My mom stared at me with a blank stare and then started laughing as if I had just told her the funniest joke in the world. “What? What do you mean, Busan, South Korea? Next week?”

24 hours prior to this outburst, I was just sitting at my mom’s computer contemplating how I was going to travel the world with my best friend Stephanie. Since we had planned to travel Europe, I was required to have a bit of cash, but unfortunately, I only had about $500 in the bank, which was not enough to just travel. So I started looking online for jobs overseas. And honestly, all you have to do is a Google search for ESL jobs or jobs overseas and you will get a ton of results. I filtered through a few of the websites, but when I stumbled upon www.footprintsrecruiting.com I knew I had hit the jackpot. There were tons of jobs available for numerous countries.

I figured, I had just graduated university with my BA in English, why not put it to some actual use and I started to apply for about 30 different jobs on that website. (Most ESL jobs require a valid college diploma, university degree, or TESOL certificate, so be wary of the employers who assure you that you do not need some paper.) That way I could travel and make money. I applied for China, Taiwan, Korea, and Japan and within 24 hours the phone calls started pouring in from around the world. I had received a number of different job offers, but they all wanted me to wait 3 months, 6months, etc. However, when Mrs. Yeun called me, our conversation went something like this:

Me: “How soon do you need me?”
With no hesitation, she replied, “Is next Thursday too early?
Me: “Nope. That’s perfect.”

I hung up the phone, kind of in shock that I would be emerging into a completely different culture within a week and I walked out of the office to have this beautiful conversation with my mom, who had no idea I was even thinking about applying as an ESL teacher. (Heck, I didn’t even know until I just started doing it!):

Me: “Mom, guess where I’m going next week?”
Mom (as she’s nonchalantly preparing dinner): “Where are you going?”
Me: “Busan, South Korea.”
Mom: “That’s ni---WHAT? What do you mean, Busan, South Korea?”

I think comments like “Do you even know who these people are?”, “Just how do you think you are going to get there?”, “Do you even know where Korea is?” filled the room, but to be honest, I was so excited about my upcoming adventure, that I didn’t care, but now that I think about it, my answers to all those questions were “No.”

No, I didn’t know who I was going to meet in Busan. I knew the woman picking me up would be named “Ruth” but had no idea what she would look like. No, I had no idea how I was going to get there by next Thursday (I had to get from Regina to Calgary to Vancouver to catch the flight). I just knew that my flight was paid for (hence, why I went to South Korea instead of Japan or China). No, I had no idea where Korea was or what it included. All I knew, was that it was somewhere in the world, close to Japan, and the culture was different than mine (or so I thought) and it was where I needed to go at this point in my life.

It was kind of like jumping into the lake versus walking into it. Had I waited 3 months, 6 months, etc. I would have had time to freak out about the culture, attempt to learn the language through book format, and worry about the things I was leaving behind. However, because I went to Busan so quickly, I didn’t have time to get scared, to worry, to try my hand at something and it made the learning process when I got to South Korea, that much more exciting. I had no choice but to learn the language through day to day interactions, I had no choice but to accept the food that was placed in front of me, I had no choice but to jump in over my head and take in what was before me. Because of the amazing experience I had, just spontaneously setting off to a foreign country, I will probably travel like that for the rest of my life.

So, after a whirlwind week of vaccinations, visa applications, flight arrangements, and my parents pleading with me to re-think my decision, I had finally landed in the land of kimchi, nore-bangs, and of course, my HSM. (For those of you who don’t know what an HSM is, it’s a person’s Holy Shoot Moment: the moment in time when they realize there is no turning back, and going forward is the only option.) When you are in that moment, your mind becomes flooded with stereotypical ideas about what you are about to face and it makes you want to turn around and go home. Since I had no other choice, I jumped headfirst into the Asian experience, expecting to be overwhelmed with confusion and terror. I was, however, a little disappointed and also, comforted by the interest that South Korea has with the western culture.

Now, when thinking of traveling from a western country like Canada to an Asian country like South Korea, all of these preconceived notions ran through my mind as to what Korea would look like: everything would be in Korean writing, you would see Buddhist temples, there would be cherry blossom trees, thousands of people on the streets, etc.

