December 9th, 2024
Another December has arrived, and with it, the reminder that another year of this precious life is coming to an end. Is it too predictable to say that when I think of time in relation to this year, it seems to have passed more quickly than ever?
One of the fundamental realities of life is that time is, and always will be, passing. The passing of time, though, is not merely the somewhat-disheartening feeling of life slipping through your fingers; it is also reflective of more hopeful aspects, like our growth as individuals navigating along the path of life—the accumulation of time and experiences propelling us to where we are in the present.
Over the past few weeks in Seoul, the change from autumn to winter was slow, yet palpable. The autumnal feeling of November slowly faded into cooler days and fallen leaves, until suddenly, it became December and winter arrived.
The beginning of November marked six months since I began my year of life abroad, and somehow, in what felt like barely a moment, December came and suddenly I had passed well beyond the ‘half way’ point of my life in Korea. Elapsing this half way point has been a cause for reflection and gratitude to life in Korea.
Living in Korea has become one of the most precious milestones in my life. The longest I have spent outside of New Zealand is four and a half months during my exchange semester in university. In many ways, living in Korea feels incomparable, if not for the vastly different culture I am navigating, but for the simple fact that I arrived here full of aspirations but void of palpable plans.
Over the past six months, I have built a little life in Seoul, and it has become something I know I will treasure for the rest of my life.
Though I love my life here, I wouldn’t be telling the truth if I didn’t say that there have been times I truly questioned myself and genuinely considered returning to New Zealand early. Living abroad is wonderful; it is a constant adventure in this experience of life, but at times it is lonely and uncertain. It is constantly experiencing different ways of life and questioning my perspectives of the world. It is mispronounced or wrong words blurted out as my brain struggles to form a sentence in Korean, but it is also moments of connection when I am able to convey my thoughts and feelings despite my Korean, at times, wavering. It is the ever-present curiosity at minor, yet fascinating ways of life that are so different to back home, and the appreciation that comes with it of not only Korea, but home too. It is vast experiences combining into a lovely life that I have created.
Before returning to Korea, I had a reassuring thought that I recently found in my journal: ‘if I go, I will never look back and wonder ‘what if?’, because I would have tried it. Perhaps I would have liked it, or maybe it would have been different to what I thought it was going to be, but the beauty of life is in experiencing, and to experience widely is to encapsulate the world, and I don’t think I’d ever look back and wonder ‘what if?’ if I did all of that”.
These words—journalled almost one year ago—have come to perfectlyencapsulate my experiences in Korea; living abroad has been a beautiful array of experiences that have culminated in the feeling that I have truly experienced life here. At times, it has been an important reminder that the grass is not always greener on the other side; though, like my words from a year ago conveyed, an important part of life is to experience widely and that includes experiencing (and, though at times difficult, embracing) sadness, heartbreak, uncertainty, and the other not-so-lovely aspects of being human.
There is a well-known saying: ‘wherever you go, there you are’. It is simple and seems obvious, yet I think that is the exact reason I like it so much. Whether the experiences I am having in Korea (or New Zealand, or wherever I am) are happy, life-changing, sad, difficult—whatever the experience—I am trying to live where I am. Doing a working holiday in Korea is quite literally a once-in-a-lifetime experience, so this one-year experience feels especially meaningful, and thus a reminder to live life where you are (you never know when life will change). And despite the difficult experiences and times I have gone through, I try and view each one as part of my aspiration to live life fully—to experience widely and encapsulate the world.
‘오래 오래 살고, 살면서 복 많이 받아라’ – ‘Live A Long Life, And Be Fortunate’
Looking back now, I find it difficult to truly put into words how my experience of living in Korea has changed my life. It is not even that it has changed my life in grand, loud ways, but in this chapter of my life I feel as though I have been able to uncover and explore more layers of myself. It has been a quiet, yet change. Perhaps the greatest thing I have gained from my life abroad thus far is the affirmation that whilst we cannot control time, we can shape the course of our lives in beautiful ways.
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