Yes. You read that correctly.

South Korea.

For a whole year.

I wasn’t sure that I was going to update this site again, but then a good friend (well, she’s fairly decent anyway) encouraged me to think about it (thanks Di) and so now you’ll have to suffer through more random ramblings regarding my Korean adventures (unless you unsubscribe, of course).

However, rather than being a lot of jolly posts about touring the country, hiking mountains, eating tons of food, and well, generally having a wonderful laid-back time; this time you should be prepared for a smidge more stress, possibly a couple tears, definitely some rants, as well as hiking, food, and hopefully more trips around the country.

Yup. You might want to hit that unsubscribe button now.

For those of you sticking around, here’s the lowdown on what I am up to…

I’m heading to Korea to teach English in a Korean public school. I will be doing this as part of a program called EPIK, a government initiative with the intention of putting a native English-speaking teacher in every school so that kids have exposure to a more ‘natural’ English language experience.

If I level with you, I am a teensy bit scared witless by this plan. For while I am a qualified teacher (well, lecturer really), and with about 6 years’ experience to my name (albeit a while ago), my remit couldn’t be further away from teaching young kids how to speak English if it tried. I taught people how to be zookeepers. And how to handle small animals without damaging them. What to feed something without it carking over. I wasn’t bad at it at all. But the people I taught were also of an age to choose to be there and not, you know, going through puberty.

So, a little daunting this experience may be.

And in some ways, it wasn’t the plan. It’s just kind of how life has turned out after 3 years of having an interest in Korean culture and language. It was a small idea that just kind of sat there as a possibility, and when nothing else surfaced (and I once more failed to win the lottery to live a life of luxury), I went for it.

My mum keeps asking me if I have decided to just forget it and stay at home.

I have a work colleague who keeps asking me if I’ve changed my mind yet.

Admittedly, there have been moments when I think they are both smarter than me to suggest this, but for those of you who know me, who really know me, you know that there’s no chance of that…my word is my bond after all. I’ve said I’ll do it, and I will. I’ve not yet turned down a challenge in my life, and I don’t think today is the day I’m going to start.

But let’s not confuse that with stupidity though, OK? We have to be real here. I am setting off for the unknown. As of this point I literally have no idea what I am walking into. The program I have signed up for is notoriously light on detail. I am 14 days away from leaving and all I know about what I am taking on is that I’ll be teaching in Korea, somewhere in the huge province of Gangwon-do (think northeast), and the kids will be anywhere between 8-18. I know I’ll be given some type of accommodation and paid. I know my contract is for a year and I get a 1-week orientation on arrival. And that’s pretty much it. The finer points I will only learn on arrival.

So, with all of that in mind, if I jet off to Korea and this experience turns out to be hell on earth, I do have the ability to simply pack up and fly home. I by no means would want that to be the case.

I would like to have a moderately happy year teaching in Korea (I say moderately because let’s face facts, it’s still teaching in a foreign country and that’s gonna be hard in and of itself).

I would like to feel content and be able to live a comfortable daily life for a year (hot running water and a flushing toilet will be a luxury for me – my bar is set pretty low right now).

I’d like to be able to eat take out food a couple times a month (and not go broke in the process).

I’d love to be able to speak basic Korean confidently (that simply means I’d like to be sure what I am saying to someone, is actually what I want to be saying to someone) and maybe even make a friend in the process.

I’d really love to see some mountains from where I live.

Overall, deep down, I just don’t want to hate it.

My previous trips to Korea have just been amazing and awe-inspiring, I’d feel gutted to have my experience this time round be awful and potentially that would be my lasting memory of the country. But I’m willing to take the gamble.

So here we go…14 days and counting.