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#Freed from stress and gained a broader perspective #A new perspective on the world and myself #A pause in life; the courage to try anything
©Korea gapyear
It suddenly occurred to me that going abroad would broaden my perspective on the world. When I thought about it vaguely, my perspective definitely broadened. I think that''s worth going abroad for.
- <Argentina Whale-Watching Volunteer Activity with the Sound of Waves>, <Amigo Español :: Learning Spanish in Puerto Madryn / Cho Hyunsoo, gap-year participant / 4-week gap year |
Was there a reason that led you to participate in the gap year program?
My original motive was simply that I wanted to go abroad. It started like that and I thought about a lot of things. (I considered) going to Europe for a month...I also considered not going, and I checked whether there were programs related to overseas travel such as Korea Gap Year.
I happen to like whales quite a lot, and there was a whale-watching volunteer program. I thought about trying it and kept looking into it. It seemed to fit me perfectly. Rather than planning meticulously in advance, I spent about a week focusing on the program before deciding to participate.
I chose a short-term volunteer program because it was my first time going abroad alone, and joining an internship that requires more than six months felt a bit burdensome without experience. So it was a kind of trial visit.To experience living alone abroad. Through this experience, I should be able to go for a longer time next time, right?
The reason I suddenly wanted to go abroad, fears about South America
These days it''s a trend to go abroad and come back. I also wondered whether it was necessary to go abroad. Then it suddenly occurred to me that going abroad would broaden my view of the world.When I thought about it vaguely,my perspective definitely broadened. I think that''s enough reason to go abroad.
Actually Korean kids deal with a lot of stress. From the employment crisis to earning money, various certifications, and exams—I also had a lot of stress. But after going abroad once, the fussing and struggling on this small piece of land called Korea felt like nothing.Having gone to the other side of the globe, I wondered why I had been fussing and stressing to gain something on this small patch of land. And I was able to learn the distinctive relaxed attitude of South Americans.From a Korean point of view it''s extremely laid-back, but that''s a culture too.
It would be a lie to say I had no fears. I went with the thought ''it''ll work out somehow.'' People live there too, so I thought if I just go out, things will work out.
An anecdote where I felt South America''s unique relaxedness
In Korea, when you look at a bus''s expected arrival time, the latest is maybe 30 minutes, but it was over two hours late. (laughs)Even on the return, I arrived at Buenos Aires airport earlier than departure, ate something and planned to relax, but even after two hours the bus didn''t come.
Honestly I had somewhat expected it before going. I expected that characteristic relaxedness of South America. For example, I had heard that being late for appointments isn''t considered rude. But if you go unaware, you will definitely be surprised. (laughs)
Homestay and meals
I stayed in a homestay in a spare room of the host''s house. I ate and slept alone. For the volunteer work, since it was about 13 km from the house, the organization picked us up directly. They came to pick me up by car every morning.Regarding board and lodging, except for set times, you had to buy most meals yourself, which cost quite a bit. I stayed in the room without major problems and was satisfied. The room I stayed in was very clean. The Wi‑Fi worked well so I could cut down on data roaming charges (laughs). The hosts spoke English, so I could communicate without problems.
When eating meals at the homestay,Since this was done locally there were bound to be differences, but what sometimes surprised me was that the host didn''t always follow the rules when providing meals. According to the rules they were supposed to only provide breakfast, but sometimes the host would give only breakfast, other times only lunch — it felt like hit-or-miss. Of course they often gave more than the rules required (laughs).
For meals other than breakfast, I had to buy them myself.There were many restaurants around the house. But the host warned me at first that many of the nearby restaurants were tourist-oriented and could charge high prices. Looking at them, the prices were indeed quite high. Seafood, for example, cost about 20,000–30,000 won more. So I bought empanadas — dumpling-like pastries eaten in Argentina — stacked them up and took one whenever I was hungry.
In my free time I mainly walked along the beach. I napped and spent my time very leisurely. Sometimes I went online to search things, but I think I spent a lot of time just meditating.
Spanish study, and a cultural course
Since I was learning Spanish locally on the mainland, I picked it up naturally and learned quickly. But since it was a short two-week program, there was only time to learn basic Spanish.
Usually during teaching they tried to use body language or English a lot, and only used English when they had no choice. You had to follow the class by reading the situation. I didn''t particularly feel like lectures were given in English. Because Spanish was used mostly, you could get the gist even if you didn''t understand the details. As for the instructors, there were no major issues with how they conducted the classes.
In the class I took, I attended alone. I was pretty bored. I didn''t really know how other classes ran, but once there was a gathering of international students. It was a meeting of all the international students attending the language school. There were about ten or more, and only then did I realize that there were other international students — otherwise I wouldn''t have known (laughs).
After finishing classes, there was a cultural course where we visited museums and various places. It was pretty good, but I didn''t know beforehand that there would be extra costs. I had thought entrance fees would be included in the basic participation fee, but depending on the day''s schedule there were parts that required additional payment.
