I suddenly went on a backpacking trip with a friend. After finishing the trip in Thailand, my friend returned to Korea, and I moved on to Cambodia to continue traveling. There I met many people—poor people I had only seen on TV or the internet, or in fact had paid no attention to at all. But meeting people who kept a purity I had never felt before and lived each moment happily changed my thoughts about the dream I had. -Greece, a rescue operation for injured turtles in the Mediterranean / Lee Ji-hwa Gap-Year Tribe Gapper / 4-week gap year |
My dream is to be a special effects makeup artist!?
Since I was young I liked expressing what I thought in my head and creating things.
Although art had always been something I enjoyed like play or a hobby, when it came time to choose a major I realized I had been following a path different from entering an art college.
So I chose to major in special effects makeup. The idea of expressing what I wanted on the human body appealed to me, and I enjoyed my university years thinking my goal was to study abroad in the United States, where special effects makeup is most highly developed.
Because I had fun studying my major, my grades were excellent and my professors recognized my skills. But when I went to France for a short-term training during vacation, I—who had been proudly arrogant—realized I was a frog in a well. The makeup skills of French peers my age were vastly superior, and the shock I received at that time shook my very goal.
Turning point
At the very time I had fallen into doubt, I suddenly went on a backpacking trip with a friend. After finishing the trip in Thailand, my friend returned to Korea, and I moved on to Cambodia to continue traveling. There I met many people—poor people I had only seen on TV or the internet, or in fact had paid no attention to at all. But meeting people who kept a purity I had never felt before and lived each moment happily changed my thoughts about the dream I had.
When I asked myself after the turning point, ''Would I be happy if I continued studying special effects makeup and worked in this field?'' the answer was ''No.'' Back in Korea, I tried to set a career direction by directly experiencing activities that could contribute socially, and while working at various social enterprises and organizations I realized that the work that gave me the greatest sense of fulfillment was animal protection. Once the direction was set, I began to regain energy.
I began to take steps toward my goal of becoming an animal activist. One of those was new media, which I studied while attending graduate school.
It may sound unrelated to animal protection, but this major was the best way to use what I had learned and my areas of interest as tools for animal protection. Simply put, it was a choice to use new media as a tool rather than to research new media itself.
In February 2015 I finally graduated from graduate school. After graduation I planned to volunteer in related fields to gain real experience in animal protection and to concretize my career path. But trying to find an organization on my own where I could learn about Europe''s advanced animal protection culture was overwhelming. Then I learned about a gap year program and, through consulting, chose what I judged to be most necessary for me: the ''Greece turtle protection project.''
The gap year''s goals were broadly threefold.
First, I wanted to investigate and understand the state of companion animals in Europe. Because animal welfare is very well established in Europe, I wanted to see and learn directly so I could introduce it to our country, and I thought it would also help in planning animal protection programs in the future.
Second, by embracing somewhat different cultures, I wanted to shed the preconceptions or prejudices that were confining me.
I once talked about animals with friends I met in France. I learned then that many French citizens themselves raise questions about their national foods like foie gras (goose liver dish) or horse meat. Seeing them have such conversations made me realize that people around the world have similar concerns, differing only by species of animal.
Finally, I wanted to learn how NGOs and animal protection organizations in Europe operate.
With these three goals, preparations for the gap year began. My gap year was planned as traveling through Europe and then participating in a turtle protection gap-year project in Greece.
France (2 weeks) - Spain (3 weeks) - Morocco (4 weeks) -Greece(gap year project)
I estimated the total cost of the gap year period, including travel, at 6,000,000 won.
However, the problem was that my bank account balance in February 2015, when I graduated and began preparations, was 0 won. So I started working three jobs at once, scrapping together money. After working for three months, one month before leaving for the gap year, I had saved about 3,000,000 won. I was 3,000,000 won short of the budget, and since I absolutely did not want to ask my parents for help, after much deliberation I thought of crowdfunding.
I had wanted to try crowdfunding at least once, so I started it with high spirits, but promoting the funding and raising money was not easy. In the end the final amount raised via crowdfunding was 1,500,000 won. Though it was far short of the planned budget, thinking it would somehow work out, my gap year finally began.
It somehow worked out in the end.
To save money, I mostly used couchsurfing for accommodation. At first there were trial-and-error experiences, but I soon figured out how to do couchsurfing safely and could use it cheaply and enjoyably. If you follow a few precautions, you can use couchsurfing safely.
First,You should check the host''s history to see how long or how often they have done couchsurfing.
Second,You should check who the family members living together are.
Third,Carefully review the reviews before deciding. Be cautious if the reviews are written vaguely or if there are only a small number of reviews.
After finishing a European trip filled with enjoyable and diverse experiences—based on rules and know-how I developed through experience—I moved on to Greece. When I first arrived in Greece I actually arrived very early in the morning and was disoriented. So I didn''t have the impression that it was very different from the other countries I had passed through; I just felt that it was a bit cleaner.
Gap year in Greece
Life at the sea turtle conservation organization, where I arrived in such a daze, was really great.
Although I came to volunteer, I was able to live a life where volunteering, leisure, and cultural activities were properly mixed. For example, if you volunteered for three hours, you could rest for three hours or reflect on what you had done and plan future activities, so the participants'' satisfaction was quite high.
A typical day was getting up at 5 a.m. and going out for the morning survey until 5:30. The Morning Survey is the task of recording traces of mother turtles that came onto the beach during the early hours. You check where they laid their eggs and protect confirmed eggs. You also track and record the turtles'' movements—where they came from and where they went.
After finishing the morning survey and returning to the accommodation, it was around 10 a.m. You come back, have a late breakfast, and take a nap or rest.
