Decisions Decisions: How I Decided to Move Abroad

How did you choose Korea?

This is such a difficult question to answer, and one I am frequently asked. Yet, even though I expect it, I don’t know where to start. 

Teaching is a job I never wanted to pursue. I shadowed teachers a few times in high school, but didn’t have much of an interest because I didn’t know how I could do it. I saw how much energy and time it took, and wasn’t sure it was a job I would fit. I couldn’t see myself being the fun, energetic leader who works with kids or keeps classes engaging, but even so I love kids and I’ve always been around them. 

So when people say “Oh you’re a teacher? That makes sense because of your majors.” I have to stop them and say “No, you don’t understand. I never wanted to be a teacher.” The fact that it’s my current job blows my mind a bit. 

How did I choose Korea? Well, Korea chose me. I knew I wanted to go abroad no matter what. I had this urge I couldn’t fully explain, this “go” feeling that now was the time. I always want to travel for a long period, and this felt like it was finally the right time. I looked into many different avenues—study abroad programs, internships, ministries, au pair, teaching. And no less than 7 countries. My top ones being Spain, South Korea, Australia, Vietnam, Japan, and Hong Kong. Amongst them it became clear which countries were and were not opening up because of Covid, which helped my decision. Studying abroad I couldn’t afford without a job, and I was tired of working and studying at the same time, so I decided to look into jobs. It was really overwhelming having so many possibilities, and I wasn’t sure I was making the right decisions of trying to go abroad, but it was something I had an interest in and decided to try. There was a lot of uncertainty. A lot of wondering if I was doing the right thing and making the right choice. I didn’t feel like there was a wrong choice, but I didn’t have a “God-speaking moment” where I was called to go to a particular place either. I struggled for a bit if I was pushing so hard because it was only my desire and not because God wanted to use the experience. But it became clear that He was bringing me to Korea after so many things started to fall in place that could have or should have gone wrong. 

While I was researching, I decided on pursuing my TEFL certificate while finishing my senior year. Even though I didn’t have a teaching degree, I felt I could teach English at least for a year and see how it went from there, and I would rather have it and not need it then need it and not have it. I narrowed it down between two in the end. Spain I was familiar enough with the language to where I was sure I could pick basic conversation back up quickly, but South Korea felt like a better fit. There was more certainty, more flexibility, better pay, lots of culture, and though my language would be starting at zero, I was interested in it. Time went on, and most of the people I hung out with told me to look into teaching abroad, but I brushed it off at first. But then, I became curious if I could do it. So I applied and waited.

Korea had been on my radar for a while, so it wasn’t a sudden decision. I followed some YouTubers who vlog about life in Korea and I often fell down that rabbit hole of watching videos titled “Life in Korea” or “Life as an ESL teacher” without giving it much thought. It was an interest I enjoyed learning about and learning about life abroad. Little did I know all the random information of being an expat in Korea would eventually come in handy.

When trying to explain to someone why I chose Korea, I mentioned it was because doors kept opening and they took that to mean it was easy. Because the schools here are always looking for native English teachers from abroad rather than from Korea. Which isn’t wrong, but that didn’t mean the process was easy. The whole process was stressful and over a long period of time (such as how I talked about in this post). There were so many times things could have gone wrong or that I couldn’t have made it. People around me getting sick, my paperwork taking forever because of government delays, not being able to contact the Korean embassy for my visa and almost not being able to get an appointment in time, the list goes on. Every time I worried something would come in the way, it worked out and to me it was confirmation that this was the right choice for now.

The thing is there wasn’t just one deciding factor for picking Korea or Gwangju, it was many little things. It was my growing interest in the country, the desire to live somewhere else, a city that wasn’t the biggest, a place full of history and good food. It wasn’t just one thing that brought me here because there were multiple reasons that sort of all built into the decision together.

Since coming it’s been quite an experience and one I’ve enjoyed greatly. Yes, it can be difficult. I definitely have many areas to improve in, but I enjoy the learning experience. The people, the random encounters, the views. The memories I’m making are ones I’ll always treasure. I still don’t really know what will be next, but for now I’m appreciating what I have and where I am for now.