Through volunteering in Vietnam, living by giving and receiving love with the children made me care for myself more. And I think I was able to learn a lot from the foreign friends I volunteered with! Through my gap year, my confidence and self-esteem grew a lot, and I''m grateful to have learned how to bring balance to my life. Recharging warm love with the children in Hanoi, Vietnam! Im Hwa-jin, gapper of the Gap Year family (22 years old) |
# I took a gap year because I wanted to experience new things in a wider world and get to know myself better.
Hello :) I''m Im Hwa-jin. I took a one-year leave from university and went on a gap year to experience new things in a wider world and to get to know myself better.
When I was wondering what would be good to do during my leave, I read reviews on the Korea Gap Year website, and after receiving a recommendation I joined a Vietnam volunteer project that suited me.
*For Im Hwa-jin, who wanted time to take on new challenges and properly set the direction for her future life,activities offering unique challenges, customized one-on-one personal missions about life planning provided daily, and a gap-year notebook to reflect on herself and make plans was also provided.
# I had long wished to live abroad, so I was excited!
I had no worries about staying abroad for a long time.Because I had long wanted to leave Korea and stay somewhere else, I was actually excited! But before leaving I was a bit worried about small things I hadn''t done before—like how to take the plane alone and how to get around once there—but when I actually faced them, everything resolved itself. I realized I had been afraid over nothing.
Before departure, I looked up blogs of people who had done a gap year in Vietnam and gathered information about Vietnam, preparing step by step. I especially enjoyed filling out the gap-year notebook they gave me :) I had fun looking into the notebook''s details while preparing.
# Living by giving and receiving love with the children made me cherish and love myself more!
When I decided to take a gap year through volunteering in Vietnam, my goals were ''to know myself better'' and ''to communicate with myself.''
AndBy giving and receiving love in Vietnam, I came to care for and love myself more.
I felt my gap year was truly enough because of this! In addition, I came to know myself better than before, and I''m 120% satisfied :)
I was able to learn a lot from the children I volunteered with. Although these children had disabilities, they felt joy and boredom just like other kids and wanted to communicate. Being with them gave me time to reflect on myself, and talking with the foreign friends I volunteered with taught me and made me feel many things.
Also, through various challenges my confidence and self-esteem increased a lot, and I think I learned at least a bit about how to achieve balance in life.
# The people I met in Hanoi, Vietnam!
What I remember most are the friends from Switzerland who volunteered with me and the Korean older sisters.
The friends from Switzerland were the first people I met who could speak Korean. Among them was a mixed-race friend, and I spent a lot of time talking with that friend and watching movies together, which was fun.
And the Korean sisters were the first Koreans I had met in four weeks, so I was really happy and excited. When you''re abroad you tend to miss Koreans more haha. So we went to cafes, ate delicious food, and traveled together, having a great time.
# What was a typical day like locally?
Each project had a different daily schedule, but my routine was to wake up, wash, have breakfast, and arrive at the volunteer center at 9. From 9:00 to 10:30 I did care activities with the class children; from 10:30 to 11:30 I taught English to the local Vietnamese teacher; and from 11:30 to 2:00 was free time and lunch.
There was a teacher who wanted to learn Korean, so I taught Korean from 1:30 to 2:00.
From 2:00 to 4:00, instead of a class we played games outside or in another large class with the students and foreign volunteers. After that, the schedule was free time.
Also, because of the Hanoi project schedule, Friday, Saturday, and Sunday are rest days, so you can have plenty of free time!
# My personal Vietnam travel TIP!
I traveled to Ha Long Bay and Sapa. Since friends go on trips every week, it''s easy to take trips. However, most people only stay about two weeks, so if you cram trips into the beginning you''ll run out of places to go later—if you plan to stay longer, I recommend planning appropriately :)
In Ha Long Bay you can experience a 1-night, 2-day cruise. In Sapa you can see beautiful scenery that looks like something from Switzerland. I highly recommend both places!
# My gap year TIP!
- Language
: Because people come from so many different countries, the English accents were all different, but if you just listen together you''ll start to understand them little by little. As a tip, watching Netflix without Korean subtitles personally helped me a lot.
- Accommodation
: I was really satisfied with the local accommodation. The air conditioning was on almost 24 hours, so there was no need to worry about the heat—it was actually cooler than a house in Korea! The bathroom is shared between two rooms, but I didn''t find it particularly inconvenient. The beds are bunk beds; having tried both the top and bottom, I definitely recommend the bottom bunk. Also, if you tell the staff they will lend you a lamp. If you have any inconveniences while living there, you can tell them right away and they''ll resolve them!
- Meals
: Breakfast, lunch, and dinner are all provided. Breakfast is bread and fruit. Lunch and dinner were tasty Vietnamese food. Also, they provide up to 40,000 dong per day, so you can eat without worry. I sometimes cooked Korean ramen—while you can buy ramen locally, it''s fine to bring a few simple packets from Korea.
My gap year is!
Experience★★★★★
Learning★★★★★
Environment★★★
Safety★★★★
Leisure★★★
Visited by Im HwajinVietnam Hanoi volunteer projectWant more information?!
Click the banner below!
▼ ▼ ▼ ▼ ▼ ▼ ▼ ▼ ▼
