I still remember clearly the first day I arrived in South Korea. Everything felt foreign, cold, harsh, and confusing. The weather seemed to freeze my body, and people's coldness seemed to freeze my spirit. The language was a complete wall, I didn't even know the simplest greeting, "안녕하세요" (annyeonghaseyo).
In my first months I felt so bad that five months after arriving in Korea, my frustration had doubled. The same questions circled in my mind every day:
- "Why did I come here?"
- "Why did I choose this path?"
- "This place doesn't seem to be right for me..."
These questions slowly began to eat away at me from the inside.
Times I wanted to give up
There was a point when I got so exhausted that I thought about dropping everything and leaving. But there was a voice inside me, quiet but firm:
"If you go back now, this will be the biggest regret of your life. If you don't finish what you started, this thought will chase you for the rest of your life."
That thought is what held me back. I chose to continue, not to leave.
A year and a half later, I found myself again
As time passed, I slowly began to rebuild myself. I learned the language, started to understand people, and began to feel the culture.
Most importantly, I met genuine people:
- Koreans who supported me sincerely
- Uzbeks who stood by my side
- international friends from different corners of the world
That's when I understood: the problem wasn't with Korea, it was that I wasn't ready yet.
Motivational moments
Sometimes in life, the hardest periods are our biggest periods of growth. I told myself things like:
"Difficulty isn't a wall, it's a staircase. Some people turn back from it, others climb up it."
"No one will save you. But there are many people who will support you. You just need to reach out to them."
"What you're struggling with today is the foundation of your strength tomorrow."
These words gave me strength. I rebuilt myself. Looking back now, I'm even grateful for those hard days.
Table of Hardships
| Hardship | Level | Note |
|---|---|---|
| Weather | Very cold | Winters in Korea are harsh and humid |
| Language | Hard | But the learning process is its own journey |
| People | Cold at first | They open up over time |
| Adapting | Difficult | But gets easier with time |
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