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#I found inner calm and developed ideals and dreams #Learned from the children and gained massage skills #I went to give, but came away having received much more
It''s certain that it was one of the rare, precious times in my life. And whereas before I only looked at the reality in front of me, now I can be more relaxed and have my own ideals and dreams.
-Volunteer work in Bangkok, Thailand — a warm city where NGOs from around the world gather / Jueunji, gap-year-er / 8-week gap year |
8 years in Japan
If there''s something a bit different about me compared to others, it''s that I lived in Japan for about eight years. The reason I went to Japan was that there was a university in Korea I really wanted to get into but I failed the entrance exam; I took a prep year but failed again. I didn''t want to try a third time, so I escaped reality and went to Japan...to study abroadI went.
I had to study everything again from the beginning.I started by studying Japanese.I studied hard like that for two years, andWaseda UniversityI got into the School of Commerce (Faculty of Business Administration) at Waseda University, but it wasn''t the university life I had dreamed of. To put it simply, it was nothing special. So I couldn''t find joy at school, and four years passed as I enjoyed working part-time at Starbucks — the people I worked with and the tasks I was given.
At Starbucks, I had risen to the point of training new employees. I thought I could work in Japan after graduating. So I joined the management planning department of a life insurance company and started working. I liked the company very much. The people I worked with were really nice, but when I looked at my seniors I could see my future.Workaholic. If I had continued working there, I felt I''d eventually become someone whose work was everything and it would be hard to quit, so I decided to quit and return to Korea.
That''s how I returned to Korea, and before starting a new job I wanted to take a gap year to rest. During the gap year, rather than simply traveling, I wanted to do something meaningful, so I looked for a volunteer project.
Back to zerofrom
Because I was interested in children''s education,my pathI wanted to check whether this might be my path. And you rarely get the chance to live in Bangkok for two months. So I decided to try everything I wanted to do in Bangkok. As a result, I learned foot massage, learned Muay Thai, and had a lot of fun (laughs).
I also realized that doing something to show others isn''t that important. Going to study in Japan, choosing a university, and choosing a job — all of those processes had been things I did to show someone. But I realized that wasn''t what mattered. So when I first came to Japan,I had already tried returning to zero once. I wanted to return to zero once more, and this timea life for myselfI wanted to start it in a great way.
The longing to take a gap year — not to grasp tightly but to live with peace of mind — was thestarting pointIt was. My gap year was.
Volunteer project
And so the volunteer project in Bangkok began. The organization wanted us to teach English to the children. But I wasn''t a native speaker nor particularly good at English, so I lacked confidence. However, by looking at the organization''s guidebook and, on the first and second days, observing classes with another teacher to see how they taught, I received a lot of help.
But once I actually started teaching, I led the class in the way I wanted. For exampleI noticed that when I gave the children textbooks they tended to flip through the books and not concentrate, so I had them do presentations, etc. I observed that the children liked coming up to the blackboard to write, so I tried to give them many opportunities to come up and write.
To describe a typical day,I start work at 9 a.m.I teach for two hours.I taught in four classes.I worked at four kindergartens, moving between them; they were next to each other so the travel time was about 1–2 minutes. EachI taught according to the progress appropriate for each class, and each class had about 15 to 20 children. Also, there was a local teacher in each class who helped a lot, so it wasn''t difficult.
After class I returned to the center, wrote evaluation reports, ate lunch and rested a bit, and from 2 o''clock I assisted the teachers taking care of the younger children—after they woke from their naps, had snacks, and until their mothers came to pick them up—until 4 p.m.After that I had free time. There wasn''t that much work. Actually my job was only to teach English to the children, but I asked the organization to add the task of taking care of the children until 4 p.m.
In my free time I went to learn Muay Thai. If I had extra time I would tour Bangkok, and on weekends I sometimes traveled to nearby places like Ayutthaya or the Amphawa floating market.Also on weekends I attended a massage school and learned foot massage.
What was difficult?
When I first arrived, there was no hot water at the accommodation.I had never lived like that before so it was a culture shock, but as time passed I adapted. After 1–2 weeks I could live without any discomfort. And among the four classes I taught, the children in the second class were full of eagerness to learn.They were so smart and wanted to learn more that by the end of that class I was physically exhausted. Still, because they tried so hard I wanted to teach them more, so as a result I have no memories of it being difficult while teaching the children.
Learning from the children
I had never spent that much time with little children, so being with them made me think a lot. Once, during a lesson teaching expressions for colors, I showed a picture of a tree and asked what color it was. Ihad thought the tree was brown and expected the children would naturally answer "brown," but they answered "white." Looking again, I realized it could indeed look white because of the sunlight. Whenever I looked at a picture of a tree, I automatically thought of the tree color, brown, no matter how the light fell; I was shocked, realizing I had been confining myself by deciding the answer in advance.
Also, the children I cared for in the afternoons were about 3–4 years old. Some of them were shy around strangers. But as time passed they would come up to me first, hug me, and greet me with joy. By continually caring for them and giving affection, they slowly opened up. I felt that when you open your heart and show sincerity, people respond. During the Gap Year orientation they told us we would be volunteering here but would instead be healed, and I truly received an overflowing amount of love from the children.
Gap Year: before and after
It''s not really a turning point. Having lived nearly 30 years, saying that this one period completely changed my life might be an exaggeration. However, it was certainly one of theprecious timesThat much is certain. And whereas before I only looked at the reality in front of me, now I can be more relaxed and have my ideals and dreams.
What a gap year means to me?
I went to give but ended up receiving a lot; it was also a time when I really rested well.
My gap year is?
Experience ★★★★★
Where else could you have an experience like this? Even if you want to go, you really don''t know how to.
I was able to choose one of the projects offered by Gap Year and had a valuable experience with the children.
Learning ★★★★☆
I learned a lot through the experience. I did a lot of thinking, considered what my path is, and I also learned Muay Thai and massage.
After finishing Gap Year I had to go back to Japan for a short time and met church friends, and they told me many times that I looked much more relaxed. Hearing that makes me feel Gap Year was a good time for me.
Environment ★★★☆☆
The bathrooms were a bit tough at first but generally okay. The lodging had strong air conditioning and fans, and the food was delicious, so there were no major difficulties.
Safety ★★★★☆
I didn''t go out much at night. So I felt safe.
Leisure ★★★★★
I have a lot of personal free time, so I can do everything I want. I looked up information on the internet and even went on a night bicycle tour. Bangkok is a tourist destination, so...There are lots of things to do.
Capturing the growth journeys
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