| When you ask most people who are from the | | | | given summer day, there is around 10,000 people |
| western hemisphere what they know about Korea, | | | | covering it with umbrellas, making it difficult to get |
| the answer is most likely, "Not too much"; ironically | | | | yourself to the water - but hey, it's still a beach, |
| enough, this is pretty much the same response you | | | | right? |
| will get when asking a teacher who is about to go to | | | | But what about the smaller cities that fill in the |
| Korea for a year. Seoul, Busan and possibly Daegu | | | | country side? Places like Kumi, Cheonan, Keumsan, |
| are the cities most recognized by people who are | | | | Masan, Gwangju, or Gangneug to name a few - is it |
| looking for the perfect school, in the perfect location; | | | | because these names are too difficult to pronounce? |
| Seoul, because it is the capital; because it has the | | | | Or is it because they are simply unknown to most |
| most variety; and simply because teachers have | | | | people? I think that it is probably a combination of |
| heard the name more than once. Busan is where the | | | | both, which is understandable. What people often |
| beach - people know that. Why not spend a year of | | | | forget about is the reason why they are taking off |
| your life teaching in a school that has the glorious | | | | for a year of their lives. Sure, a lot of people go to |
| vista of a beach in a city that lies neatly on the | | | | Korea to make money, or get experience in the |
| southern tip of the country? What people should be | | | | teaching field, but what about the experience of a |
| asking themselves is, "Why not?". Well, the answer is | | | | lifetime, being immersed in a culture other than your |
| simple - because you would be missing out on what | | | | own? How much do you really know about Korea |
| Korea really has to offer: culture. | | | | and Koreans, their history, their values, the reason |
| Large metropolitan areas like Busan and Seoul are | | | | they do things that you think are weird or rude? |
| great cities, they really are, but they are not exactly | | | | Life in one of Korea's smaller cities can be much |
| what you would call the ideal place to learn about | | | | more fulfilling, as I have learned. People are friendlier, |
| Korean life. They are the result of outside influences, | | | | the air is cleaner and the quality of life is simply |
| and have therefore been 'westernized' - to what | | | | better. To add to this, you find yourself in a setting |
| extent is hard to say, but westernized all the same. | | | | that doesn't cater to you, rather one that you have |
| Seoul offers what any international city should: a wide | | | | to adjust to - and isn't that the whole point? Why |
| variety of ethnic restaurants, from Italian to Indian, a | | | | would you travel to the other side of the world only |
| bustling nightlife, great shopping, etcetera, etcetera. | | | | to seek the pleasures of home? Why not embrace |
| Busan on the other hand, is a port city, so there are | | | | another culture to the fullest extent? I think if you |
| a lot of different people from different countries | | | | do, you will find yourself returning home with a lot |
| coming and going. In regard to the beach, on any | | | | more than what you left with. |