Projects
|
FAQ
|
Announcements
#Developed a sense of purpose, shifting from a passive attitude #A new perspective that shattered stereotypes #A precious time, an opportunity to understand myself
[Overseas Volunteer/Activity] Recharging Warm Love with Children in Hanoi, Vietnam Kim Da-hye, gap yearper (25, took a gap year after resigning) / 8-week gap year
|
# By adapting to others and living like everyone else, I gained strong motivation and goals through my gap year!
Hello. I''m 25-year-old Kim Da-hye. After graduating from university, I quit about a year and a half of work in a field related to my major and chose a gap year to experience a new environment.
My way of life was to follow others, pursue a conventional life, and live ordinarily.So I graduated, got a job, and saved some money like everyone else, but it wasn''t enjoyable. On the contrary, it felt suffocating and hard, and I wondered why I was living like that.
So I decided to take a gap year, and after a two-month ''no stress, enjoy it, study English and that''s it!'' project, I joined this project for another two months.
Because my first project was so enjoyable, I joined this project with high expectations. I was excited about what new people I would meet and what I would see and feel. My time in the Philippines taught me that I really love people and that expressing myself and communicating with them is something I desperately need, so,
Through this project, I wanted to talk with more friends and make happy memories.I also wanted to learn more about what I like and what I need, and since it was time to decide what to do when I returned to Korea, I wanted to make that decision.
Hearing this, I might sound quite active and like someone who easily befriends others. During university I never even joined the typical clubs, spent my days off mostly at home, and preferred to go along with others. Meeting people wasn''t particularly enjoyable for me.
And I thought those traits had disappeared after the happy Philippines project I mentioned earlier,I came to Vietnam with strong motivation and goals, telling myself, ''I have nothing to fear now.''
* Korea Gap Year provides educational content such as ''OT materials, checklists, gap year missions, gap year notes, and gap year scholarships'' to help participants adapt locally and grow personally.
First, there are many things I felt at the kindergarten where we carried out the volunteer work.While conducting classes during the volunteer work was burdensome, I received a lot of energy from spending time playing with the children.At the accommodation I kept feeling intimidated among friends and the place that should have been for rest felt like a place where my energy was constantly drained, but at the kindergarten, even without shared language, the children would come to me without getting tired and playing with them gave me even more energy.
The children would constantly run up, want to be held, and ask to play.The closer I became to the children, the happier and more joyful I felt. These were times that supported me when I couldn''t adapt at first.
As time passed, each classroom in the kindergarten looked like a small microcosm of society. The children''s behaviors and the way they treated each other looked like adult relationships. The children who got along well with friends and came to me easily always seemed happy and like they were managing kindergarten life well. It''s like in any group, people with good interpersonal relationships can adapt well, be satisfied, and live healthily.
Among them there was a child who had arrived at the kindergarten not long ago and couldn''t adapt, literally crying all day. They couldn''t get close to the other children. I felt really sorry seeing that child. ''What is so hard that they cry like that? If they weren''t scared and just played with friends, messed around, danced when music played, and ate well at mealtime, that would be enough.'' And I felt that the child''s situation was exactly like mine.
While working at a company and attending university, I was never comfortable among people. I was always on guard, suspicious, fearful, or uncomfortable. Even at the accommodation, living with Western friends, I had all sorts of complicated thoughts—would I seem strange, would they be frustrated because they couldn''t understand me—so I couldn''t feel at ease with the friends.
But while looking at that baby,I thought, ''What I need is simply the courage to get close to people; complicated doubts and guardedness are what''s making me struggle and feel anxious.''Seeing that child motivated me to stop needless worrying and to try approaching friends more naturally.
As a result, I didn''t become extremely close with many friends, butI was able to become a bit closer with a small number of friends, and I think I could relax more without worrying so much about what others thought.It wasn''t a Korean kindergarten, and the children didn''t speak the same language, so I guess these situations stood out.
Next, I was able to objectively see how I handle problems.As I mentioned earlier, at the beginning of the project I had a hard time because of living with Western friends in the accommodation and the pressure of having to teach English (even though it was a very simple level). I was overwhelmed with very depressed and complicated feelings at that time, and when I thought about it, it felt strange. I wondered, ''Is this situation something to be this depressed about? I''m doing what I chose, I started this with courage because I wanted to—should this be so difficult?'' Those thoughts made me a bit confused.
After thinking for a long time, I realized that those depressed feelings and complicated thoughts were ultimately the only method I knew and had used to avoid and escape these hard times. Whenever difficult situations came, I would easily become depressed and feel frustrated at my own helplessness, thinking, ''In the end, I can only do this much.'' And then I would stop the activity or just sit and wait for the time to pass.
