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#Overcame lethargy; became less self-conscious. #New hobbies, motivation. #Felt the ease of taking on challenges.
Living in Seoul taught me how to live slowly amid a busy daily life and was a great opportunity to broaden my hobbies.Also, I used to think that traveling abroad was difficult and required repeated preparation. But I realized that overseas travel doesn''t need so much reconsideration — it doesn''t have to be long, nor do you have to plan everything tightly.
-Let''s introduce my Seoul to foreign friends: Gap Year Stay Seoul! / Park Ji-hyun, gap-year tribe gapper / 8-week gap year |
I wanted to work on self-development and gain insight.
Like others, I wanted to break away from everyday life and, while starting a new way of living, work on self-improvement and gain...
I wanted to gain them.Meanwhile,While researching the gap year many young people abroad take because I wanted to do one too, I learned about Korea Gap Year through a YouTube lecture.
I was surprised that such programs existed in Korea too, but since they required some cost I planned to do it after saving a lot. However, exhausted from daily life, I needed a gap year, and when I looked more closely I found programs held in Korea rather than abroad that didn''t cost much, so I applied.
Through this gap year,for someone like me who was usually lethargic and lacked willpower, I wanted to meet many new people and be stimulated,my everyday I wanted to gain a new source of motivation for my everyday life.
I applied to this project without any hesitation.
The program I participated in was called Gap Year Stay Seoul.It was a project to work as staff at a guesthouse. Looking at the tasks, I could introduce Korea to foreigners, make my meals there, and one of the duties was walking the dog, so I was immediately drawn to it.
I love planning travel routes, I''m very interested in various cultures around the world, and among my few hobbies cooking is a big one. I also love animals very much, so I thought this project was truly a tailor-made project for me! So,I applied to this project without any hesitation.
When I first went to the guesthouse where I would work, the owners and staff were there. It was my first time doing this kind of work so I was naturally nervous, but the owners were very kind and it turned out that all the staff were also people starting for the first time that day. So there was no need to be nervous at all, and because the staff were in the same situation as me, it became an opportunity for us to become closer later.
While working as guesthouse staff I met many foreign guests.
On the first day the owner was there so all the staff learned and worked together, but from the second day the staff started taking turns working one day at a time. I was the first to start. Because I began first without fully mastering the job, there was no one to tell me or help with things I didn''t know.
Other staff helped me as they were learning the job too, but the tasks I didn''t know were also unknown to them, so it was awkward. Eventually a shocking overbooking incident occurred: a male guest had mistakenly booked a women''s dormitory, but fortunately it was resolved well.
Also, while working as guesthouse staff, I met numerous foreign guests,I recommended places for them to visit and introduced many good restaurants. In fact, I know quite a few popular spots in Hongdae, but it was very hard to recommend places. That''s because foreign guests want Korean flavors and often solo travelers ask me for restaurant recommendations. Due to the area''s characteristics, there are almost no Korean restaurants in Hongdae.
There are many Japanese, Western, and fusion restaurants, and I''ve only been to one or two Korean restaurants so there aren''t many I could recommend. Actually there was one bulgogi place I went to often, and I recommended it to a solo guest, but it turned out that the restaurant didn''t accept solo diners. So when I heard that the guest had gone there but couldn''t eat and returned, I felt really sorry. I felt so bad that I ended up going to the restaurant with the guest the next day.
Thanks to that, my travel style gradually changed.
There were indeed problematic customers among the guests at the guesthouse. Especially guests who booked more than one room as a group sometimes acted as if they''d rented a condo — making a lot of noise and leaving the room dirty — so I have some unpleasant memories of group long-term stay guests.
Of course there weren''t many troublemakers. I became quite close with the guests, often went out drinking with them, and on days I didn''t work I sometimes took the lead and went out with guests.The type who was easiest to get close to were the European men who came alone.
Actually, I wanted to go to cafes with female guests more than male guests, but most female guests plan their schedules meticulously, so there weren''t many opportunities for me to join. On the other hand, especially...most European men who came alone had almost no plans.Since they''d only go to one or two places a day, if I said I was going out alone on my day off most of them would follow me,so it was easy to become close with them.
At first I really couldn''t understand traveling without a plan. If I went to Europe I would plan to visit as many places as possible so I wouldn''t have any regrets. But these guys didn''t do that, which was baffling; after hanging out with and really getting close to such guests, I came to think that having little to no plan when I go to Europe isn''t so bad.
From these friends'' perspective, if you get close to a local who lives in the area you''re visiting, you can discover restaurants you wouldn''t have known about as a tourist and...it''s a great opportunity to experience their culture up close more than anyone else. Thanks to that, my travel style gradually changed.
Also, by experiencing European culture I realized that foreign travel isn''t something grand or intimidating — the entry barrier is much lower than I had thought, and my English improved a lot. And...I also made a good French friend, so I began seriously studying French, which I''d been interested in but hadn''t been learning.
# Because of that, I became much less concerned about what others think.
It''s not easy to enjoy leisure life in Jeju. However...in Seoul you can easily do almost everything except surfing.My hobbies weren''t very varied, but while living in Seoul I went to Dongdaemun and Bangsan Market a lot, started making diffusers and perfumes myself, and even made earrings to wear.
Besides those hands-on hobbies, I also wandered Gyeongbokgung and Deoksugung alone and reflected a lot, and there were many great opportunities to view wonderful art for free at the National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art.In Jongno there were many places where people under 24 could enter and view for free, which made me so, so happy.
I visited Deoksugung, strolled along Cheonggyecheon, read books alone at Kyobo Bookstore, and enjoyed what I think is the best view of Seoul from the roof of the history museum in Gwanghwamun. Living such a tranquil life led me to spend more time in solitary thought and matured me a lot.
Oh, and I used to walk through the prettily dressed streets of Hongdae with Yeongsim while I was sweaty and scruffy from working all the time,and because of that I became much less self-conscious about others'' gazes.The reason is that no matter how scruffy or weirdly dressed I was, no one paid attention to me and they only gushed over cute Yeongsim.
# The biggest thing I gained this summer was a strong motivation and vision that helped me break out of my lethargy.
Living in Seoul taught me how to live slowly amid a busy routine and was a great opportunity to broaden my hobbies.Also, I used to think international travel was difficult and required endless preparation. But I realized that you don''t really need to overthink things to travel abroad; you don''t have to travel for a long time or make an overly rigid plan.
That...I realized all of it was a high barrier I had imposed on myself, and I''m happy to have broken it down.
I thought that if I left Seoul and returned to Jeju I would have to revert to a lethargic daily life, which would be awful. But instead, since returning here I''ve been studying foreign languages hard and working part-time.
I''ve been greatly inspired by people living different lives, so even after coming back to my hometown I''m no longer lethargic like before.Because I gained direction and the driving force for my life.On the contrary, I''m living a life striving for a wonderful winter to come, and the greatest thing I gained this summer is...It is a great motivation and vision that helped me break free from lethargy.
This winter, I want to spend a cooler, more personal gap year of my own.