Think again.

My drive from the airport to my apartment in Goejeong-dong quickly changed any image that I had created. As we drove down the street, I looked to my left and amongst the towering apartment buildings and neon-lit clubs I noticed a big familiar face staring at me. It was a huge Kenny Rogers (yes, you heard me right…KENNY ROGERS!!) billboard. I blinked twice to make sure that I was seeing things right and when I realized that I had to look at his big, white, hairy face every time I came out of the subway, I shook my head. But in the end, I actually appreciated that there was a familiar face waiting to greet me when I walked home to my lonely apartment.

We continued driving down the street and after chuckling to myself about the Kenny Rogers billboard, I realized that it was going to be easier for me to find my way to my apartment than I thought. It was conveniently located between a Pizza Hut and a McDonalds and thanks to being from a “fast food nation,” I could recognize those signs anywhere. As stoked as I was to realize that I could have western food whenever I wanted, my bubble was shortly burst when I found out that the foods that were offered at both the McDonalds and Pizza Hut included items such as sweet potato pizza, sides of pickled radish to accompany the pizza, kimchi flavored sauce on the hamburgers, and so on.

Needless to say, the picture of Korea that was in my head, changed within that one short drive to my apartment and I quickly realized that even though I left home to experience new and exciting things, I was able to cushion the culture shock by eating a Big Mac or glancing at Kenny’s big, round eyes.

In addition to having stereotypes about the landscape, I also had preconceived notions about Korean people and I knew I would stand out a little bit from the usual Asian crowd.
Hovering in at 5’11”, with a weight of 250lbs, wild and thick, curly, brown hair, and quite, uh, chesty, I was the object in the Sesame Street song, “Which One of These Things Just Doesn’t Belong?” Though I had expected a few stares, I wasn’t quite prepared for the response I got from my students when I first saw them.

A 5 year old with the English name Tom, immediately shrieked “MONSTAH!! YOU IS A MONSTAH!” Of course, their English was limited, so I had to introduce myself and explain that I wasn’t a monster, but rather a big, white woman from Canada.

Then I went to my next class, where I had the pleasure of meeting Lucy, who declared loudly, “Teacher, your chi-chis is thick!” (chi-chi’s refer to a woman’s breasts ) In true English teacher fashion, I pointed out her grammatical errors first, advising “It would be ‘Your chi-chis ARE thick” and then advised her that it is not polite to make comments about a woman’s chest.

Finally, in my last class of the day as I was sitting with my kindergarten children reading to them from a picture book. I started to feel a little hand running up and down my arm. I looked over at 3-year old Andrew and he was concentrating, not on the story, but rather, my arm hair. He was petting me like I was an animal and over the 2 years that I spent teaching English in Busan, I have felt more like an animal at the petting zoo, than a teacher. (I guess it’s safe to say that most Koreans do not have thick, dark arm hair.)

Eventually, I began to realize that while certain responses to my appearance made me uncomfortable, the majority of the time I felt like a celebrity. I would be walking down the street and strangers (usually teenagers in a group, trying to be cool) wouldn’t hesitate to ask to have their picture taken with me or have me “autograph” their notepads. I began to appreciate the not so subtle differences that set me apart from the majority of the population and enjoyed the attention that I normally would not get at home in Canada.

I quickly came to the conclusion that where I had both enjoyed the western and Asian influences in Busan, the Korean population was similar. They had embraced and reveled in the western lifestyle and pop culture that they saw on TV, yet they were still curious and even fearful about the western population that flew from all over the world to inhabit their schools and streets.

So, perhaps my stereotypical predictions of Busan, South Korea were a little off, but while I was a little disappointed to see the western influences on the Asian culture, I was secretly thankful because it’s always nice to have a comforting taste of something from home when thrust into an HSM. Just remember, even when you think you’ve left home to experience new and exciting things, no matter how much time you have to conjure up those images, think again…I’m sure there’s a famous country singer or Big Mac just waiting to pop up. (Who knew that a Big Mac could bring such a sense of cultural relief?)

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