Website: http://www.grrrltraveler.com
GRRRL TRAVELER has written 383 articles so far, you can find them below.
Mother & Daughter and the Family Legacy of Mekong Meat.
When posting my main travel stories, I realize there are many others which get lost in the shuffle. Unfortunately, sometimes there’s just no place for them in a flow of writing. So what do you do (more…)
Making a life altering choice is never easy…
Yes, contract renewal time is here for all public school English Teachers. This past Tuesday, my school wanted to know if I’d be renewing my EPIK contract to continue teaching at my school. They wanted to know my decision… in two days!
“I thought I knew what I wanted until you asked me.“
Usually we can see the fork in the road at the start of every undertaking; and thus, have time to prepare for it.
To say this news came as a surprise was my wish to delay the inevitable– that being a stressful life-altering decision, which will result in a short-term prison sentence to an unpredictable future!
I knew this day would come but it was difficult feeling out an answer.
Invariably, there are times when you’re 90% certain of your decision, until you’re given an indelible marker with only two days to sign your life on the dotted line. Suddenly, a tiny K-drama love triangle ensues…and your life seems to have gotten better overnight!
What’s up with that?!
For instance, “I Love…”
• my students (read here) (& know at least 50 names…NOT an easy task in Korea)
• my school and principal.
• my fellow teachers, who now feel comfortable with me, enough that I occasionally sit in the middle of the teachers lunch table (vs the end)
• my awesome apartment (although I didn’t initially feel this way).
• my Hobbit town of Singi– everything I could ever want is within a 6 block radius (including a new Lotte Plaza!).
• my new friends and the fact, I have people to do things with.
• my relationship with my co-teachers are great (albeit it wasn’t always like that).
• how each day I enter my workplace, I’m excited to challenge my potential and find exciting discoveries to inspire learning in my kids.
• my travel life!
My life is now perfect. I’ve gotten through the uncomfortable and sometimes, horrible growing pains and I found another career that I’m good at.
My life and work is rewarding.
… And yet something still didn’t feel right.
Why?
This life was my fun fail-safe plan.
My real dream is to move towards a career around travel, working in media and living (and uh,…eating) in city which inspires possibility.
Seoul.
I want to be in Seoul.
Sorry Daegu, the answer to my contract renewal had to be …
No.
And that counts for regrets.
Everyone has to follow their own truth and do what feels right for their life. Me? I seldom pursue a back-up solution as my first action (*it’s a fail-safe for when my plans don’t work out)!
I’ve made a career out of ‘gambling on my dreams’ . I take risks for things I’m most passion about, despite the high level of competition in a talent/performance based field. Why? My passion is so strong, that pursuit is ever the only answer. And head to the grind, focus and hard work usually paid off~
• I’m an NCAA championship collegiate athlete.
• I’ve been a fine arts and performance artist career, exhibiting internationally and in the U.S.
• A professional dancer in a dance company for 3 years.
• A TV producer and cameraman for some top national and international TV shows.
… Today I’m an expat living in South Korea teaching English! (A bit of an odd choice, as it’s the first 9-5 career job I’ve had… in my life!)
No one ever said chasing your dream is easy. If it were, I suspect more people would do it.
To act on one’s dreams requires risk and a stubborn leap of faith, followed by a rigorous hustle to make it work! There’s no certainty of success; only trial-n-error frustrations and occasional backlash of self-doubt.
Yes, pursuing dreams are an uncomfortable nuisance! Why attempt them at all?
Answer:
When you finally get to living your dream, you’ll be super glad you did. It’s the most enviable life to have and you get to feeling like a rockstar when it turns out.
While I’m not quite convinced that I love Korea, I want to give it another year. But the road ahead holds no guarantees. If I want to live and work in Seoul, I have to re-apply to jobs, reference letters,… jump through hoops! Truthfully, it doesn’t seem easy; yet, upon my arrival to Korea, Daegu life didn’t feel easy-breezy at first, either.
I won’t lie to you. Making a life-changing decision to follow an unpredictable future feels terrifying. It’s littered with too many unknowns and the ultimate question of whether you’ll be able to survive:
I have four months to get to that next step or go with an incubating plan to travel for few months. Until then, think I’ll be checking out Dave’s ESL Cafe to see if there’s any university job in Seoul offering an apartment and hiring… If anyone knows of any job openings, feel free to throw them my way!
