Leaving on a Jet Plane, well... almost

Yes, I will be leaving for South Korea. Yes, I will be there for a year. Yes, I will be teaching English second language. No, I do not understand a word of Korean (except for annyeong haseyo which means hello. Oh, and gamsa-hamnida which means thank you). No, I have not studied the English language apart from practising my linguistic skills on a daily basis. And No, I am not a teacher. But I will be soon.

And finally, Yes, I am scared as hell! I feel the same way when I bungy-jumped off Bloukrans bridge (only the highest commercial bungy-jumping bridge in the world) My organs feel like jelly and my heart keeps on bouncing around like a tennis ball which is a very uneasy feeling. So I am writing my first entry of this blog only a few hours before I head off to the airport which is probably no

t the best time as up until now I have perfected the art of tricking my mind into dodging every thought that has anything to do with this trip. For instance, every time I see an aeroplane in my head, I suddenly wonder when last I flossed? Or if I imagine missing my flight to Korea from Dubai (which is where I will be stopping over and spending about 10 hours in a hotel room, eek), I suddenly wonder if I should maybe pack more socks, or I start to sing and hum and try my very best just… not... to… think… about… Korea!

Ok, let’s take a deep breath…

So, just to inform you why I started this blog… I am going to be posting my experiences and photos as often as I can so that anyone and everyone who is interested in sharing my experience can just keep track of my blog and then I don’t have to send out millions of emails as it is all right here. I know my close friends and family very much appreciate this and I want them to be a part of my journey. Perhaps this blog will also provide some useful information to others about to head off to Korea. I know reading lots of blogs about ESL teachers in South Korea put me at great ease and it was nice to read about all the different experiences.

I have been asked a lot why I have decided to head off for a year to teach when I studied business, and why to a country where the people write in pictures and no-one speaks English.

Well, firstly, I have always wanted to go travelling after my studies, but also needed the finances. Therefore, I decided to do the whole work-and-travel thing. South Korea had the best benefits including free accommodation, low tax rates (+/- 3%), 50% medical aid, and a nice salary of 2.2 mil Won for just having my business degree. And I love kids anyway. It surely can’t be that hard to sing songs and teach words? Well, I have done a lot of research so at least I am not going totally unprepared.

Secondly, I need to find my feet again. At 23, I still have absolutely no idea what I want to do with my life, career-wise. But I must admit I am not too concerned about that. Right now, I am mostly concerned about living my life right now in whichever way I chose, right now. I deserve that much. Plus, I am pretty sure it will be really good for my soul.

Above I have posted some pics from the last few days before leaving, just as a thank you to my three most wonderful friends in the world who have always supported me and will always love me just as I am. How lucky am I?

Right, let me commence freaking myself out.

Annyeong-hi gyeseyo (Goodbye to the person staying, as I hope you will)