Jessica's Travelogue

I lived in South Korea from 2020 until 2023. I moved there right after university and the start of the COVID pandemic. It was a place where I grew a lot. I really treasure my time in South Korea because I was able to challenge myself and do a lot of things that I wasn’t able to do in my hometown. The things that I enjoyed the most was walking around the cities, traveling around Korea, taking photos, taking dance lessons, trying new things, and the freedom I had.

I didn’t realize how lucky I was to live in South Korea until I returned back to the US… to the Midwest. Everything moves so slow here. It feels as if my hometown was backwards in time. No life. No progress. It seemed detached from the world. It made me really miss Korea, where things were always happening and you were always bombarded with the newest trend, etc.

But to be honest, the last 6 months in Korea was really hard for me. I missed my family, American food, and diversity. I hadn’t seen my family for 3 years. And I was especially sad because I was missing out on my baby brother. I left when he had just turned 3 years old and I returned when he turned 6 years old. He had grown so much in that timespan. I was afraid of him growing up without knowing who his sister was. Another reason why I decided to come home was because of the incident in Itaewon. That night crushed my heart and soul. Itaewon was a place that I visited often. Traumatized by the event, I had a hard time going back there. And I wanted to spend time with my family and live my life to the fullest because many people weren’t able to.

So I decided to return home in the end. I bought my ticket and left Korea on March 1st, the day right after my contract ended. That was what I regretted the most. I didn’t have time to explore Korea for one last time, see places that I hadn’t been able to visit yet, and really just let it sink in that I was leaving.

To be honest, the last couple of my weeks in Korea were super hectic. I went to Thailand for a little over 2 weeks. Then I returned and had only 3 weeks to pack, clear out my apartment, run to the airport to drop off my luggage, give things away, and say goodbye to some of my co-workers, … all while going to work. I literally had no free time.

There were so many things that I wish I had given myself the time to do. I wish I was able to take more dance classes. I wish I could have gone to a music festival. I wish I could have explored more of Korea. I wish I was able to go to the coin noraebang one last time. I wish I had gotten my hair cut before I left. I wish I had tried Korean skin clinics. I wish I was able to meet my friends and say goodbye. But I couldn’t do any of those things because I was crazy and thought that I had given myself enough time by going home the day after my work contract ended. If I was able to do it again, I would have given myself a week in Korea to just travel, explore, and destress.

After cleaning out my apartment, I went with a coworker and her daughter to eat lunch. They dropped me off at the train station afterwards and I went to Hongdae as that was where my airbnb was. It was a great location to be because the airport subway line stops here so it was easy to get to the airport the next day. Of course, I couldn’t skip working out so I decided to go to a famous gym by Hongdae. I was actually supposed to get PT here but I decided to go to Thailand and go home so I spent all my money on the two trips instead haha. But it was cool to go to a gym in Seoul. The vibes were completely different haha. At my suburban gym, we had a lot of newer gym goers so there were a lot of people who got PT. But in Seoul, it was more like the US where most people didn’t get PT and just worked out on their own or with their friends.

On Fridays, I would book it home after work, grab my bags, and take the next bus to Seoul. Since it was rush hour, I would usually get stuck in traffic and I won’t arrive in Hongdae until right before dance class starts. It was always hectic with me sprinting from Hongdae Station to the club street where the dance studio was located. But I really enjoyed it because I really enjoyed Centimeter 선생님’s class and I made a lot of good memories. Life in Korea was a blur haha. I was always pushing myself to try and do new things.

And lastly, I met up with a friend from volleyball. We had some coffee/tea and went to volleyball together. To be honest, I didn’t have any close friends in Korea. All I had was my cousin. But she left after our second year. So I was alone my last year. Which, I was super thankful for because I spent that time solely focused on myself, learning how to love myself, going to the gym, taking dance classes, solo travel to Thailand, and learning how to be confident in myself. I was so thankful to have met my friends from volleyball since they were so kind and welcoming. I’m a shy person so it’s a bit hard for me to approach people first. But they really took care of me and always reached out to me so I was so thankful for them. I wish I was able to attend the volleyball open gym more but since I lived really far away, it was hard for me to attend when they played late at night. And it was usually on Sundays so it was hard for me since I had work the next day.

I was only there for an hour then I had to go to Hongdae station and take the aiport line to Incheon Airport. Since there wasn’t any train stations close to this place, I took a taxi ride to the station and went to Incheon airport. I was thankful that I was at least able to play one last game and say goodbye to everyone.