The Light At the End of the Tunnel Is Just the Beginning

            So, after more than two years of biding my time, I will finally escape my hometown for the adventure that awaits me in South Korea! Honestly, Korea was not exactly where I planned to live and work at first. After a life-changing year-long study abroad program during college in Kobe, Japan I intended to return after graduation and teach English. Little did I know that in a few months the entire country would be drenched in radiation after a devastating earthquake and tsunami. I had a job lined up only to find out one week after the disaster that my employer told me I had five days to decide whether I would take the contract or not. Since there still wasn’t enough information at the time as to the extent of the damage, I was forced to decline the offer. My dream of living and working in Japan in the near future disappeared with the movement of a tectonic plate.

            Japan was actually my backup plan for my initial goal of becoming a commissioned officer in the military. I had gone through a very long process of testing and waiting, interviews and waiting. Did I mention the waiting? Selection boards were cancelled last minute and delayed for months. When my first board finally met it was so competitive that barely fifty candidates were selected from a pool of over a thousand. Needless to say, as a recent college grad I was not among the thirty-something PhDs, and prior-enlisted who were chosen. The economy was (hell, still is) so bad that most officers were staying in causing the demand to drop rapidly. The military’s quota for fresh meat was being met my ROTC and the Academies, making good ol’ civilians like me unnecessary.  

           It was a pretty devastating blow, because I really thought that was what I wanted and would be really good at. However, it seemed that fate gave me another chance when a month later I received a phone call from my recruiter telling me that not enough people were selected from the last board so an emergency board would be held to select more officers and would I like to put my name in? Would I like to put my name in? Um…Yes please! I thought that the unfairness that is life suddenly decided to give me a break. Maybe all my hard work would really pay off. I waited heart in throat all day for the call from my recruiter. It seemed like they put off giving the successful candidates the good news, so as the hours ticked by, I thought the joyous call notifying me of my selection was just moments away. When the phone finally rang I was informed of my rejection once again.      

            With two well-formed plans utterly flushed down the drain, I almost panicked. Almost. What would I do now? How will I pay my school loans? What will become of my life? Suddenly it dawned on me like a knockout punch from Ali, or the entire chorus of Sister Act (Whoopie included) singing my new plan to me or the part in Inception when Leonardo DiCaprio gets pushed into the bathtub. Laughably, it all made sense. Everything truly happens for a reason. I had always loved travel and learning about different cultures and languages. I knew Japan would not be the last stop for me although I do consider it a second home. So I thought, “Korea. Why not? I can teach English there too. And I’ve always wanted to learn Korean. Now is just as good a time as any, especially now. Who cares what other people think? I want to be happy with my life and my job. That is the most important thing. A fantastic location, adventure, good people, good food, good booze. Who could ask for more?” And with that, my journey to Korea began.

            Now finally, the long long road is just beginning. The living at home, working, eating, sleeping, studying routine made me feel dead, like a robot just going through the motions. There was no excitement, no adventure; just a dead end. There is nothing to discover in my small town filled with unhappy people who never leave. I always felt like an outsider even though I moved here in the middle of second grade. This place always felt foreign to me, and my real home was somewhere in Asia. I truly believe I must have lived there in a past life. How else would I come to love and appreciate a culture so different from my own? I was innately fascinated at such a young age; there really is no other explanation. So now, I am about to embark on a brand new adventure, through the looking glass, down the rabbit hole, into a world just as new and different as when I first travelled to Japan. The language is beautiful and interesting although pronunciation gives me fits on occasion. There are so many things I want to try and see and do that I hardly know where to start. I guess getting on the plane is a good beginning. Fourteen and a half hours here I come!!!

            And so, as I venture into the great unknown that is Korea, I invite you to join me in my adventures, mishaps, cultural misunderstandings and discoveries along the way. May some of my wanderlust spark your own personal journeys!