Not There Yet

For those of you who haven't heard, or are simply living under a rock, I am moving to South Korea on Wednesday to teach English! I'll be living in a town called Yeoju about an hour from Seoul. I am starting this blog which hopefully, unlike my Italy blog that only lasted about two weeks, will actually turn into a real account of my experiences abroad and any other opinions, thoughts, etc I feel like expressing. I went back the other day to look at my Padova blog and really wished I had written more! It reminded me of lots of things I had forgotten. Welp, we'll see how long this new found motivation for blogging lasts. As for you, my readers, I hope you enjoy it!

Now for some frequently asked questions.

1) Do you speak Korean?

Nope. But I bought Rosetta Stone and have sworn to myself that I will make an effort to become at least conversationally fluent. Something about being able to say "I speak Korean" when I am not Korean seems pretty badass....and perhaps might interest a future employer.

2) Are you nervous/ excited?

Excited, yes. Nervous? Less so. I realize that I will experience a fair amount of culture shock and awkward/stressful/baffling moments, but I think after transferring colleges and studying abroad twice, I'm used to the idea of things being uncomfortable for a while. It's hard to avoid cliches here when I say that is a great opportunity to learn a lot, because as someone told me, no matter how much I try to prepare, I will "be surprised in Korea...over and over again." Some people may find this stressful, but I enjoy traveling and getting to know new cultures enough that I feel it will it compensate for any negative experiences.

3) Why South Korea?

It has pretty much always been a dream of mine to travel around and/or live in Asia. I took an Intro to Asian Art course sophomore year and I am pretty much dying to see every temple in the Eastern hemisphere. I fully admit that I also want to go because it seems exotic and like a real chance to experience things I've truly never seen/done/heard/eaten/tried.

Now not that anyone has asked, but packing is going miserably. I'm a tad sentimental and want to drag along some things I know I shouldn't, hence I am writing this blog instead of packing! Hope that you all will be entertained by my procrastination!