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#Shifted from an urban mindset and adapted to rural life #Gratitude for the small things #Became more positive and gained confidence
I wanted to spend my leave of absence differently from others. So I looked into overseas volunteering and found it was more expensive than I expected.Even through the school, just going for two weeks costs over a million won, and since groups of Koreans go in droves, it''s not really overseas volunteering—it feels like Korean-only volunteering, and I felt like I wouldn''t be able to experience the country. I also kind of wanted to try something new on my own.A gap year is exactly an environment where you go alone and interact with many people.
- Harvard professor, departs for Thailand to brighten the world / Yang So-yeon, Bae Yoon-ju, gap-year tribe ''gappers'' / 12-week gap year |
Q.What made you decide to participate in this program?
Yoonju: I''m in an advertising-related department; it involves lots of team projects and staying up all night, which was physically demanding.
I stayed up every night doing assignments, and by the end of the second semester of my second year, I felt like I really couldn''t continue going to school anymore.
So I took a leave of absence. I had about seven team projects on average per semester, so I would have to split my time, but I couldn''t do that.
I couldn''t handle it. I thought I needed a break, so I took a leave of absence.
After taking the leave, I saw that too many people just spent their leave earning money and that was it. So I thought I should first set goals for my leave.
I realized I was envious of those who went on language study abroad or exchange programs. At that time a friend of mine went on a language program,
and she said it cost 25 million won for six months. It was hard to ask my mom for several million won like that, and when I thought about what I''d get from spending that money,
I thought it would be hard to come back having gained English skills worth 20 million won.
So I considered the opportunity cost. Financially, I thought I''d have to use my own money to go somewhere,
and travel also costs quite a lot, so I started looking into overseas volunteering, and that''s when I found it. The moment I found it,
I thought, ''This is it!''
Q.It must have been tough deciding to take a leave. How was it after you decided to take a leave?
Yoonju: First, I just took the leave, and while I kept searching and researching I discovered gap year programs and applied no matter what.
After applying, you have to pay a participation fee to the gap year program. But I didn''t have the courage to ask my mom for money,
so I worked part-time for 15 hours a day. It was a hellish time.
So I worked like crazy and deposited the money first, and once that was done I had a goal.
Once I had a goal, detailed plans formed, and once the budget was set, even if I wanted to stop working I couldn''t.
At first I was so busy with work that I couldn''t think about visas or anything.
Then Soyeon contacted me and we met. When we met, Soyeon said to me
''Have you had your vaccinations, did you get your visa?'' she asked, so I asked what that was. Soyeon is good at finding materials.
She''s very attuned to information and had done the research. When we met, I, without thinking, was wondering what to eat first,
Soyeon had read all the materials given by the gap year program. I had received the materials but hadn''t read them.
Meeting Soyeon was really helpful. It was July then, one month before leaving,
From then I quit my job and hurriedly prepared to leave. I followed exactly what Soyeon did.
I got the same vaccinations and went with her to get the visa. I knew nothing, but doing it with Soyeon made me feel reassured.
Q.How did Soyeon come to participate in the gap year?
Soyeon:I lived a very intense school life. I was on the student council for three years. After doing it for three years, I got tired,
When I looked back, I realized I didn''t have any time to myself. Because I only did group activities, I hadn''t originally planned to take a leave of absence,
but I thought it would be a shame to graduate feeling empty without any personal time, so I decided to take a year off and began making plans.
I wanted to spend my leave differently from others. So I looked into overseas volunteer work, but it was more expensive than I thought.
Even through the school, just going for two weeks cost over a million won, and since Koreans went in groups, it didn''t feel like overseas volunteering,
it felt like Korean volunteer work, and I felt I couldn''t really experience the country. I also wanted to try something new on my own.
A gap year is the perfect environment to go alone and mingle with many people. So I took a leave before my senior year, but I hadn''t decided on a career path,
I hadn''t decided. I was double-majoring, so it was even more complicated. So I wanted to learn what I wanted,
I applied for the marketing position in this program. I wanted practical experience, and because I''d have to use English there, I applied.
Q.It must not have been easy since it wasn''t city life. How was it?
Soyeon:The first month was hard, but after a month I adapted and it was okay.
YunjuYunju: Everything was tough for the first two weeks, but because of the local food I think it took about a month.
SoyeonSoyeon: I often had digestive problems so the first two weeks were all difficult. With so many different nationalities, I had to adapt to the culture,
I had to adapt to English, the food, and the accommodation, so it was hard. But after two weeks I thought, ''It''s only been two weeks, but already...''
I adapted so quickly that I thought like that (laughs).
Thailand''s signature dish, Tom Yum Goong©blogchrisryu
Q.It seems we''ve become much closer.
Soyeon : Before my gap year we didn''t even know each other, but when we went to Thailand we shared a room.
Yunju : We were originally given private rooms, but as soon as I got there I couldn''t sleep in my room.
: And at night there would be several lizards on the ceiling, so we ended up sharing a room.
Soyeon : I have a big bed.
Yunju : So I suggested we share a room.
Q.You two must have been used to city life.
Soyeon : We''ve changed a lot.
Yunju : Luckily there were volunteers and friends there to rely on, so I adapted quickly.
: I think I''ve become more positive. Even before, I felt comfortable only going to clean guesthouses,
: Now my personality has changed — I''m satisfied with just having warm water.
Soyeon : At first the volunteers teased Yunju a lot. She screamed a lot because of the lizards.
