Expect Less – Receive More.
I had never been abroad. I had never packed up my belongings and boarded a plane with no intention of returning for a full year. Even going to University – I never committed to or entered the unknown quite like this.
When I first decided to teach English in Korea, my mounding student debts weren’t driving my decision, nor were my lack of employment prospects (as seemed to be the case for nearly every one I met). Mine was more of a personal journey.
Having plunged head first into a career during university, I found myself becoming the monotonous nine-to-fiver upon graduation and starting the rest of my adult life at the mere age of 22. On top of that, I had placed myself well into society’s standards of get a: house; car; career; and long-term relationship. Yet amongst this laundry list of things I had acquired or achieved over the years, there were two elements missing: adventure and happiness.
After much contemplation and picking at flower petals, “Stay… Go… Stay….”… I decided to “Go”. But go where? My first inclination was go out West to British Columbia. Then I decided maybe I should go to my dream destination, Australia. During this period of debate my friend’s status on Facebook read, “Leaving for Korea tomorrow!” and instantly my interest was peaked. This was my out! I immediately messaged her asking her for all the details and from there I was put in touch with Footprints Recruitment and the process took over and before I knew it, my bags were packed and I was boarding the plane to the unknown.
Knowing little about Asia, or better yet Korea, aside from the articles I read on the Footprints Recruitment website, I boarded the plane with the only one certainty - knowing that I was leaving my western life behind and entering a world much different than one I spent the last 22 years living in. And on top of that, embarking on this journey alone.
With this, I quickly had to leave all expectations and presumptions at the departure terminal, and replace them with an open mind and open heart. And that was when the adventure really started.
From the moment the plane took off, I cleared my mind of these premeditated thoughts of what I expected and decided to, in the words of The Beatles, let it be.
The second I arrived in Korea, the one word that I heard overly used to describe this small country was “dynamic” and it certainly lived up to the description. South Korea, and its people are certainly dynamic in the sense that their minds and fashions are constantly changing and evolving. One moment you are going for lunch and the next, you’re not. One minute you’re teaching a class, and the next you’re going for lunch. As a result, my open mind and open heart was quickly accompanied by a go with the flow attitude and this is what made the year for me a problem and stress-free one. Organization and structure used to rule my life: lunch for 30 minutes, bills due at month end; weekly meetings every week. And I ditched it all for being the last to know the plans and then having the plans change anyway, at the last minute.
After living a year of this constant wavering, this became the way I traveled. I learned not to expect. Of the places I did hold expectations, I found myself disappointed. Of the places I held no expectations for and entered with nothing more than open mind and heart, I was blown away and will hold those times and memories closest in my heart.
Erin Saccomano
Footprints Alumni