#1. Study Abroad

I went on a cruise in 2008 to Mexico and one of our destinations was Puerto Vallarta.  It was so foreign, mysterious, and poor . . . and I loved it!  I walked around the city with my brothers and felt inspired to study abroad.  When I returned home to Logan, UT, I met with the Study Abroad department and began my process.  I originally wanted to go to Europe, but it was too expensive and I felt a little discouraged.  I just felt like I needed to do something great and get away on my own, so I explored other options.  I talked with the Air Force, the Army, and the National Guard and finally decided to go with the National Guard.  My best friend, Tyler was in and he seemed to like it.  My plan was to learn another language and work with Military Intelligence.  I filled out the papers and before I was going to send them in, an opportunity came to study abroad in South Korea and to teach English.  At the time, there weren't any people in Utah that I knew of that participated in the program and I didn't even know how legit it was, but felt good about it.  I was selected and left the next fall!  I was one of the first people from Utah to get selected and left everything.  I was supposed to go for a few months, but ended up staying for a year and a half.  I studied at Keimyung University in Daegu, and taught at Habin Elementary.  There were 32 students in my class and I loved them. 

After 6 months, I moved to a small island, named Jeju and taught at Sinchang Elementary.  I lived in a village of a few hundred and loved my time there.  One of the best parts of my adventure in Korea was the friendships.  I made friends from all over the world at my university and through my English teaching program, called TaLK.  One of the first days at school, I had lunch with a kid from East Timor, the Netherlands, Finland, Norway, and Serbia.  I thrived in this element and it was everything I thought studying abroad would be and more.  It definitely changed my life forever and I consider South Korea a second home now.  I have been fortunate to go back twice, for which I am super grateful!  

My first day of school!

The long walk uphill to my dorm.  But, it was the best!

We ate out all the time.  Everyone here is from a different country, except 2 of us. Pretty awesome!

Carol and Yuci from Taiwan, they were amazing!

This was right outside my dorm and a great reminder of how I lucky I was to study there. 

My dorm room.  It was incredible.  My roommate came in 2 weeks after school started and ended up becoming one of my best friends.  I felt bad, because I always had the ac on full blast and he ended up getting sick, ha ha.  I guess I don't feel too bad. It was bloody hot in the summer. 

The view every night.  It was so beautiful!

This was my bathroom and still the nicest bathroom I have seen in Korea.  I know how lucky I was.