Chen Teng.
Thankfully, it wasn’t too hard for her to get to know people in Seoul. Since she first came on a government-run visa program to teach English, she was able to meet new people through it.
All the other friends she made were a result of putting herself out there.
“I was in my early 20s, so I went out all the time. I just got lit all the time,” she said. “It’s really hard if you’re an introvert. I’m an introvert, but I made myself an extrovert because if I don’t take the initiative to talk to someone, no one has any reason to talk to me.”
Missing milestones while living abroad
Although Teng has considered returning to New York, nothing’s set in stone. Moreover, if she does return, she’ll have to start off by living at home again because the cost of living there is so high.
“I think the difficult thing about living abroad is that you miss so many milestones. I’ve missed weddings, I’m missing baby announcements. I am missing a lot of things. And you do feel a sense of guilt for not being there,” she said. “But I’ve created a life here as well.”
Although it was a challenging journey, Teng has no regrets.
“I would’ve never lived this lifestyle had I not moved to Korea. And that can be a good or bad thing. I don’t know where my life would’ve necessarily ended up otherwise,” she said.
“My biggest thing was when I was working corporate, I looked at my boss, and I was like, do I want your job in X years? And I was just like, no, I don’t want this job now,” she continued.
While it was a good job, the working environment wasn’t for her.
“Now, what I love is I make my own schedule essentially,” she said.
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