As more and more South Africans consider coming to Korea to teach English, through SA PROMO, I wish to to inform prospective teachers about what they are getting themselves into. I have really taken to my new country, so I am rather thrilled, if not just a little proud, to be writing about it from a South African English teacher-cum-travelling writer’s perspective.
South Korea is a beautiful peninsula, eleven times smaller than South Africa but with roughly the same number of people. You do the maths – yip, we are all crammed into tiny spaces over here! Seoul and its surrounds is home to nearly 12 million people so the skyline is filled with 20 and 30 storey apartment blocks, interspersed with the high-rise buildings of the various conglomerates that have moulded this country’s economy. Every last piece of available space is utilised, so you can miss out on many interesting places and delicious restaurants if you don’t raise your eyes above street level.
Much of the world is oblivious to the fact that North and South Korea are two separate countries after the Korean War in the early 1950s. The end of this war brought about a cease-fire, but no peace agreement and so these neighbouring countries which share heritage, language, culture, food and history are separated by the world’s most fortified, and possibly deadliest, border. In comparison to the North, South Korea has enjoyed democracy for a similar period to South Africa, since the early 1990’s. Before that the country was under stringent military rule, which despite being harsh and engaging in questionable methods for control, set the foundation for Korea’s meteoric economic growth.
Global brands like Samsung, Hyundai and LG contributed to the boom and until the International Monetary Fund (IMF) crisis at the end of 1997, South Korea was a force to be reckoned with. True to the tenacity illustrated by South Koreans at the end of the Korean War in 1953, after the collapse of the economy in 1998, they buckled down and made enormous personal sacrifices to rebuild their economy. According to the World Bank and the IMF, South Korea’s economy is currently ranked 15th in the world!
Each month I will be writing about the various things that make South Korea such an awesome place to live and work, and along the way I hope you’ll gain some insight into this awesome country. Perhaps you’ll want to throw off the shackles of corporate life and come on over to the ‘Soul of Asia’! In any case, I want to share my experiences with you so I hope you enjoy!