Sidnote: Sometimes, a GRRRL just needs her dad for some helpful advice:
*Thanks Dad, for your thoughtful questions and talk. It helped me see my path clearly.
My Love Story Face mask #3: Lucky Lucy
Apparently I haven’t picked up the Korean bug yet; I’m on cold #5?.. I think. I lost count after number three. Life sure surprises you when you live abroad.
My new sick mask and visit to the Korean hospital (aka doctor) however, is my third. I actually picked this facemask up in Saigon, while traveling Vietnam this past summer. Facemasks there aren’t only for the sick or protection from dust pollution, but as the Vietnamese are a keen motorbike culture, it’s part of the daily motorist wardrobe. This is a little bigger than my Korean masks but that doesn’t mean the spaciousness adds comfort. As I discovered, I just can’t run with (more…)
“Igot boseu… Loveland kayo?” (trans. This bus, going to Loveland?)
… Korean girls within ear-shot distance grew wide-eyed with side glances and we got a few silent nods and snickers between men. As two foreign girls standing at a bus stop with map-in-hand, I didn’t think there was much harm asking…
Occasionally, Koreans can surprise you. A couple of month ago, it was a mystery to me as to where all the sexual naughtiness in conservative Korea was hidden. Now, standing before the un-pearly gates of Loveland, I was about to have all (more…)
Will You Be Visited by House Hunters Next?
Hey Expats in Kimchi-land and beyond! Wanna give folks back home a peek into what shopping for a home in a foreign country takes?
Hit television show ‘House Hunters International‘ (currently showing on the Homes and Gardens Network in America) is casting for a new series. If you are looking for or have recently bought a home abroad, they would like to put your story on TV!
The travel show is looking for energetic people, couples and families to share their story about (more…)
Boo! Happy Halloween week is upon us and October has been a roller coaster of surprises and scares… Many EPIKers are feeling the heave of visa extensions and the pounce of contract renewals. The leaves are turning a brilliant and golden-yellow, the wind carries a light nip and … where are all these damn mosquitoes in my apartment coming from now?…
My October kicked off with the Annual Andong Maskdance Festival and friends, Gina & Joel of A Year in Daegu (you can read their review here). Now festivals in Korea can come in all shapes and sizes and yet, they can often get into the habit of feeling eerily the same. Inflated tents sell the standard Korean festival foods and vendor knick-knacks in sunglasses, hardware, kitchen cutlery; some are reserved for carnival games or an arts and crafts section for kids… This festival, being one of Korea’s better-known festivals, launched our hopes higher.
You don’t have skydive out of a plane to be a daredevil. You don’t have to eat strange bugs or worms to be an adventurist. You don’t have to act all crazy and shout Whoo-Haa! like a Geronimo madman, to invite a little devilish thrill into your life. Sometimes, adventure and danger can fit into the simplest and most ordinary things; and if you’re a solo traveler, occasionally it’s the simplest things that can feel the most dangerous!
“Just how crazy is motorcycle culture in Saigon/Ho Chi Minh City (HCMC)? It’s insane! In HCMC the two-wheeled chariot populates roughly 90% of the roadway (highways included). Thus, the Vietnamese are as comfortable on their motorbikes, the way L.A. drivers are in their sunglasses and cars! People hang out on their motorbikes, leisurely checking their cellphones, eating or reading their morning newspaper; lounge on them like sofa chairs and practice the art of balance by sleeping on them as nomadic beds. In addition, going to the park at night is (more…)
Travel Bucket List 2012: Booking a role on Hawaii Five-O (Part II)
8 ways I stay warm during winter in Korea
My narrow escape from Bangkok's Ping-pong sex show scams
Getting my hair done at the Korean beauty salon
10 funny quirks you didn't know about Koreans
Cambodia: Which of these Fear Factor foods would you eat?
8 Places to Make you Fall in Love with Seoul
Long-term solo travel and three mistakes I wish I avoided
Are you a street-smart traveler or just travel-jaded?
Atrocities of Tourism: 6 annoying habits of tourists
Surviving a university job interview in Korea
