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Focus only on your own growth.
GapYear is a time for growth and happiness.
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Participant Kim*Hyun /Showing Cambodian children a world of endless possibilities through English education
A French friend who walks around the hallway or stairs on the same floor in only underwear while talking on the phone :0
Participant Park*Ae / Harvard student, leaving for Thailand to brighten the world
1. 여긴 비가 온 다음엔 벌레들이 미친듯이 날아다닌다.. 미친듯이!!!!!!!! 한 번도 본 적이 없는 모습이었다 모르고 창문을 열어놨었는데 방까지 들어와서 침대시트를 다 벗겨서 털고 이불까지 다 털고 겨우 잘 수 있었다. 그 다음부터 비만 오고 나면 방에 창문 꼭 닫고 방안에만 있는다.
2. After volunteers shower they walk around wearing only a towel: I come out fully dressed... they just wear a towel and walk around; I was surprised at first.
3. Chickens crow at all hours. They start crowing at 5 AM, so you don't need an alarm. And they keep crowing during the day too... They crow nearby and it's noisy!
4. It gets dark as early as 7 PM. Although it's midsummer and you'd expect long days, the sun sets quickly, making it hard to get around, and shops close very early.
5. You can see fireflies! I had never seen fireflies before, but I could see them in the yard in front of the house. The sun sets quickly and the neighborhood is rural with few streetlights, so they show up even better. After English class, while eating outside with volunteers, we saw a swarm of fireflies. They flew up from all around and it was really amazing.
Participant Park*Yeon / Volunteer work in Bangkok, Thailand, a warm city where NGOs from around the world gather
1. Today was Teachers' Day and I was very surprised because students paid respects to the teachers by bowing. It's something you could never imagine in Korea, but here it's normal. I was so surprised that I talked about it at the Thai language school, and they told me that Thursday is the teachers' day every week haha. Also, orange is the teachers' color, so that surprised me a lot!
2. It was so hot that all my balm-form cosmetics melted... a total disaster lol
Participant Park*Hye / Don't get stressed~ just enjoy studying English and that's it!
1. The local rice is different from Korea's — it's very loose and fluffy, so I was shocked.
2. There are many unpaved roads, so it takes about 20–30 minutes by taxi to get to Cebu city. Sometimes I get motion sickness.
3. Mangoes!! Mangoes are so delicious I was stunned. A taste I want to eat every day at every meal! So when I go out I eat a lot of mango-based foods.
4. It's an ant paradise. I haven't seen any lizards yet, but when I eat snacks or something I'm always careful not to spill, and now ants don't bother me at all haha. Only a little left. Good luck with your gap year!
Participant Woo*eun / Studying Japanese and doing a working holiday — all in one!
1. For women, it's common to touch up makeup after meals, but in Japan, smoking at the table is okay while fixing makeup at the dining table is frowned upon.
2. Koreans pour drinks for each other when drinking, but Japanese people pour their own drinks.
3. In Japan, English is quite different, so it was hard to understand and speak. You need to learn Japanese-style English expressions to communicate.
Participant Jang*na /Don't get stressed — study English while having fun, and that's it!
1. Students actually swim in the pool! I thought it was just decoration, but every night students come to swim to escape the heat. Because of that I tried it once too.
2. There are no crosswalks or traffic lights. It was the most shocking thing. People casually run across roads with cars driving. Even more surprising, cars make U-turns and cut in anywhere... But strangely I didn't see any accidents.
3. A lizard laid eggs and lived in the dorm. This isn't my room's story, but a lizard that hid in a wardrobe laid eggs and ran away. The eggs were kept warm by the friend who owns the room, but when they returned only the shells were left. It seems they went off to find their mother.
4. Filipino women = long straight hair. I thought only school teachers had long hair, but when I went outside I found that many Filipino women have long hair. They could dye, perm, or wear short hair depending on personal style... Long hair is said to make women look attractive and is seen as a symbol of a sexy image.
5. Large multi-purpose shopping malls. I thought cultural life would be limited since their GDP is lower than ours... but just a little away from school there are large buildings and malls. Ayala Mall, SM City Mall, and SM Seaside are the most notable. Because the climate is hot and humid, these kinds of buildings are common so you can take care of everything in one place. You couldn't see everything even in a day.
6. Even newborns are taken out for walks. Babies under one year are carried in their mothers' arms and paraded down the streets. What really shocked me is that strollers are left exposed with no protection from exhaust or sunlight. Korean mothers prepare everything—sunscreen, covered strollers—to prevent bad air or sunburn... I was very surprised. Korean mothers may be a bit overprotective, but letting a tiny baby wander around like that seems wrong.
Jang* is a participant / Volunteer work for Vietnamese disabled children that brings hope to wounded kids.
1. Rats you see at least once a day — they appear in houses and on the streets.
2. Roads without traffic lights — having to cross amid countless motorbikes.
3. Unexpected cold! I miss the electric heating pad, lap blanket, and winter slippers I left in Korea terribly.
4. Thick smog every day — you can't go outside without a mask.
5. Shopkeepers and taxi drivers overcharge foreigners. Prefer fixed-price stores when possible; for taxis, check Google Maps and try them with a local friend first so you know the price and travel time before using them.
