Laura Pennell

When I moved to Korea four months ago, I knew exactly what I was hoping for. I was hoping to live somewhere new and exciting, to meet new people and experience a different culture, all while doing a job that I love.

The last 4 months have certainly given me everything I hoped for - and more. That being said, it hasn’t all been a breeze. I’ve faced new challenges and worries that come with living in a completely new country where I’m not fluent in the language. I have had days where I’ve missed family and friends incredibly, and days where I’ve doubted my ability to do a job that I previously considered myself good at.

Even 3 months in, I feel like I am still finding my way when it comes to teaching here. Teaching and learning styles are so different to back home, I’ll be honest and say it hasn’t been easy to find where I slot into everything. Being part of the fall intake to the EPIK programme, I joined my schools at the beginning of the second semester, half way through the academic school year. The best way I can describe how this felt is that it was a little like how you feel when you need to jump into a moving cable car – it’s going, and it’s going to keep going, it’s up to you to get onboard. For that reason, at the beginning of our placements, myself and many of the friends and fellow teachers I met at orientation found that we needed to hit the ground running.

The first few weeks were filled with the excitement of meeting new classes, getting to know students and teachers, and familiarising myself with how things generally work. Before coming to Korea, I had felt somewhat apprehensive at the thought of having to teach across two schools but, having settled into the routine, I find that I love working in this way. I spend three days of the week at my main school, with the other two days (Tuesday and Friday) spent at my second school. What I had initially worried would be tiring, I have found to be the opposite. Splitting my days across the schools means that the weeks seem to fly by.

No two days are ever the same and I been fortunate enough to meet twice as many wonderful people as a result. In addition to this, the two schools also offer a completely different teaching experience as one is co-ed and the other is an all girl’s middle school. Each has their own individual joys and challenges, but as I spend more time at each, I am growing to love the different sides of teaching I get to experience because of that.

Above all of this though, one of the best parts about teaching in Korea is that my job no longer consumes my life in the way it did when I was teaching in the UK. I love to teach and I enjoy every day I get to spend doing this job, but I also want to live a life that doesn’t completely revolve around my work. Since moving here, I have been able to strike a work-life balance that suits me. I work hard during the week, marking sure I’m fully planned for the lessons ahead, which allows me to leave work exactly where it belongs, at work. As a result, I have been able explore the city that I live in, take trips to other places, and also just relax - which it’s sometimes easy to forget to do when there’s so much to do and see.

At the end of my first few months in Korea, I can safely say that making the decision to move here - however long or short term my stay should turn out to be – is one of the best choices I’ve ever made, and I can’t wait for what the rest of my time here has in store.