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#Established a sense of life direction, understood myself and the world #Learned how to let go, realized what suits me well #Growth, gratitude
During a gap year, it''s good to take things easy and try living the way you want to.It''s good to try new life patterns and various things. Also, talk a lot with people and share how people in other countries live and their cultures. Learn classic English affordably in London, UK Choi Ji-hye, gap-year participant (25, university student) / 8-week gap year |
# I wandered for a long time.
Hello. I''m Choi Ji-hye, a 25-year-old fourth-year university student. I''m currently attending university, and after going on an exchange program last semester, I decided to take a gap year.
This is my second gap-year project. The first was volunteering to teach English to kindergarten children in Hanoi, Vietnam. I chose this gap-year project after receiving a consultation and recommendation from the director. Also, I wanted to change myself a bit more.
Life felt very difficult, and I always thought about ''what does it mean to live well?''I was emotionally distressed, and despite thinking a lot, I couldn''t find the direction of how I should live.I wandered for a long time.What values should I hold, what should I live for, and what career should I choose? And...After doing the first gap-year project in Vietnam and feeling that I had changed a lot, I chose this one with more confidence.
* For Ji-hye Choi, who wanted new experiences and career exploration, missions that challenged her existing thinking and personalized one-on-one missions for new experiences and challenges were provided daily, and a gap-year notebook to reflect on herself and make plans was also provided.
# It won''t be as hard as you think once you go.
This year I stayed abroad a lot. I went on an exchange to the U.S. and volunteered in Vietnam. But I think staying abroad always brings fear. You''re going somewhere you don''t know, so you''re afraid of what the place will be like and worried whether you''ll adapt well.
However, wherever you go it''s also a place where people live, and you can meet people there, make friends, and adapt.I think you don''t need to worry too much. Once you go, it won''t be as hard as you worry.
For pre-departure preparations, I first handled the documents sent by Gap Year and packed my luggage. I prepared in a hurry and went after only two weeks. There''s so much to prepare, but take care of the important documents first. And if something is missing, you can somehow handle it locally, so I hope you don''t get too stressed packing and preparing. I remember it was hard preparing many things in a rush.
# Understanding and getting to know myself, so I wanted to love myself.
The goal of this gap-year project isFirst, to understand and get to know myself. So I wanted to love myself.I don''t like myself. So I tried to find out what kind of person I am.Second, to learn a lot by forming relationships with people, to deepen them and become closer.I wanted to form deep relationships with people and learn a lot from them. Third, I wanted to be someone who acts without hesitation.
I wanted to become a stronger, growing person. My goal was also to know how to live from now on, which direction to take, and in what way to live.Ultimately, I wanted to understand myself and the world, and thus reconcile the world and myself to know how to live.
# A day in London
I wake up around 7:00–7:30 in the morning and get ready. Around 8:00 I have to go out to catch the bus. Class starts at 8:45. Then there''s one class session from 8:45 to 10:15.
We have a 15-minute break and classes run from 10:30 to 12:00. After that, if you chose extra lessons, you might attend for another hour or two. When my class finished at 12, I sometimes went home and made lunch, or I ate at Sainsbury''s market or at a restaurant in front of the school and visited places I wanted to go in the UK. I went to museums, galleries, parks, streets, markets, shopping areas, restaurants, cafes, and so on.
# I realized there are things that suit me well.
ThisFrom this project I learned: first, life doesn''t go the way I want.I always have high expectations and am very ambitious. I have my own fixed ideas or framework.In fact, everything can be either good or bad.Things can be like this or like that, but I used to think everything had to be good. And when it wasn''t good, I took it very badly. So from now on I want to be someone who accepts both the good and the bad well.Even if things are different from what I expected, I want to be someone who is flexible in thought and accepts them.
Second, I realized there are things that suit me well.By switching classes I started taking a class that suited me. The teacher was a good fit and the class was enjoyable. I also got along well with my classmates.When I take classes that suit me, I pay attention and feel motivated.While taking classes that didn''t suit me, I realized that if I had to do work I don''t like, I would really not want to do it.On the other hand, doing what I like would be really fun and enjoyable.I also learned which types of people suit me. The friends I made in the new class respected me, we communicated well, and I was at the center of conversations. I wasn''t intimidated and we were considerate of each other. I was grateful to those friends.
Thirdrd, I learned to give up.I thought I wanted to spend my time meaningfully in the UK because it''s hard to come back. I wanted to achieve my gap year goals and travel around the UK actively. So I set many goals and planned many things to do: experiences to have, places to visit, things to do in the UK, things to buy, reviewing English lessons, travel plans, gap year goals, etc.
Because of that,At first the things I wanted to do became things I had to do, and later I didn''t want to do them and they became stressful.Even after coming on my gap year I was busy, had no free time, and was pressuring myself. In fact, there wasn''t anything I absolutely had to do. Giving up was difficult for me, but I learned to let go.
There were so many places I wanted to go at the end, but I gave some up. I learned to let go and make time to relax.Sometimes I felt that giving up is important and is a choice that respects myself.
# By attending classes every day and sharing cultures and thoughts through conversation, people become closer more naturally and easily.
Through the gap year project I met Koreans who lived in the same accommodation. Most had come through the gap year program, and because we were all Korean conversation flowed easily and we could talk readily. I also met foreign friends living in the same accommodation. Since everyone cooks and eats in the kitchen, we often ran into each other and talked.
