Voleak’s Journey Studying Abroad: Ireland and South Korea

Let’s take a walk down memory lane with me. I landed on a rainy day in Cork, Ireland. Waiting outside of the airport, I scanned the crowd for my transportation that the University of College Cork had nicely arranged for me, but I didn’t see anyone holding my name sign, just other names. I waited for what felt like a long time and still there was no sign of my driver. Until the other taxi drivers came up to me and asked and when I told them my predicament, they offered to call the number for me since I didn’t have a SIM card yet. I was suspicious at first, thinking they wanted to take advantage of me or convince me to ride with them. I was never so wrong; with the help of these gentlemen, I was able to arrive safely at my destination. That was my first culture shock to being in Ireland: I couldn’t believe that people were so nice.

Spending my Fall semester of 2021 in Ireland was one of the best decisions I ever made. The city was beautiful, the landscapes breathtaking, and classes completely in contrast to Beloit. Sitting in a large lecture hall among 85 other students in my Intro to Irish Literature class had never been more unsettling. The limited (or lack thereof)  discussion and one-on-one interaction with professors took a bit of adjusting to on my part. I barely knew any of my classmates and my professors. Yet, I found solace in my social work class with a reasonable class size. I was able to get to know a lot more of my professors and classmates with whom I could share more of myself and Cambodia, and they of Ireland. 

Spring semester of 2022, I was on the other side of the world at Yonsei University in South Korea. Unlike being in Ireland, my first challenge there was navigating communication with my limited knowledge of the Korean language. Google maps became unhelpful. Street signs were all in Korean. A lot of people I initially met did not speak English at all. In the second week, I was able to use Kakaomap to get on the bus and go to Hongdae on my own. I’ve never felt more proud of myself. After a month, I was able to read the signs on the street, but figuring out what they meant was still a problem; at least I was not as clueless as I was before. ​

Being in Ireland and South Korea was more than an academic journey. I was grateful for the opportunity to take classes that I wouldn’t be able to take at Beloit. Yet, it was the sense of actually being independent that made it fulfilling. I told people that I often forgot that I am an international student at Beloit when I was studying abroad. Beloit almost felt like home and my independence here still comes with the help from professors, staff and mentors. In Ireland and South Korea, I was pretty much on my own, figuring out where to go and how to ask for help, making friends, even finding my own accommodations and cooking for myself in Ireland. There were times I failed, got lost somewhere, missed the last train, took the wrong bus, or cried from the cable car. There were friends I met and traveled with, and tried live squids or could hop on the train to another city with. My friends who knew me before remarked that, “you seemed like a completely different person abroad.” They might have been right. I found myself embracing the chance to explore and said yes to trying new things, even those beyond my comfort zone. It was exhilarating but this new side of me was discovered and it was for the best.