From Childhood Dreams to Korean Adventures (2 Years Abroad)

What if a childhood fascination could transform into a two-year adventure halfway across the world? This episode charts the journey from an eight-year-old's curiosity about Asia to an adult's decision to teach in South Korea. From the moment a friend's passion for Big Bang and G-Dragon sparked a deeper interest, to the meticulous planning and prayers involved in making the dream a reality, each step is filled with a mixture of excitement and hurdles—including a memorable 22-hour layover in the Middle East.

The first year in South Korea was a whirlwind of friendships and explorations. Listen in as I recount the heartwarming encounter with a kind Korean woman on an escalator, the chaotic yet exhilarating arrival at the airport, and the comfort of hearing English when least expected. Amidst the initial challenges of adjusting to a "ghetto" apartment, lifelong bonds were formed during orientation, leading to extensive travels across South Korea and the joy of making international friends. 

Living abroad comes with its unique set of challenges, from the thrill of seeing snow for the first time to grappling with the cultural pressures of South Korea's perfectionist society. This episode delves into the mental health struggles that many expatriates face and underscores the importance of a strong support system and personal faith. Reflecting on my own relationship with Jesus, I share how it has been instrumental in navigating these difficulties. Wrapping up the episode, I encourage you to trust in the Lord’s plan for your dreams and goals, sharing personal experiences of faith's transformative power and a message of gratitude and excitement for the future.

So grab a cup of coffee and let's conversate.

Transcript

Speaker 1 0:01

I can't believe I've been in South Korea for two years. Two years, that's insane. God, it's so good. Hello everyone and welcome back to my new place of rest.

Speaker 1 0:33

On this episode, I really wanted to detail my experience of living in south korea for two years. It's been crazy, it's been amazing. There's been a lot of ups and a lot of downs, a lot of growth in between. All right, so, of course, in order for us to get going, we need to go back to the beginning. How did I fall in love with south korea? You're right, because some people k-pop, other people they just, they just go because they want to. It's just. Everyone is different. Well, for me, I actually fell in love with asia when I was eight years old. I remember I had my first proper phone with internet and I was just looking at different countries around the world because I was always fascinated with geography. And I saw Tokyo for the first time and I looked at it and I didn't even know Jesus back then, like that, and I was just like you know what? Lord, god, whoever you are, I am going there. I am going there and throughout those years, I would always be so excited when I see anything that was chinese, anything that had chopsticks, I would always take my pencils and pretend to be eating with them. Like I'll be, like it's crazy, you know what. Like one thing I know like, if y'all, when y'all start having kids, really pay attention to the little things they do and things that they they, I want to do that. I pray that, like the lord will give me the eyes to see those little things my children do, that I'm able to pick up. Okay, maybe that's where the lord's gonna take them, maybe that's what they're gonna end up doing. Because it's so cool, because when I think about it now, it's like I was so adamant from eight years old that I'm gonna to go to Asia and I don't know how or why, because I don't know what would bring me to Asia, but I'm going.

Speaker 1 2:08

So, and then in 2016, I was introduced to South Korea through a friend who was obsessed with Big Bang and G-Dragon. Till till this day, I have not listened to anything like willingly of this group, because my first reaction when she said that was what demon is that? But anyway, um so around about that time, blackpink was popping. That was, I think, the first year they had been out, so I became a fan of that and then, when I got to university, I became a huge fan of god seven. I was an aga. I say was was an aga. I say the lord had to deliver me from that because I was obsessed. It was, it was so bad, it was so bad, so I was addicted. But, um, god is good.

Speaker 1 2:58

And then, um, I didn't know that I could go to south korea because I had not known of this country until like now. And then I started going on YouTube and I started seeing, oh, there was Africans in South Korea and I'm like, why you guys are? Why are they in South Korea? That's so strange. And it's like, oh, you can go teach in Asia what you can go teach in Asia. Of course I want to go. Do that right. And so I was very much adamant that I'm going to go. I started planning on how it's going to go. Even then, a lot of things happened, a lot of ups and downs I had to really go through in prayer, but the Lord was so good, he had to help me navigate that time, because it was a lot of things that he had to work out of me before I went. And I'm grateful that he did that because, when I came to korea, oh man, if I didn't have those things worked out I'm gonna touch on them later on, but if I didn't have those things worked out, I know that my experience in south korea would have been so, so, so, so, so different. But anyway, right, um, I get my things sorted out and then, next thing, I know it's 2022, it's august and I'm making my way to oritambo.

