Why Did I Move to South Korea?
I grew up in Milwaukee, Wisconsin—a relatively unpopular destination for many Americans and foreigners alike. Although I appreciated the love and community that my parents tried to create for my brother and I growing up, when it was time to apply to colleges I made sure my top choices were outside a 100-mile radius. I have always had quite an adventurous and open-minded spirit that created this constant desire in me to explore. Flash forward a few years to my first corporate position after graduation, I was yet again feeling the itch to explore and place myself in a totally new environment. But how did I end up moving to South Korea, of all locations in the entire world?
As I referenced earlier, I have always been very fascinated with travel and this idea of “newness”. I am much more inspired by things that cause me to think and question rather than participate in small talk of tired topics where spiritual growth for me seems to be minimal. And that’s where I found myself after graduating with my undergraduate degree. I promised myself that after graduation, I would not fall in to the 9 to 5 cubicle trap. And what did I do? You guessed it, settle into my comfortable cubicle position where I was working to primarily just pay off my college debt. Cubicle life is great and creates structure and consistent pay for those looking for that. And I never want to completely eliminate things from my life, as a more grown Salena may end up being more attracted to that life. But at that point in my life, I wasn’t. I wanted more, to see more, to experience more. And for a relatively sheltered child growing up, I had so much I wanted to experience. So I began to seriously look for ways that I could both work and travel abroad while still keeping on track to my financial goals. This is where teaching abroad comes to the forefront.
I have always had some type of interest in teaching abroad. In high school I flirted with the idea of teaching in Italy because of my blossoming interest in that culture. But for some reason, teaching abroad always seemed like a distant goal. How would I survive in a distant land, in a culture unfamiliar to me? Saying I wanted to live abroad and actually doing that were two different things and at that time while I was still in school, I was focused on pursuing career and academic goals that were not always reflective of my interest. At the same time, I would scour the internet for black women’s experiences travelling abroad and how they were able to do it. In this research, a topic would always come up first—teaching English in Korea. At the time I was very unfamiliar with the culture and had zero desires of teaching there. I was just always interested in learning about different people’s perspectives teaching and living abroad. After a while when the idea of moving abroad became even more of a possibility for me since I was looking for a drastic change, teaching in Korea would always come up in my searches. I said to myself, either this is a message from God, or I’m looking way to deep into this. But as I began to look at the benefits of teaching abroad in South Korea (which I will share more in another post) it became even clearer that this would be the best move that fits my travel, personal, and financial goals. So that was that! I decided that I would move to South Korea to teach English in January 2017, and worked that entire year to make sure I had everything I needed to make that happen.
Now that I have been living in Daegu, South Korea for over a year, I am proud to say that moving here was one of the smartest decisions I have made in my adult life. I have grown so much over the past year that I don’t think I would have if I remained in my corporate position. This period in my life feels so warm and good, I really want everyone to be able to experience this once in his or her life. In the future, God only knows where he will lead me to, but for now I am happy to be living wholeheartedly in this moment.
Me in a Hanbok, traditional Korean dress, at
Gyeongbokgung Palace in Seoul, South Korea
Once I got notified that I would be teaching English in South Korea, the next big decision to make would be to decide where I would be living in South Korea. Historically, many foreigners interested in traveling here are primarily concerned with living in Seoul. In fact, many people who are even somewhat familiar with South Korea are often times only aware of Seoul.