Ten Reasons Why Teaching and Living in South Korea is Good for Your Health (and five reasons it’s not)
My two years teaching in South Korea are coming to an end this week. I’ve already had to say a few tearful goodbyes to some amazing friends I’ve made. There have been ups and downs (mostly ups) while living and teaching here.I’m looking forward to the next stage of my travels but it’s going to be difficult to leave. My time here has been great. I’m happier, healthier and richer than I’ve ever been. Here are my top ten reasons living and teaching in Korea is good for you.
10. Learning Korean: Keep your brain active. This is no easy task and one I tried and failed to do myself. I’m impressed with anyone who learns Korean and your Korean colleagues will be too.
9. Wii Cafe: These cafes are great places to have fun and get a bit of exercise. My arms were in agony the day after playing in the Wii Fit Olympics. You just buy a coffee or juice and you and your friends get a private room with a Wii Fit and any game you choose. Great fun!
8. Teaching: This is great for physical fitness. You need to be so energetic, especially when you’re teaching young children. Not only that, it can be very rewarding too.
Getting ready for the balloon race
7. Healthcare: While healthcare in the UK is free, most other countries are not so lucky. It’s not free in South Korea but it’s very cheap compared to other countries, such as the USA.
6. Friendship: My husband and I have made some fantastic friends while we’ve been here. It’s great to meet such lovely, like-minded people that you can have a good laugh with. There’s nothing better for your health than that.
5. Save Money: Okay, so money can’t buy happiness, but it certainly takes some of the pressure away, leading to a less stressful life. Teaching in South Korea means you have a stable job and you get paid a lot more than you need to spend. Jimmy and I have saved quite a substantial amount of money, while still travelling around and outside of Korea. The money we’ve saved has enabled us to travel for longer and not get jobs on the next stage of our travels – excellent for reducing those stress levels.
4. Healthy Food: School lunches, the side dishes in restaurants, even the fast food in Kimbap restaurants make it very easy to stick to a healthy diet here.
3. Kimchi: This deserves to get a mention on it’s own. This staple Korean food has many health benefits and also tastes great.
2. Hiking: Korea is very mountainous. About 70% of South Korea consists of uplands and mountains. This makes it perfect for hiking and climbing.
Some of the many mountains in Korea
1. Cheap Gyms and Fitness Classes: Gym membership is very cheap, as long as you don’t need a really modern gym, with state of the art equipment. Make sure you learn some Korean gym etiquette first. If you’re looking for fitness classes, universities often offer cheap ones. You can do so many things from yoga to boxing to ballet. There really is no excuse to not stay fit and healthy.
Here are five reasons South Korea is not so good for staying healthy.
1. Cheap alcohol: Great for your bank balance, but not so good for your health, especially as most bars bring free snacks when you buy drinks. Soju, the cheapest of all the drinks, is surprisingly strong.
2. Teaching: I know I said this was good for your health, but there are those occasions when it can be quite stressful. Such as trying to quieten a class of thirty 7 year-olds.
3. Running Outside: When living in the city, it can be very difficult to find good running routes that are undisturbed by roads and traffic.
4. Snacks: In Korean schools, the teachers love to snack. Some of the time it’s delicious fruit, but other times you’ll find yourself eating fried chicken or pizza half an hour before lunch.
5. Fan Death: The belief that you can die when running an electric fan overnight in a closed room is a common one in South Korea. During the hot summer months I had an electric fan running every night and I’m still here to tell the tale, but I’ll let you decide for yourself whether you think there’s any truth in it.
I think the health benefits of living and teaching here far out way the unhealthy things. For an enjoyable and all round healthy experience I would recommend South Korea.
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