, but it feels like I've already reached my quota for a year's worth of new experiences and random Korean surprises.  From my beginning as an elementary teacher at two different schools and trying to learn everyone's names (more on that later), to making my first trip up to Seoul for a weekend, to successfully finding an English church in Daejeon (it takes 1.5 hours to get there *crying emoji*), and even to navigating the local lifestyle - which supermarket is cheaper, which kimbap place is better, which cafe has the fastest Wifi, where to go to avoid drunk ahjussi's late at night - it's all so new and exciting but draining at the same time.  Although, I have to say, every time something new happens, and I am either successful or not made to look like a complete idiot (which, don't worry, has happened a few times), I feel so proud. Like, I did it! I didn't have to walk away in shame from the ahjumma at the supermarket checkout because I forgot to bring my wallet and had to put back all the items in my basket including returning my fresh pork belly to the delicatessen ahjumma and try to apologise and explain in my broken Korean that I didn't have any money and therefore she needed to unwrap the pork belly and put it back into the fridge.

Anyway.