Then at 4 p.m., all the volunteers gather for a meeting to give feedback on what the problems are and what can be improved; meetings are held only twice a week. At this time, training is also provided on how to deal with baby sea turtles when encountered and how to inform visitors.
After this time, we carry out campaign activities to inform nearby hotels or information centers about the work we do.
What left an impression was the campaign activities carried out at hotels. The hotels I had experienced so far mostly pursued luxury. But because many of the customers at the hotels in this area were families, the hotels considered our campaign to be good cultural and educational content and welcomed us to carry out activities in their hotels.
All time outside these activity hours was free time for the participants. During this free time, participants could plan parties together or travel to nearby places, and the organization actively encouraged such activities. They didn''t want participants to return having only volunteered; they wanted them to have a pleasant and fun time. Thanks to this environment, I spent enjoyable times with friends from around the world and it was a time full of learning.
Joy, Alejandro, Mackenzie
There were about thirty friends who participated. The organization scheduled teams so that team members would continuously rotate during activities so that all thirty could get close to each other, and they set a rule that even friends from the same country (for example, when the French were talking among themselves) should use the common language, English, to ensure no participant felt left out.
As a result, we—gathered from countries including France, the UK, the USA, Canada, Germany, Russia, Spain, Denmark, and Korea—could all go to the beach together at lunchtime to enjoy sunbathing or swimming, and go on trips to make memories.
However, despite the organization''s consideration, loneliness was the hardest thing to endure at first. This was because, unlike meeting and making friends while traveling, here you belong to a group and have to live as part of a society. So I stood back a step to learn about cultural differences and approach slowly. But after getting close, I realized that that time had been a waste. I thought that even though there were cultural differences, if I''d just faced them, understood, and felt them, I would have become closer faster and shared more memories.
All thirty friends got along well, but three friends remain the most memorable.
The British friend named ''Joy'' helped me from the very beginning when pitching tents and lived in the tent next to mine. She also liked being alone, so even without saying anything we often read together or lay on the beach to pass the time. So even though we didn''t talk much, she was a friend who gave me the special experience of bonding by spending time together.
I was the only Korean, and there was exactly one Spanish friend, ''Alejandro.'' This Spanish friend had a temperament similar to people from my country—sharing food and eating together, and being very caring, always looking out for others. So when the French friends sometimes secretly broke the rule of speaking only English and talked in French—making me unnaturally miss Korea—this friend would deliberately get me to talk a lot and be my conversational companion.
The American friend ''Mackenzie,'' with a direct and frank personality, was very sociable. We became close enough to have deep conversations, and later she understood my English more quickly than anyone and would explain things when other friends couldn''t understand.
Besides the fact that by taking a gap year I could make friends I wouldn''t have met otherwise, one of the special things about this place was the camping life. This is one of the reasons I really liked it here. Camping life has so many good points—except that it''s sometimes cold in the morning—that it''s hard to pick just one to mention.
If I had to pick one, it would be that you can shower in an open-roof shower while looking at the night sky. Of course, hot water also runs well. The shower and toilet facilities are well equipped and are cleaned daily, so they are always kept clean.
And it was so convenient not to have to wear makeup. After all, it wouldn''t make a difference to the turtles. The Wi‑Fi was a bit weak but worked fine, so surprisingly there were no inconveniences.
I''ve changed a lot.
What I feel most is that I can now enjoy each moment. To be a bit more specific, I learned the value of small things. Not only the value of time but also the importance of my people—those who are precious to me. Being away made me realize things I had taken for granted.
And I also felt the joy of giving away things. There, if you don''t throw things away, you have to take them all with you. Sometimes you carry them, sometimes you gave them away, but I realized that the thing you regret later isn''t giving too much but giving too little. So now I can share what I have without hesitation.
Finally, my self-esteem increased. Because I handled and returned from a situation where I planned and chose everything myself. That gave me confidence in my dreams. A year ago it was simply ''I want to protect animals,'' but I experienced and realized this idea through taking a gap year.
As a result of this experience, I also planned to study animals more deeply. Rather than vaguely wanting to be an ''animal activist'' like before, I want to become an ''animal behaviorist'' or someone who designs systematic animal protection programs.
Plans for the future
From now on, I plan to keep planning programs and producing media to build up my own animal protection content. I will continue studying in related fields and obtain certifications one by one to become more professional.
Also, because the one-person business I currently run doesn''t have a steady income, I will likely work concurrently at an animal hospital or in other animal-related jobs.
I''m also considering an offer to be scouted that I received a few days ago. It''s work related to companion animals and aligns with the direction I''m aiming for, so if the opportunity arises I might take that job.
What does a gap year mean to me?
Cup
Either the person ''me'' could be the cup, or the time called a gap year could be the cup. For me, the gap year was a time to pour out useless things from that cup and fill it with new ones.
Through the time of the gap year, what I emptied from the cup were prejudices, bias, stress, and unnecessary desires. In the past, I felt reassured only when life was busy. But at the same time, I was stressed about not being able to enjoy leisure time.
These days I''ve learned how to enjoy leisure while enjoying work. You just need to enjoy each moment. If you don''t only look toward the future and you don''t lose your direction, you can continue to live happily like this.
And what I newly put into the cup were self-esteem, courage, conviction, and a concrete dream and composure.
What was my gap year like?
Experience ★★★★★
I had an experience that was satisfying in many respects.
Learning ★★★★☆
If my foundation in English improves to some extent, I think the remaining star will be filled.
Environment ★★★★☆
The route to get there isn''t easy at first. But the living environment is really, really good.
Safety ★★★★☆
I''ve never locked my tent with a padlock even once. Also, it''s a safe area even to go out at one or two in the morning.
Leisure ★★★★★
Participants even said, ''This isn''t volunteering, it''s a vacation.'' If you want to do something, you''re provided with the time and place to do it.