If the same situation had happened in Korea, I would have made lots of excuses along with those depressive feelings, thinking, ''I can''t do this anymore because of this and that.'' But in that space and time where no excuses remained, I could see that those feelings were simply the only method I''d used to avoid the problem.
So instead of suffering like this,I decided to take actions to move the situation forward.Actually, if the classes felt burdensome, it wasn''t a matter of just feeling sad and depressed — I could have invested a little more time to prepare for the lessons.
A time when I was able to break stereotypes through living with Western friends
What had come across to me only as stress,I learned many things through living with Western friends. Those friends valued things that were different from what I''d considered important.I walked a conventional path with others around me, listened to their thoughts and views about my opinions, and when it came time to choose I usually put their opinions as a major factor in my decisions. I thought that was the way to live well, the path I should take, the right path, the correct answer. At the center of my choices was always the standard of ''others.''
But after making choices to fit their standards and believing those were the choices I wanted, once I got a job I found the life suffocating and felt it wasn''t what I really wanted. I didn''t know what to do after getting the job.
But these friends seemed to deeply reflect on whether this was truly what they wanted before going to university or taking a job. They spent time thinking carefully to choose their life path by trying various experiences. For that reason, most of them had taken gap years for extended periods.
SoI decided to give myself enough time. I resolved to do the things I wanted, one by one. Even very trivial things I had wanted to do but had felt pointless before—if I felt like doing them, I decided to just do them.
And as I met them one by one, I became interested in countries I hadn''t cared about before and thought, ''Oh, there are countries where people live with such ideas—maybe I could live like that too.'' Through those friends I felt that the world is wide and there are various people living lives beyond my preconceptions.
Take the time to be brave for yourself and to think about yourself!
The reason I''m telling you this is because I want to say that if I had just stayed in that place—at a desk in that company, in my family''s arms, beside my familiar people—I wouldn''t have seen, felt, or experienced things that I could see, feel, and think about through my gap year.
Being away from the society and beliefs I grew up in and in a new environment made my thoughts and actions clearer, and it was easier to understand myself.That doesn''t mean I discovered some amazing self or dream through the gap year. I simply organized many of the complex thoughts that had been surfacing one after another, and it was a time when I could better understand myself and grow.
Right now I''m working part-time at a clothing store. In the past I might have thought, ''Working at a clothing store looks fun and I''d like to try it a bit, but what''s the point?'' But now, the mere fact that it''s something I want to do even a little is enough motivation, and even if others see it as nothing special, I feel satisfaction from being able to do that work that I hadn''t felt before.
And because I''ve tried that work, I feel I might be able to move to the next stage through that experience, and I believe those times will accumulate and someday I''ll be the person I truly want to be.
I sometimes wonder if the things that happened over the past four months are things I really experienced. But the precious connections I met during the whole process make me feel that the dreamy past four months were not a dream but reality. Thanks to them, I was able to take a step further in my thinking. I hope many people who, like me, live with various worries will have such valuable time.
I hope you take the time, with courage, for yourself—to think deeply about yourself. And if you have the courage, I hope you continually contemplate, feel, and gain a lot about yourself through that process.
# My gap year tip
(How to get there)
After leaving the airport, I met the person who picked me up and went to the accommodation comfortably.
(Language)
The staff at the volunteer organization and at the accommodation all communicated in English, so it was fine. However, the kindergarten teachers running the volunteer activities couldn''t speak English, so I couldn''t really have conversations with them. I just did my tasks and left.
In public transport and regular restaurants, people don''t use English well, but if you speak simple English it''s not too difficult to get by. Simple Vietnamese phrases are taught during the volunteer orientation, so I learned and used a few then.
(Accommodation)
Usually six people share a room, so you should be prepared for communal living. Men and women use the same building, but the rooms are separated by gender.
(Meals)
All three meals are provided at the accommodation, and the food you buy outside is tasty and cheap, so go out and try a lot!
(What to bring)
I brought some stickers for the kids and they really liked them.
Since it''s a hot country, I mostly packed only shorts,but you can''t wear shorts to the kindergarten.So I bought a cheap pair at the night market and wore it. You can bring one, or buy an inexpensive pair like I did.
My gap year:
Experience ★★★★☆
Learning ★★★★☆
Environment ★★★☆☆
Safety ★★★★☆
Leisure ★★★★☆
Capturing the growth journeys
of our participants.
