The Story So Far

Perhaps I've been a little premature stating that this blog will be a day to day observation of my life in Korea, since actually, I'm still in England at the moment and thusfar, the odds have been completely stacked against me ever reaching Korea. However, tickets have been booked, suitcases have been packed and unpacked and repacked and goodbyes have been said, hugs given, tears shed; in three days I will be leaving the country and venturing into the (sort of) unknown for a new life and new possibilities...

There has been an extremely wide range of reactions to my decision to move to Seoul - my friends, who are used to me flitting off abroad to teach for a year here and there, are very happy for me, my colleagues have been encouraging and support me completely, friends and ex-students in Korea are ecstatic that I've chosen their country for my Next Big Thing - in fact it would seem that everyone is happy for me. There have been only two exceptions: one was the boyfriend that I broke up with in order to pursue my plans, and the other was my mum, who reacted as if I'd done this specifically to hurt her and that in doing so, I obviously didn't care about my family at all. Many harsh words have been exchanged in the past few months, and some things cannot be taken back. But when one makes a decision like this, it isn't lightly done, and there will always be negative consequences somewhere along the line. The reactions of my mum had been triggers, however, for some self-doubt in the early stages of my planning, but not anymore. 

I'm an over-qualified (say some) English Foreign Language Teacher (I have a Masters in TESOL and a DELTA, plus experience in schools and universities in the UK and abroad) and, feeling bored of my language school job and my bog-standard Manchester lifestyle, decided I'd get myself a better job and some new experiences abroad, for an unspecified amount of time. I decided that I really wanted to move to Seoul after I visited in April. I'd spent a week in Taiwan with friends from my Masters course, and then went to Korea to spend a little time in Seoul and go to Busan for a friend's wedding. Taiwan was lovely; but once I arrived in Seoul I decided that that was where I'd be living next. That week in Seoul was something of a blur, mostly consisting of eating and getting drunk (and a few semi-regrettable incidents - semi-regrettable) but I loved every second and couldn't wait to get back. When I got home I went on www.daveseslcafe.com and applied for every university job I could find. I'll talk about the job hunt in another post soon. Long story short, I had two interviews (out of about 50 applications) and was offered both jobs; I took the one that paid best, obviously! 

That's where I'm at now. When I arrive I'll be staying in uni accommodation for a week or so, until Yoon (my recently-new boyfriend/flatmate/translator/guide/godsend) comes back to Seoul and we find a place to move in together. It's going to be an interesting first couple of weeks... and as a basic introduction to me and what I'm doing, I think that'll do for tonight! I promise, more details next time!