Teachers Share their Experiences While Living Abroad!

Seollal (설날) or Lunar New Year is arguably the most celebrated national holiday in Korea. Solar New Year on January 1 is also observed in Korea, however Seollal is much more celebrated and significant and lasts for three days (the day before, the day of, and the day after). In 2019, Seollal falls on February 5 of the Gregorian calendar and Chungdahm teachers have all of February 4 to February 6 off for the holidays.

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Recently, I spent a weekend enjoying a trip all the way down to the Southernmost point of the Korean peninsula. The last stop of KTX’s Jeolla line is the Yeosu EXPO Station. It takes three hours and costs 45,000 won from Seoul to Yeosu using KTX. I want to share with you why it is worth the time and investment. While I visited, I noted five reasons Yeosu is a must stop destination in South Korea.

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What’s a Chungdahm teacher to do during Chuseok 추석? Having a Monday and Tuesday off due to what is known as Korean Thanksgiving or Autumn Eve presents many great opportunities. Traveling to Busan, Korea’s 2nd most populous city, for the 4 day weekend is a great choice. Busan is located in the south-eastern province of South Gyeongsang and is a must see and bucket list item when in Korea.

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You know about the BIG holidays in Korea, such as Chuseok, and Seollal. But there are a lot of other holidays that are a big part of life here. Usually, Koreans work very hard. They study hard, they work long hours at work. So, that means that when they get free time, they use it to the best of their ability. This leads to some really culturally enriched holidays that are relatively new. They are important for the younger generations, and people are getting into them more and more with each passing year. For example, Christmas used to be seen as only a religious holiday for Christians, and then a couple's holiday. But these days it has become more accepted as a much larger holiday. The same goes for Halloween. Before, only foreigners used to celebrate Halloween. However, now it is becoming a much more significant part of Korean culture. Like these two, there are a variety of interesting and unique holidays, and also some variations that you should know before coming to Korea.

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Now that we are the middle of December I would like to take the opportunity to let you know what celebrating the holiday season is like when many of you are thousands of miles away from friends and family.  Although being away from loved ones can be tough, there are still many ways to embrace the holiday spirit while teaching in Korea. It's up to the individual to make the most of it. It's all about getting out there, planning ahead and putting in a little effort to create the kind of holiday season you want.  In this blog I will talk about ways that not only the country of Korea celebrates the holiday season, but also how I celebrate it with my friends in Korea, and family back home in South Africa.

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