Greeting Daejeon through why's and tears

Over two months ago I arrived in Seoul, South Korea to start a new job teaching English. I had been to Korea before, about 10 years ago, but I was only here for a week or two so I didn’t have that much experience of the country. So, coming here has been a bit of a shock to the system, even for someone who has travelled quite a bit in East Asia and lived in Taiwan for a year. But I think it’s been a shock mostly because I have essentially changed almost everything about my life.

I’ve changed my career, from being a full-time student, academic and researcher for the better part of the last 10 years. I’ve moved countries, from my very comfortable life and home in Cape Town, South Africa to the city of Daejeon, where I’d never been before and would be teaching and living, with no family nearby. I’ve moved to a country with a very different language, culture and societal expectations to my own. The lack of English spoken and used in this city has been astounding and honestly, just caught me off guard. After living in Taipei, I assumed a developed South Korean city like Daejeon would be no different, where you can get by pretty easily because English is used quite widely. So that’s what I thought I’d find here but to my surprise, it’s not at all the same. 

On my first night in my new place in Daejeon, I cried… and I seriously questioned why I came to Korea and why no one thought to ask me before, ‘are you sure you want to do this?’ I think the magnitude of what I'd done hit me all at once at that moment. At no point during the idea phase of possibly teaching English abroad, the application process, interview or extensive preparation to come to Korea, did I ever stop to think this may not be for me. I don’t know what it is about me but when I decide to do something, I just go for it and put in all kinds of effort to make it happen. Not for once thinking, ‘ah, maybe not…’ In early 2021, I also ended an 11-year-long relationship, deciding to choose myself and focus on what I needed. In all honesty, it was probably that defining decision that led to this wonderful transformation of my life and all the many transitions I am about to experience.

So, I guess this blog will be about the major life transition I am currently on and the many crazy, fun and hysterical moments that I get to experience every day, be it at school with my students, through daily interactions with locals, or the time I get to spend with one of my best friends, Mbali, who I decided to embark on this journey with (more about that in another blog). But I also want to share how much I have grown over the last year, not only through healing from ending a long-term relationship but also from the very negative connection I’ve had with academia in the last few years. After undertaking life coaching sessions this past year (which I continue today), I have experienced enormous growth in all aspects of my life and who I am. One of the amazing changes that took place was discovering my passion for proofreading and editing. After years of suffering through writing my own academic papers, I discovered an immense joy in reading and reviewing other people’s work. And I even discovered how to get paid for it. Bonus! 

So, this blog is clearly about many things, a big part of which is my time in South Korea. However, I hope to share many of my previous travel experiences in other parts of the world too, especially in China and Taiwan. I've been fortunate to travel through many parts of these countries, met people from all over the world, and more often than not, I discovered that people are usually the same and that no matter where you go, laughs will be shared and tears will fall. 

So, I hope you enjoy reading my musings about life in Korea and everything else. Friendships, travels, great food, solo walks up mountains, random meetings and experiences... all will be shared. What I know for sure is that when I travel and find myself in new places, tears may fall but laughs will be had and joy will be found wherever I go.

Till next time!

Meryl Joy Burgess