Yunju : ''In our country, you have to go to the zoo to see lizards,'' and ''if a lizard appears in a restaurant...''
: I said, ''we''d have to close the restaurant,'' and they replied, ''what kind of country is that?''
Soyeon : Here, lizards show up as if it''s no big deal.
Yunju : At first I couldn''t adapt, so if there was a lizard on the table I couldn''t eat.
Soyeon : Yoonju is really afraid of bugs, so when we shared a room, whenever an insect flew around she always called me.
Later she started taking care of it herself. (laughter) She changed a lot.
There are kids like this, but people who have never lived in the countryside even once would find it difficult.
Q.I heard the organization runs a free-range type of program, and if the job is education, they don''t just have you teach — they assign various other tasks as well.
Yoonju : I really did a wide variety of work. I did marketing, PR, and English education — all of it.
As for English education for the kids, the volunteers all provided it.
Soyeon : On Saturdays, I went to help an elderly woman who has physical difficulties.
Yoonju : I also went around doing surveys, so my week was packed.
©Korea gapyear
Q.Did you learn a lot from the project?
Soyeon : Yes, I certainly have.
Yoonju : Me too. I did a lot of different work.
Q.Soyeon, have you ever signed contracts with hotels or shops?
Soyeon : I did quite a lot. When I went to Chiang Mai I went to every shop, map in hand.
At first a Chinese friend helped me—she went with me to about four places—but after that I went around on my own.
It was hot; I carried heavy loads in both hands and visited ten places a day while looking at the map.
I planned the routes as I went and almost memorized all the streets of Chiang Mai.
I also conducted surveys as I went around. As market research, I checked trends and the best-selling products.
I visited shops, showed them products, and in meetings I said that if they were interested I''d like to sign a contract.
Q.How many contracts did you secure?
SoyeonI couldn''t secure any contracts on the first day. I visited a total of 20 places, and among them, the places that signed contracts with us were
about 10 places. About 5 places were ones I was solely responsible for. Actually, even speaking Korean is difficult,
It was difficult to hold meetings in English while dealing with people of various nationalities like Indian and Chinese.
After finishing all the marketing and sales, starting one month before returning home I created a library project.
There is a library there, but it''s almost unused. As a student, it was very heartbreaking.
I decided to revive the library and made a plan to raise funds.
It''s still in progress, but I haven''t been able to start yet. I contacted the school to get help,
and coincidentally protests broke out at the school over tuition corruption. So the professor said the timing wasn''t good, and it was postponed.
I had already made advertisements and reached out. I did a lot of projects.
YunjuThis may not be very plausible, but at first when I met with the manager,
the manager told me, ''I want the scarves to sell well in Korea,'' and asked me to ''promote them and launch them online in the Korean market.''
That''s what he said. Many Internet shopping malls fail, so I thought, ''What should I do?''
The manager told me to think it over carefully. It was so vast that I didn''t know what to do, and at first
he said to work with Soyeon for the first two weeks; since Soyeon is in international trade, she should know trade law, and he told me to make the plan.
He suggested focusing on PR for the organization first, since Koreans are not very familiar with the institution.
Various social campaigns were proposed, and what I considered was whether the project I made could continue even if I returned to Korea.
I worried about whether the project I created could be sustained. At that time a Chinese friend suggested focusing on blogs rather than Facebook campaigns.
So we decided to focus on blogs and run a blog.
Q.What skills do you think are necessary for the project?
YunjuIt depends on the project, but there are not many people who will continue them. Unless someone with the same major appears, it''s impossible to
sustain a project. I continued the existing work. For art therapy, someone from the health department and a nursing major
was doing the work, and I took over for them. The institution seems to prefer fields like psychology and child-related departments that focus on children.
They seem to like focusing on that.
SoyeonThat''s right. There''s a Children''s House, so they tend to pay a lot of attention to the children.
So we teach the children English or play with them every week. In a way, I think a volunteer focused on child-related work would be better.
Yunju: I think the volunteers needed here should like children and be people who will carry out child-related projects.
If you go during the rainy season, you''ll end up looking after the children because of the timing. The managers also seem to be focusing on the children.
They seem to think the rest are secondary. If I say I''ve made a marketing plan, they let me do it as I please,
and they don''t really pay attention.
Soyeon: I was a bit different. Mine was in sales to earn the capital to keep the organization running, so I think they paid attention to me.
It seems they care about sales, children''s health, or education. From what I saw, being good at computers or sports seems useless.
Q.From what I hear, it seems the organization also views doing work related to one''s major positively.
Yunju: Rather than thinking ''I''m really gaining practical experience in marketing,'' you should think about whether you are someone who helps this organization or not.
You have to think about that. I think that''s exactly what every NGO demands. Building your resume and getting good experiences are nice, but
that''s only a good experience for me.
Whether it helps those people is also important. Some foreign students come to get recommendation letters.
So they think about what we should do at this organization to get a recommendation letter.
I think that attitude is important.
Q. Has your English improved a lot?
Soyeon: Yunju was good from the start.
Yunju: No, but they really have improved a lot.
Soyeon: I think they''ve improved more than from a real language-study abroad.
Yunju: The foreign volunteers have various accents. At first, I couldn''t understand what the British people were saying.
So I would just stare quietly wondering what they were saying, and when they ended with a question I''d be flustered.
Even that started to become audible after about 3–4 days. If you keep listening, you can understand it.
Soyeon : My language skills have improved a lot.
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