Speaker 1 4:11

My first time in an airport and I fly out by myself. I'm not gonna lie to you, I loved flying out. Oh my gosh, I love. I feel like we should be flying everywhere. Okay, like, oh my gosh, like it's so nice. Like you know, have people like would you like something to drink? Of course, I want something to drink. Are you gonna get it for me? Oh, honey, you serve me. I loved it. I loved it. You know you, man, it was just so beautiful, so beautiful. I love flying till this day. I think it's just so, so, so, so, so, so, so nice. Actually, not just flying, I love traveling in just any type of transportation, like being on a bus, um, be it on a train, be it on plane, like I really like. It's so nice, it's so real so relaxing, right, um, but yeah, I had a great time.

Speaker 1 5:00

And then I landed in the middle east. I had a 22 hour layover. I was so excited, I was so nervous, um, and at that time I really had a good friend who really, really helped me through that time, because if I didn't have this particular person at that moment, like I was, it was stressful, it was really, really hard, um, because I was so scared but also very nervous, and I'm so grateful that the Lord had blessed me with really good friends I could speak to, who could check up on me, that everything was okay. I'm really grateful for for them, for their lives and for just everything, um. And then so when you're in dubai I think I was in dubai, I think so when you're in Dubai I think I was in Dubai, I think so when you're in Dubai you have to get on a train to go to the Asia no, not Asia, what the heck?

Speaker 1 5:55

Oh, I'm sorry, like we have to twang our English because you know we have to speak in that American, you know? So, if these things that you hear, excuse me, don't mind me. So you have to get on a bullet train from one end of the airport to the other end, okay, so everything was cute. Everything was so cute, like you know, the seats were big, you know. You know, wow, okay, you get onto the bullet train, go to the other side and oh, oh my gosh, what is going on in the? Everything was smaller.

Journey of Friendship and Exploration

Speaker 1 6:29

I have never seen so many koreans in my life. I've never seen so many asians in one place in my life. You know, to say asians it's very like, okay, um, uneducated, because you know there's so many types of asians, so I guess I would say so many koreans, because a lot of them are koreans. I've never seen so many koreans in one place before. Right, it was a culture shock. And I was not even there yet and, like, the only thing I hear is korean. I don't know what's going on. I mean, I took the time to study, um, the reading and some korean, so I understood some of the things that they were saying, but it was still like, oh my gosh, oh. And then I could see like the other south africans were also, and other foreigners actually were also traveling to South Korea, and it was just like, oh my gosh, this is so insane. What am I doing? What are we doing? And then you kind of make little clicks and groups and all that, and, and then we got on the plane. Oh my god, oh, I'm getting excited already. The trolls, it was so crazy. And then we get to the airport in Incheon and, man, it was just so beautiful, it was nice because I had people that I could speak to at that point and we were just all so excited.

Speaker 1 7:53

I didn't follow the escalator, but that's sort of another day. This one Korean lady had to run over and help me. She was scared. She was so scared. She was like, oh my gosh, like I had traumatized her and she was just, she was just happy that I was okay, because, man, she, she abandoned her child, ran off to me. You know, it's crazy because like, um, wow, it's actually so crazy because a lot of the times we we have this perception I mean, it's not even a perception, it's true like koreans don't really like go out of their way to help you. But that was like the first experience I had with a korean person and she ran, she, she left, she dropped everything. She ran to me to to help me because she was like, so scared. I'm like, okay, lord, thank you. Yeah, I couldn't. I couldn't stop saying thank you, thank you, thank you. Turns out, man, like the map I was reading was wrong. I didn't have to go up the escalator, but you know, god's good, I was insured, which is great. Um, okay, so then we make our way.

