JEJU WEEKLY

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Elizabeth Holbrook, teacher and traveler
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¡ã ‘I came here with goals and I feel I can really reach those goals here. I want to stay here until it doesn’t feel right anymore, but right now, it’s perfect.’Photos courtesy Elizabeth Holbrook


Elizabeth Holbrook hails from Fredericktown, a small town in Missouri with a population of 4,ooo. Asked what her hometown is known for, she laughs and responds, “Too many churches and too many gas stations.” There is nothing small-town about her attitude and aspirations, however, and she lives life with joyous enthusiasm.

Elizabeth will, from next issue, write this My Jeju section, a one-on-one question and answer snapshot of island life from different perspectives. So it seems appropriate that readers should meet her first.

Why did you come to Jeju?
I had spent a year teaching in Daejeon and I knew at the end of that year that I wanted to come back to Korea. Towards the end of my first year I took a really quick trip to Jeju. I only had one full day but in that full day I had such an amazing time. I hiked Sunrise Peak and took a ferry over to Udo and rode a motorbike around the island. On the way to the airport, I sat on the bus with this amazing Korean older woman. She just had the same peace as my grandmother and it was one of the best days I had in Korea so it really made an impact on me. So I thought Jeju would be cool for my second year. I wanted something different from my first year _ I wanted to dig deeper into Korean culture.

Does Jeju live up to your first impression?
It was hard in the first month trying to meet new people and adjust to a new school. But so far, now that I’m starting to get the feel of things, it definitely is living up to that first impression.

What’s good and bad about teaching at a hagwon?
I work with amazing Korean teachers. The best thing about my job is the Korean staff. They’ve just taken me in from the beginning.

I like the smaller classes and that you can have a more intimate relationship with the students.
The negative aspect would be less vacation time.

What would make your life easier or more convenient here?
I’ve only been here three months so it hasn’t really set in. The things I miss right now are Nutella and Twizzlers. But I don’t really feel like I need anything or I miss anything. I learned Hangeul so it’s easier for me to get around. And I have an amazing group of Korean woman whom I work with and anytime there’s an inconvenience or I don’t understand something, they’re there to help me so I have a support system.

What do you do for fun?
The best purchase I made on Jeju was my old rusty bike. I love, whenever it’s warm, just biking around the island.

I like biking, hiking, hanging out at coffee shops and board game cafes. I’m a frequent user of board game cafes.

Have you had any friends or family members visit you here?
Not yet, but I have a really good friend from university who is about 90 percent sure she will visit me over Chuseok and my Mom is saving up her frequent flyer points to come and see me in the fall this year.

Where will you take them?
I’ll take them to Mount Halla if my Mom can handle the hike. Sunrise Peak, Udo, maybe some of the olle courses. I’ll take them to Korean traditional restaurants, some of the pretty beaches, like Hyeopjae and Hamdeok.

   
¡ã Photos courtesy Elizabeth Holbrook


Will Jeju stay part of your future?
I know right now that it was the best decision to come to Jeju. One of the reasons why I wanted to come here is I did research and it seemed like there were a lot of opportunities here. I knew about Jeju Weekly before I came and it was something I wanted to get involved in. I had been on Rhymes with Jeju [a local Internet forum] and I knew there was someone offering guitar lessons. It just seemed like the foreign community was really involved here.

I came here with goals and I feel I can really reach those goals here. I want to stay here until it doesn’t feel right anymore, but right now, it’s perfect.

I understand you won a travel video contest. What are the details of that?
In the spring of last year I entered a travel competition through hostelworld.com. They were wanting people to send in a video showing how they connect with different cultures when they travel. I did my video on volunteering in Cambodia and said that the way I connect with different cultures is by volunteering. My video was selected as one of the top six finalists. I was the only girl, which I was proud of, and the only North American.

They flew me out to San Francisco, all expenses paid.

They gave me four days, only two full days, and I had to make a city guide video of San Francisco. I did that, and they held voting for a month and my video ended up winning. They gave me basically an around-the-world trip - $3,300 in flights and some spending money.

At the time, I had just come back from my first year in Korea and after that I had travelled around for three and a half months so I didn’t really have the money to take another trip. I had planned on coming back to Korea and coming to Jeju and I was talking to different schools.

I asked them [hostelworld] as part of the trip, could I include Jeju to make a little money and they said yes.

Where will you go next?
Basically, I can choose to go anywhere, so that is exciting, but it’s changing every week. But I think I’m going to do New Zealand, Australia, Indonesia, Nepal and then back to the States for a little bit. I’m tweaking it all the time but all those countries are places I really want to visit.






 

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