Exciting adventure time begins!! (Well, almost...)

So I'm not sure if I have even mentioned this in a previous blog post because I have been such a slacker with this blog thing for so long - but I AM GOING TO SOUTH KOREA!!! 

Yes, little old me, who has never left the country is going to pack up her life (well as much of it as I can fit in a 30kg suitcase! eep :/) and flit off to a foreign land. I will be teaching English (as so many do these days) in Jeokseo Elementary School which is situated in Gyeonggi province (in the northern part of South Korea). My initial contract with the school is for a year - a super big commitment!! 

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I have been working on getting a teaching job in South Korea for a few months now - even having to make an incredibly awkward and dorky video of myself pleading my case of wanting to be a teacher there and giving a little example of my demeanour as a teacher. It is privated on Youtube but I will reward you with the link here - because you are one of the probably VERY few people actually reading this - simply for the pure enjoyment of my embarrassment at anyone seeing it. (please forgive the awful picture and sound and editing quality and my general awkwardness - I had to make this thing really quickly so its rather shoddy. :P) 

Finally, after my 5th interview (despite the fact that by this time I could not possibly hate interviews more and was on the verge of gauging my eyes out with the nearest sharp object at having to answer the question "Why do you want to teach English in South Korea" for the hundredth time) - someone finally wanted to employ me! And this was when the the terror really set in. :P While I am so, so, SO excited to go, and in such desperate need of change and an adventure (this being the perfect opportunity to have this while earning decent money too), I cannot explain how truly terrified I am. This is by far going to be the most challenging and scary thing I have ever done. I will be setting off all on my own into a country completely different to my own, full of people speaking a language I don't (although I am working on that!) - and not just for a little fun holiday trip, but to live and work for AN ENTIRE YEAR (at least). But fear aside, I really do feel ready for hurling myself completely outside of my comfort zone and just doing this thing already. The last few months of being back home have been crazy hard for me. Don't get me wrong - I love Durban and always will - its just after being away from home for 4 years and being independant and in a place where I was so free and always surrounded by friends, going back to being dependant and being rather lonely a lot of the time (with all my Durban friends having made their own lives here and not always being able to hang out quite as much as we'd all have liked to) - was kinda super sucky for me. But it was always the plan for me to come back and put all my energy into going to Korea - which I have now done -- woo hoo!! 

 

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I leave in exactly a month - which means I have just a few short weeks to sort out my paperwork, book my plane ticket, get my visa, buy a huge-ass suitcase, get everything I need AND spend as much time with my friends and family as I can before I leave. That last part is what makes this whole thing super bitter-sweet for me - because I am going to be saying goodbye to my amazing friends for SUCH a long time!! Not only do I have THE most amazing friends from high school but I have also met people of seriously epic awesomeness over the last few years too and it really makes my heart hurt thinking I am going to be away from these gorgeous souls for such a long time. But life must be lived and to travel is to be far away and this is something I am going to have to get used unfortunately. :( And I know the friends I have made are going to be around for life, so I'm sure we'll be together again eventually and in the mean time we will also find numerous ways of annoying each other from across the world too. :) 

And all is not lost becaaaaauuse - my amazing friend Claire is going too! 

**Us having awesome fun times together!**

We have both been working on getting placed in South Korea and she leaves next week for her placement (SO exciting!). We are not too close to each other sadly (she's quite a bit more south than I am). But the public transport in Korea is amazing apparently so it shouldn't be any problem for us to spend our weekends together which will be so much fun! (And it will probably be even cooler because we'll get to explore eachother's parts of the country together.) I am so glad I am going to have one of my best friends just a train ride away, both as a support through this super scary time and as an adventuring buddy to explore this amazing place with. I can already see us going on shopping sprees for cool and quirky clothes, eating weird and wonderful things, exploring ancient spiritual monuments and, of course, consuming a fair (read: excessive) amount of soju along the way ^_^ I cannot emphasise how much my heart fills with joy thinking about being able to share this experience with her. You can follow this adventure from her perspective via her awesome blog dedicated especially to it - Keen for Korea

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I am PROMISING, publicly here for all to see (well the all who are actually seeing this) that I will write at least one blog post a week and keep this updated with both my exciting adventures and my random musings - because we all need a space to put our weird, right? 

For now I wish you all love and rainbows and new experiences!! <3