Speaker 1 8:56

First of all, all the airport experience was insane, but I'm happy that everything was done in English. And then you meet all the people who are going to the orientation. And then we go to the hotel and yeah, I mean we just we walked outside in Chon. It was so cool, going to the convenience store for the first time, speaking English and thinking that everyone's going to speak English, because soon as we walked in, they were like, hi, how are you? Like, oh, my gosh, this is not bad. Oh wait, and it was really nice. It was really really nice to be able to have that experience. I still have the pictures. It was so cool. And then we went back to the hotel. We left the next day. We went to orientation orientation hotel. We left the next day. We went to orientation.

Speaker 1 9:44

Orientation was really nice in the sense that we really got to. That was the first and the last time where you had a lot of foreigners around you and you heard a lot of English wherever you turned. And that's where I met some of the most amazing girls I've ever met in my life and they became my friends and till this day, we're still friends and we still talk to each other, which is amazing. And we did so many travelings. What kind of english is that? We traveled to so many places in this country. It's insane. Ah, man, god is so good. I'm so thankful for the fact that I met them in orientation and we just had such an amazing time and we've had so many amazing experiences. Um, and we will continue to have amazing experiences, because now it's like what's nice about meeting people in in when you travel is that now, when you go to different countries, you have people that you can meet up with, which is amazing.

Speaker 1 10:39

Okay, so then we leave the orientation, we go to um, the schools, our own personal schools that we have to go to. We see our apartments chow, ghetto, uh, ghetto, ghetto, ghetto, ghetto. Those mold, old and had so much scrubbing and cleaning I had to do it took it, took a while for me to get settled, but it was. It was good and I can't complain like to this day. That's like my favorite accommodation in all actuality. It was old, it was cute, you know, the people who are running the building were really, really nice and kind, it was convenient, right.

Speaker 1 11:12

But you know, your first year in South Korea is is very interesting because it takes such a long time for you to adjust to everything, because you are so far away from everything you know, um, but that year I will say what made it very fast. We traveled the first four months that we were in korea, me and my friends. We went from the top of the country to the bottom of the country and back to the top. Man, we went to so many places. It's insane. By the time we got to our second year we had practically done a lot of the places that people say we should go to. There are quite a few we still haven't gone to and hopefully we'll get around that, but it's just. That's the one thing that really made it so nice and so much faster.

Speaker 1 12:02

I got to see snow for the first time and I also learned that when the snow is falling down, it's actually not cold at all. It can be a little bit warm, but as soon as that snow stops falling, it's just cold ice. I fell down. It was so embarrassing. I'm so happy no one saw me, um, but the cameras were there something because, like these cctvs everywhere in south korea, the convenience stores are so convenient. It's really really so nice.

Speaker 1 12:27

But you know, the thing about it is that because I've been here for two years and I've done a lot of my adulting in south korea, I actually can't even remember what south africa feels like, which is crazy because in as much as I do miss home, there's still that sense of like, but my adulting has been here and I've kind of gotten used to how things are done here. You know it's a very crazy thing that happens and, um, but yeah, in as much as it has been such a great and amazing experience, a lot of things have happened to where I'm like to be quite honest with you. If I wasn't a, I did not have a relationship with Jesus. I don't think I would still be in South Korea. To be quite honest with you, because there's so many things that happen here and so many things you see that are hard pills to swallow. And it's very interesting because, especially when you go online and you're, you hear stories from other koreans too and also, like korean americans, they have certain perspectives and they actually complain about the same things that we notice, and so it's like okay, so if y'all guys can see it and y'all are more aware not even like aware, but you have close proximity to the culture. Imagine me as a foreigner, right?