Whale-watching volunteer work, overall tasks at the national park
Overall I mainly did national park maintenance. Even so, I wasn''t assigned any big tasks. The atmosphere was generally quiet and they didn''t require any major work. If there was a broken fence I''d go and fix it a bit, or I''d walk around the park checking the environment, or I would take whale photographs to show tourists.
There wasn''t much work and I mostly sat in the hut watching whales. I had a lot of time to think alone. Compared to people who like to socialize,I think it''s a really good program for people who like to reflect quietly..Normally I stayed mostly in the hut and lived with about two coworkers. In the morning we cleaned, and afterward we did various miscellaneous tasks.
It''s a really quiet place but it can get noisy at times — when kids visit the national park. They sometimes arrange group visits like school trips by contacting the park in advance. They''d sometimes put me in charge of managing the kids, and it was tough (laughs). The kids would say things in Spanish that I couldn''t understand. Management wasn''t a big deal — I would just help keep their ranks straight as they walked around the park. The problem was the kids wouldn''t leave me alone. It was probably their first time seeing an East Asian person. They ran around, climbed on me, and made a fuss like elementary schoolers back home (laughs). They weren''t ill-mannered, so it was easy to handle.
There were really many whales. I could see whales coming up close. I also saw sea lions a few times. Once a sea lion seemed to have separated from its group and was alone up on a hill. Because it''s a place preserved in its natural state, they didn''t forcibly remove animals or anything like that. The attitude was to leave things to nature.
Whales are normally quiet animals; they just surface briefly to breathe, and because they are so large you could tell it was a whale even from a distance. I could see whales at much closer distances than in pictures.
If there''s one experience that stood out most, and the person I remember the most
One weekend afternoon I really wanted to drink a beer. But every shop was closed. I went home and told the host that I had gone out wanting a beer but all the shops were closed, and even though it was daytime they said everyone had gone to take a nap. It was probably around 1 to 2 pm. In Spanish it''s called siesta. Taking an afternoon nap is kind of a culture. So I ended up taking a lot of naps too. It''s a culture, after all (laughs).
As for people I remember the most, it''s the friends I studied abroad with who didn''t seem like kids. It was memorable that, although they were quite young, they had come all the way to South America. Once I had a short conversation with a friend who spoke English, and they said they had come to attend school in South America. So they were very good at Spanish.One friend told me there was a 13-year-old Finnish girl who came and studied for a year. I thought that was amazing. I felt she was very resourceful.
The advantages and disadvantages of this program
AffectionWordsI got to understand what ''leisure'' means. I''m not usually someone who lives very busy, but you still get stressed in life. Here, being near nature and having a lot of time alone, I had plenty of time to think about various things by myself.I was able to calm my mind. I could also walk along the beach often. The side effect was that while I was there I felt really relaxed, but when I came back the stress started again, so that was a difference. The journey there was really tough, but if I had the chance I''d like to go again.
If I had to pick a downside, the biggest one was the long travel time from Korea to South America. Also, English doesn''t work well there. I don''t think there were any other downsides.
©Korea gapyear
If there was any change after participating in the program
If I had to pick what I learned locally, it would be a sense of ease or relaxedness.We tend to accept problems as just problems, but we also have a tendency to obsessively dwell on them. The mind clings to stress. People there also have worries and stress, but the way they deal with it is different from ours. If Koreans think, ''Why do I have so many worries?'', people there think, ''A moderate amount of worry is necessary.''
A word of advice to future gappers who will participate
Traveling abroad isn''t easy no matter where you go, but Argentina is really tough. It''s far away, and Spanish is hard to encounter in our country. Geographic and language issues seem to be the biggest. But precisely because it was so difficult, the sense of accomplishment was that much stronger.
Because it''s on the other side of the globe and the culture is different from ours, it will be an opportunity to experience a unique culture. South Americans'' national character is also very different from ours, so in conclusion it''s a good thing after going (laughs). No matter where you''re thrown now, I think you''ll be able to survive when traveling elsewhere.
The most difficult thing was, without a doubt, the many challenges of getting back and forth. It really took a long time to get to the destination. It was actually so hard it was almost unbearable. From Incheon Airport to Dallas, USA: 13 hours; Dallas to Buenos Aires: 10 hours; about 30 minutes to the terminal; and about 6 hours by express bus to Puerto Madryn.
©Korea gapyear
What a gap year means to me, and future plans
A rest in life.I think of it as a ''comma'' in life.
As for future plans, actually getting a job is basically my dream because I will be doing the work I want. I''m aiming to become a psychological counselor. At the same time, I also want to be a content planner. I''m very interested in film. In any case, what I consider most important is ''experience''. To be a psychological counselor, first of all...You have to be able to empathize with what this person is worrying about; the more diverse experiences you have, the more you can empathize with their concerns.Saying, ''Oh, I''ve experienced this too and felt like this,'' while counseling, I think I could approach it with more sincerity. Going forward, I want to continue accumulating various experiences, whether they''re unique experiences or the typical ones everyone has.
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