Other friends are classmates in the same class.Since we attend classes together every day and share cultures and thoughts and talk, we become closer more naturally and easily.There were friends from many different countries, so it was enjoyable to learn about various cultures. Friends I met in the accommodation and class included people from Japan, Taiwan, Kazakhstan, Europeans from Spain, Italy, Switzerland, and France, friends from South America such as Brazil, Argentina, and Chile, and people from Monaco.
# After participating in the project
I participated in the London language-study project and met various people. I realized that there are people who are different from me, who don''t match me well, or who make me uncomfortable, and there were also friends who embodied the person I want to become — people who truly live as they wish. I met open people who do things I hesitate to do as if it were nothing. I think I felt and learned a lot from that.
And I learned to let go and how to be more relaxed with myself.I''m trying to be less perfect, less constrained by the things I have to do, and I sometimes put things off. AndI care less about people''s reactions and feedback and am gradually doing what I want, and approaching people feels less difficult.
# To prospective participants
The gap year project may be different from what you expected. But don''t be disappointed if it turns out differently; I hope you''ll have a mindset that can flexibly accept things that differ from your expectations. Even if it''s not what you imagined, there are things to learn and realizations to gain.
It would be good to reflect on various things while taking a gap year.However, don''t give your gap year too much meaning or try too hard to get too much out of it. During a gap year it''s good to live with ease and try living the way you want to.It''s good to try new life patterns and various things. Also, talk a lot with people and share how people from other countries live and their cultures.
# My gap year tips
- Language
Practice speaking a lot. Koreans often know a lot but aren''t good at speaking. I recommend practicing speaking and listening. My personal advice is to watch American TV shows, listen to BBC News, read articles from Forbes or The Economist and English books, and keep practicing reading, listening, and speaking. Studying English through these media is useful because it''s the English actually used locally. English seems to require consistent effort and feels endless.
- Meals
At Raleigh House you have to cook your own meals. Cooking for yourself and grocery shopping can be fun in their own way, and the kitchen is spacious so several people can cook at once. There''s a Korean supermarket called Oseyo in Camden Town. There are many supermarkets nearby, so grocery shopping is convenient (Coop, Tesco, Lidl, Sainsbury). I''ve heard Lidl is cheap.
- What to bring
Items I lacked that caused trouble:Voltage converter (the UK doesn''t use the Korean two-pin plug), warm clothes (gloves, Heattech, etc.)
Items that were convenient to have:Hair dryer, travel guidebook, medicine, comb, umbrella, nail clippers, Korean seasonings bought at Daiso (soy sauce, sesame oil, gochujang), canned tuna, ramen, scarf, slippers.
Items that were inconvenient to have:Outerwear (because it''s bulky)
- My personal advice for future participants about what to bring
I recommend bringing as little luggage as possible. London is a city where you can buy almost anything, so it''s fine to bring only what you need. It''s also okay to bring clothes you plan to discard. Because you''ll end up accumulating things later, I recommend bringing items you might buy in the UK (clothes, accessories, cosmetics) as minimally as possible.
# My personal UK travel destinations
1. I visited Bath. I saw Bath and Stonehenge; Bath is hard to go to alone so I went on a guided tour. If you download an app called GetYourGuide, you can do a day trip from London to Stonehenge and Bath. From London you go to Stonehenge first, then Bath. In Bath I recommend Bath Abbey, the Roman Baths, the Royal Crescent, and the Jane Austen Centre. The guide explains on the bus, and after getting off it''s nice to explore on your own.
2. I visited Edinburgh and Glasgow in Scotland. In Edinburgh I went to Edinburgh Castle, the Scott Monument, and the Royal Mile; in Glasgow I visited the Kelvingrove Art Gallery and Museum, Mackintosh''s House, and The Willow Tea Rooms.
3. From London it''s close enough to visit Amsterdam and Brussels, so I went. In Amsterdam I saw the windmills at Zaanse Schans and visited the Red Light District. On the second day I went to the Kröller-Müller Museum. It''s somewhat far and takes a long time and can be expensive to get to, but I highly recommend it if you have the time. I also highly recommend the Van Gogh Museum. In Brussels I went to Ghent and then returned to Brussels to see the night view. The night view of Brussels'' Grand Place is so beautiful. The next morning I visited the Manneken Pis, Mont des Arts, the Grand Place and the Town Hall again, and ate waffles and fries.
4. There''s a lot to see and do in London too. Museums and galleries are free, which is great. There''s the British Museum, the National Gallery, the Tate Modern, and the Saatchi Gallery.
There are also many parks: Richmond Park, Hyde Park, and near the accommodation are Primrose Hill and Hampstead Heath.
Watching a Premier League football match is a great experience, and see a musical too. I really enjoyed the musical Kinky Boots. Also I liked Soho, Portobello Market, Borough Market, Covent Garden, Piccadilly Circus, and Camden Market. The area around the school toward Oxford Circus is the shopping district.
Also, I like the River Thames, so I enjoyed going to the London Eye, the Thames, and Tower Bridge. People also often go to nearby places like Brighton, Bath, Oxford, and Cambridge. I really liked London. It has its own vibe, I guess. London feels like a proper noun, and the way British people pronounce things and their appearance is interesting. I loved London and felt it was nice to be able to live there, even if only for a short time.
My gap year was
Experience ★★★★★
I met people from diverse backgrounds (different nationalities and personalities) and gained a lot from it.
Learning ★★★★☆
I learned about other cultures, ways of thinking, accents, listening, debating, and knowledge.
Environment ★★★☆☆
Safety ★★★★☆
I felt safe.
Leisure ★★★★★
Classes finish at 12, so there''s plenty of time and many places to go. Many museums and galleries are free, there are lots of parks, and London has many sights, so there are plenty of places to visit.
Capturing the growth journeys
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