Tag: living abroad

Korea’s trees are beginning to become full with lush green leaves again, flowers have bloomed and happily line every sidewalk, and the long days have a bright, happy luster that was missing only a few weeks ago. All of these changes can only mean one thing, spring is here! As happy as the news that the bleak Korean winter is over, it always comes with the dreaded knowledge that allergies are only a tissue’s reach away.

In the previous episode of 5 Reasons You Should Learn Chinese (found here), we made it abundantly clear that learning at least a little Chinese can really help you in a variety of situations when you go to China (or Taiwan). If you move to China, you’ve no excuse!

You’ve got your plane ticket in hand, you’ve said all your good byes for the time being, and you’re now staring at the empty suitcases you need to pack for your year in South Korea. You’ve already bought a year’s supply of your favorite candies and comfort foods. After you check off clothes, treats, and deodorant, however, you’re left wondering what exactly you should expect in your new Korean apartment.

Committing to travel is no small decision. In so doing, you open yourself up to the influence of those completely different than yourself. In a sense, you are inviting significant change into your world, an admitted fear by many and unavoidable constant for all. The only way to combat that fear of the unknown is to go for it. Make it happen. Take the step in front of you.

Apart from the beautiful Korean culture, amazing food, and kind people, the collective majority of expats stick around teaching in Korea longer than a year because the cost of living is incredibly low. Saving money while living in Korea is easy and doesn’t really require much effort.

If part one of the “8 travel blogs sure to make your travel bug itch” didn’t satiate your virtual wanderlust, hopefully this week’s part two will! The amazing bloggers that have made today’s list are experts in the art of backpacking, traveling on a budget, and scouting out the best hidden restaurants and pubs in any country. These addictive websites are the perfect place to spend a few hours learning how to pack a neat and tidy backpack, which pub has the best and cheapest beer in London, and which luxurious hotel in Paris is the perfect choice for you.

An actual conversation that occurred shortly before I moved to China in 2010: My Friend: You’re moving to China? Me: That’s right. My Friend: You’re crazy. Completely nuts. (making “cuckoo eyes” at me) Me: Why? Why is that so crazy? Lots of people do it. My Friend: Because they all speak Chinese there! You’ll probably die.…
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Travel has the tendency to expose and introduce us to some of our worst fears. Or is it that travel has the incredible ability to grant us any number of opportunities for courage? Easing travel nerves may simply be a matter of perspective, of trust, and of knowing our true identity.