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Busan — I Want to Live There: A Passionate Review of a Gap Year Stay in the Second City

#From a reserved personality to someone who takes the initiative in approaching others #Improved English skills and the joy of communicating #Confidence that it's not as difficult as I thought

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    English proficiency even a little improved and Originally first to approach or people I didn''t know with easily become close didn''t participation after meeting for the first time even with peoplewithout hesitation could approach able to personality that became seems.


    - Busan, I want to live there. A passionate second city / 4-week gap year

     

     

    - A notably memorable enjoyable experience (or an unpleasant experience and how it was resolved) while participating in the gap year program

    Many foreign guests come to the guesthouse, and while talking with them about their country''s culture or language,

    I remember having fun drinking together

     

    - My personal advice on language use during the gap year program (ways to study beforehand, etc.)

    Many foreign guests come, and many of them travel alone. Honestly, unless you''re good at English, approaching them first is difficult.

    It''s hard at first, but if you try once or twice, even without fluent English you can communicate using gestures and whatever you have. Don''t be afraid — just throw yourself into it.

    You can make even more fun memories.

     

    - My advice to future volunteers about the accommodation

    You will have a lot of free time, so don''t waste it — try doing many different things.

     

    - My advice to future volunteers about meals

    The house has side dishes and rice. There are also other snacks, which you can prepare yourself or share with the staff.

     

    - My advice to future volunteers about what to bring

    It depends on why you come, but I didn''t find anything I particularly needed or missed. Just clothes and basic toiletries.

    That was all I needed.

     

    What I liked about the gap year program I participated in:·Things that moved me, what I learned, realizations, etc.

    I studied English while doing the gap year. When talking with foreigners, I practiced by writing out sentences I wanted to say that day but found difficult. Not a huge amount, but my ability to converse improved to some extent and much of my fear of speaking disappeared. Many local people also came, and simply approaching and talking with strangers taught me a lot.

     

     

    People I met or spent time with through the gap year program:

    Gap Year staff, foreign guests from places like Australia, Germany, and Singapore, and travelers visiting from various regions.

     

    As a previous participant, my advice to future participants of the Gap Year camp program:

    As I said earlier, as I mentioned, Gap Year during the period, plan well, set up, your time, don''t waste it, not, the most, important thing, I think.In Busan tourist maps are many festivals too a lot are held because just a little if you look into it many you can visit you can.

     

    If I compare before and after participating in the gap year camp

    English ability even a little improved and Olle first approach or people they didn''t know with people easily become close didn''t, but participation after people I met for the first time with people without hesitation to be able to approach who can personality that has become seems.

     

    Please tell us about your own travel route during your gap year (recommended places, schedule, route)

    gap year the duration is about one month because rather than a route than just one place each worth visiting places visited festivals such as when there were I went to find went.

     

     

     

     

     

    © menofnight

     

     

    At first I didn''t know much about this kind of program and I participated just thinking I''d study alone while staying away from home, so I was a little nervous because I didn''t know what kind of work it would be or what life would be like there. However, the staff were kind and the work was just cleaning the guesthouse, so it wasn''t difficult.

     

    I didn’t really need to adapt. My working hours ended earlier than I expected, so I had a lot of free time. As soon as I joined, I signed up for an English academy and started studying. I would wake up around 10:30, eat, and when work started it would end around 2. Then I’d go to the academy at 3, finish at 5, and return to the guesthouse. I still had plenty of time. At first I spent my days studying a little with nothing else to do, but after the staff had a few drinking sessions and talks with guests, I got into it too and often drank and chatted with the guests.

     

    There was a separate movie theater in the basement where I watched movies with travelers, and we also went up Yongdusan Park together and talked. There were also a few drinking gatherings with foreigners; at first it was awkward and we didn’t talk much, but the more we did it, the more fun it became to drink and talk with them.

    We talked about that country’s culture and language, and I introduced them to travel spots and cultural things from my country. I couldn’t really talk with Japanese or Chinese people because conversation was nearly impossible, but I could easily approach foreigners who used English. During conversations I often looked up words on my phone dictionary when I didn’t know them, and my sentences weren’t perfect, but they understood me well so conversation was possible. I realized that speaking in a foreign language wasn’t as difficult as I thought, and this gave me more confidence to continue studying English.

     

    I also hung out with Busan friends, toured many places around Busan, and tried Busan’s representative foods.

    I had planned to live in Busan when I grew up and became independent, and doing the gap year made that idea more certain. After living there for a month I felt affection for the people of Busan and found the dialect charming. The weather was nice, and seeing the tourist spots and food made me feel that Busan is a very livable city. I hope the next gap year participant feels the same way I did during that month.

     

     

     

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