Speaker 1 13:52

So I've seen many people lose themselves living here. I've seen many people completely forget who they are and they just go with the flow of things and then it leads to them becoming addicted to substances. I mean there's not like illegal substances like that in South Korea, because they're very strict on those things. But you know they started, you know, drinking a lot, partying a lot, because it's just there's a lot of things that happen here. It's hard, you know, to adjust and yeah, you know. And also you know people's self esteems and self perceptions and self-worth you see that dwindle as they live here. That's why it's so important that in any country that you go to, but especially going to a country that is as focused to push perfectionism and there's a lot of there's a huge criteria on what perfection should be in this country. It's so easy for you to become so easily swayed by how people think here and then you want to do whatever you can to fit in, and those things can be very challenging to navigate, especially when you are so young and you are figuring yourself out on the earth right, because at 22 because a lot of us come here 21 we are very impressionable and it's easy for you to to think that it's okay to try to to live up to the standards, but then you don't realize that in you trying to live up to the standards that are set here, you do have to compromise a lot of things and you will have to lose a lot of things, and it's really sad to see some of the things that do happen.

Speaker 1 15:48

I've heard stories of people have crazy mental health issues arise living in south korea, because it's it's you know, um, it's not any shocking news or new news, because we know that south korea has the number one leading country when it comes to dilations, right, and so I've seen a lot of people struggle with their mental health. I personally have had seasons where I've struggled my mental health and, by God's grace, I was able to make it through and um, and so that's why, for me, I always encourage people when they want to come abroad or wherever they want to go. You need to make sure that you pray. You need to make sure that you pray and you need to make sure that you pray. It's so important because it's one thing living in your, in your home country, and you're used to how things work there. It's another thing living in a different country, and especially in in asia. Things are completely different in asia, very, very foreign to us, you know, and so it's important for you to be very prepared for what you're about to embark on, because things happen. Things happen.

Speaker 1 16:55

Uh, people have spoken about how, when they're back home, they're able to control their drinking habits. But then, once they came here because it's everywhere, I mean you go to a convenience store, it's everywhere People can't stop indulging, right, and people have to put themselves into, have to go to therapy for those things, and so you know there's a reality of living here. At the end of the day, it's like it's a normal country. There's a lot of things that are just normal, mundane, like I said earlier, and in that mundaneness it looks very different from the mundane back home. There's a lot of high expectations that you have to live up to living here, and if you're not careful, you could lose yourself in many different ways.

Speaker 1 17:42

But aside from that, that's why I'm quite grateful that I do have a relationship with the Lord. It doesn't mean that things have been easy. It just means that I've had someone to turn to when things have gotten hard and it has made me stronger and really much more resilient, I feel, because one thing about traveling abroad is that no one can ever take away that from you. Honestly, when they say sky's the limit after you've traveled, sky's the limit. But I remember when, before I left, there was a lady who said because her daughter had come here, she said that you will fall in love with your country when you travel and I was like, no, never love south africa like that. Just the problems we have, s-com, all them things. Man, I've fallen, fallen in love with South Africa being here.

Faith in Dreams and Goals

Speaker 1 18:34

The one thing that I will say that I really admire about Koreans is that they, they are, they have so much pride for their country and that has really motivated me to see the beauty in my country. It's not perfect, it's not um, it's so good, it's so beautiful. Man, I love the fact that there's so many different people, there's so many different cultures, so many different like everything you know, it's not all the same, and so I found that a lot of us kind of struggle with that living here, because everything just be the same everywhere. It's like where's the diversity, you know? But it's really nice to see how things are done in different countries and it kind of makes you wish that, like, certain things would be adopted in your own country, but you're kind of grateful for the fact that there are some things that we don't have. But, um, all in all, my experience in south korea has been very good and, um, okay, maybe not very good, it's been good, it's been good, it's been an eye-opening experience and, to be quite honest with you, I'm so thankful to the Lord for all this.

Speaker 1 19:41

And one thing I'll leave you with is trust the Lord with your dreams. Trust the Lord with your goals. Pray about it. He's not a genie and he cannot be emotionally manipulated by you, but just give him your desires and he will work it out in a way that best suits you and what he has called you to do on earth. Because when I said that it was even before, I gave my life to him. Because when I said that it was even before, I gave my life to him, but I've seen him do such amazing things with the things that I've said I wanted to do and I feel like a lot of the times, it's things that he has already placed in there. So trust him, trust him with everything and yeah, so, all in all, it's been a great two years and I'm excited for more. And, yeah, I in all, it's been a great two years and I'm excited for more and yeah, I hope you enjoyed listening. Have a good day.