Like many women in the AWCH, I too have my own tale of Asia. When I was a student, I spent a year studying abroad and backpacking across Europe. This experience only fueled my desire to continue traveling. After seeing Europe, I wanted to see the world. A chance meeting with a young American couple on a bus in Egypt, who had just finished a two year teaching stint in Japan, inspired me to formulate a plan. The stories of their experiences in Asia fascinated me. And rather than simply travel, I, like them, decided that I wanted to live in Asia so as to learn and experience as much as I could about the culture. And I could think of no better way than as an English teacher. I applied to schools in Japan, Korea, and Taiwan, and received job offers in all three. I took the job that offered me the plane ticket up front, and so ended up in Puchon, Korea.

Puchon is located half way between Seoul and Inchon, in other words, in suburbia. I worked in a Hogwon, which is a special school that Korean children go to after their regular school to supplement their education. My day began with pre-school age children who could barely speak Korean, let alone English, and my day finished with middle school and high school students, who were busy preparing for the final exam which would determine if and where they might attend University, hence making or breaking that individual’s career before they’d even reached the age of eighteen.

From day one I found Korea fascinating. Every day was a learning experience; every day was full of exploration, experimentation, and adventure. I was determined to learn as much about the language and culture as I could. I took Korean classes every day, between teaching English classes, and Hapkido classes, a Korean martial art, nearly every evening after work.

That was, however, until just a few months after my arrival in the fall of 1997 when all of Asia’s economies collapsed. Being paid in Korean won rather than US dollars, in the short span of six weeks I saw my income shrink to nearly one quarter of what it had been when converted into dollars. I saw nearly all of my fellow Hogwon teachers depart Korea within another six weeks. But as I was determined not to leave the country before I was proficient in the language and had my black belt in Hapkido, I stayed on. Besides, as all of Asia’s economies had collapsed, as long as I stayed in Asia, the currency I was earning had value. In addition, I had become quite fond of the mountains that surrounded Seoul, and had picked up the habit of spending my weekends hiking to various mountain temples, and had even started to develop a taste for kimchi. On top of all that, there were so many places, not only in Korea, but also elsewhere in Asia that I yearned to explore. Not even the school I worked for suddenly going bankrupt could deter me. I ‘hit the pavement’ so to speak, and within a week had three new job offers. This time I took a job teaching at a Hogwon for adults in the center of Seoul. Six months later, the second school went bankrupt too, due to the fact that Korea’s economy was still struggling from the earlier economic collapse and the strict economic restrictions placed upon the country by the IMF. Soon afterwards, I found myself at a third school, another adult Hogwon in the center of Seoul, which I would stay at for an additional two more years.

Before I knew it I had been in Korea for three years and three months. I did achieve the goals for which I had stayed on through the economic crisis for. I became fluent in the language, and earned my black belt in Hapkido. During that time I met so many interesting people, both Koreans and others from many different corners of the world, some of whom I still keep in touch with to this day. And I had countless fascinating experiences. Before I returned to the United States I spent over six months traveling solo across Japan, Taiwan, China, Vietnam, Cambodia, Laos, Thailand, Malaysia, the Philippines, and Nepal. I believe myself to be very fortunate to have had the opportunity to learn, travel, experience, and explore so much of Asia and the world.