Hello, It's Me

Hello, my name is Ellie, and I left Canada seven years ago in search of education, excitement and opportunity.

I first came to Korea as an English teacher through EPIK, having only a basic understanding of Korea's history and culture. I was here to work and pay off my student debt, and I'm sad to say that during this year I had a very superficial experience.

After that first year was finished I moved to Japan, and taught English there for a year before moving to Belgium to start my master's degree in cultural studies. I desperately missed Korea as soon as I left, so I chose North Korean cinema as the topic of my thesis. My hope was to return to Korea for my PhD, but understood that I needed to learn the language if I wanted to earn the privilege of studying at a Korean university.

So I returned to Korea in the exact same position I was in the first time: a broke, recently graduated English teacher. But this time was different, because this time I truly appreciated what an amazing opportunity I had been given. I wasn't going to waste time traveling abroad during the holidays, or quit studying Korean after learning Hangul. This time I was going to really delve into Korean history, culture, media, society and language.

I spent two years working, studying Korean and traveling the country while preparing to start school again full-time, and was extremely lucky to receive a Korean Government Scholarship. I spent last year studying Korean in Busan, and have recently started my PhD in North Korean studies at Korea University.

I hate thinking about all the time I wasted during my first year in Korea, so I try to go out and do something new every weekend. Whether it's eating at an interesting restaurant or cafe, traveling to another city, going to a museum, or just taking a bike ride to explore a new part of town, I try to stay as busy as possible so that I won't have any more regrets. I signed up for World Reporters to help motivate me to keep exploring, and so that I can share my experiences with others who might be interested. I hope that I can contribute something useful to the platform, and I know that I'll finish this semester with a lot of great memories of Korea.

Thank you for taking the time to read this, and enjoy your time in Korea!