Why South Korea?

I guess I'll answer the question that everyone keeps asking: "Why South Korea?"  Well, it's quite simple really.

Winter break, sophomore year of college, three a.m., and surfing around on Youtube for no apparent reason I stumbled across a Korean pop (KPop) music video. I didn't know that's what it was at first, or even right after watching it, but it's amazing what you'll find in the maze of the internet. Shinee's 'Lucifer' was unlike anything I had ever seen before. Here's the link if you're curious: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dww9UjJ4Dt8 . I don't know what possessed me to watch the whole thing, but it was probably my undiagnosed OCD that makes it nearly impossible for me to stop a song halfway through. After watching it my exact thought was, "Huh. That was interesting" then I went to bed and thought nothing more of it. Until a few days later when it was stuck in my head. At that point I had never heard a word of Korean, nor did I know anything about Korea other than that it existed as North and South after the Korean War. I had to find that song again. And it took longer than it should have, but I did it. Then I got hooked on the language. It's quite pretty to listen to and languages have always fascinated me. I started to listen to more KPop to help learn a bit of the language just for fun. Then, once I was solidly addicted to the music, I decided to learn more about the country and it's culture. The rest, they say, is history.

It took me a long time to realize/admit that I wanted to go to this far off place, way outside of my comfort zone, and spend a significant amount of time submersed in this completely foreign culture. Except the culture didn't feel foreign. I'm not sure why but planning my escape to South Korea was a guilty pleasure. I didn't mention anything to my parents until the end of my junior year of college. And that was to tell them that it was a back-up plan in case I didn't get accepted into the grad school that I wanted. With some good advice from a great friend, I decided that Korea was going to be my Plan A rather than Plan B, which my parents found less than appealing. I never applied to any grad schools. And I haven't taken the GRE. Basically, I had no intentions to go to grad school right after Albion, I wanted to chase my dreams and passions halfway around the globe.

For a long time I explained it to people backwards. I told them that I wanted to take a year to travel and teaching English was my vehicle. I said that I had chosen South Korea because it was exotic, friendly, had an interesting culture and good food. I had actually decided that I wanted to go to South Korea long before I had any thoughts on how to get there or how to finance the trip. One of my cousins has seen the world through teaching English, and I thought that that was something that I could do too. So I surfed the web, applied for a Fulbright, got denied, then hitched my wagon to the EPIK star. After a lot of effort and paperwork, I got accepted. I think I was happier when I got my acceptance and placement email for Korea than when I got a very similar notice to attend Albion. It does prompt much bigger changes of locale and in lifestyle. I think I'll say more about EPIK and my placement on Jeju Island another day and elsewhere.


Someone once said of me that I would never amount to much. They said that I would never be able to escape the ugly, rural towns of Stockbridge and Munith. They said I would be perfectly happy to waste the rest of my life there doing nothing significant. They're cruel words. Even crueler when said by someone who had been a friend. And I am perfectly happy to prove her wrong. I don't feel like I'm escaping, because I will be back and this will always be home and part of who I am. And I am going to do something important. It might seem simple but I am going to teach children to speak English and that is no easy feat. I am going to a place where dreams come true, including mine.