It's not a dream anymore.

Annyeonghaseyo.

It is a bright morning here in September when I am writing this piece.

I can't believe that it has been 6 years since the last time I wrote in my blog in 2012. So much has changed since that time. The title of this blog itself is Korean Dream which I made specifically to document my journey to Korea, as it is indeed my dreamland. In 2012 I was still studying in the University of Indonesia, I was studying so much that I didn't have time for other thing. Such as dating. Hahaha. And the previous posts in this blogs was mostly about my experience when I did the summer school program at the Academy of Korean Studies for four weeks here in Korea. That particular program was pretty much hard to get yet I managed to snatched it regardless I was still in my second year of college. I guess my brain was still so clear at that time that I could even graduated Cum Laude with the highest GPA in February 2014. Yeah. It was amazing.

Straight after I graduated, I started my first real job as a Korean Speaking Customer Service at a Korean bank in Indonesia. I did it because it was a bound of a scholarship that I received back when I was still in college. So yeah, I worked for a year as the job agreement stated and as I always knew that I still, however wanted to live and study in South Korea, on February 2015 I decided to resign from my job and embark home to prepare myself for KGSP Graduate Scholarship that will be opened on March that year.

On May 2015 I got the first announcement from Kyung Hee University that I was accepted and offered a seat to study in the Graduate Program of Korean Language Education Major. While I was waiting for the scholarship final announcement I was working as a freelance translator in Surabaya multiple times. And I found many good friends also in that short span of time. Then June came and I was so excited to get the result, and after a medical check up, I finally passed the second and final selection by NIIED (National Institute for International Education) and was so thrilled that I can finally live in Korea as I have always wanted. And so, on 25 August 2015, the journey to really truly living my dream began.

I was always wanted to continue this blog, but I don't know why, life got in the way hahaha. 

Fast forward to 13 February 2018, I graduated from Kyunghee Graduate School. It was so unbelievable that I reached that point. I mean I still can vividly see how I have always wanted to study at a higher institution. The thing that make me proud is that I really realized the idea I had all along since I was still in college that my mother tongue, no not Indonesian, but Javanese, has some similarities with Korean that I would love to dissect deeper. And I did. I wrote a thesis entitled "한국어와 자바어의 상대높임법 대조 연구" or in English "A Contrastive Study of Korean and Javanese Relative Honorific". I researched how Korean honorific, i.e. Banmal and Jondaemal can be compared to Javanese Ngoko and Kromo. Mostly because socially and culturally, age and social status play a vital role in both Korean and Javanese society, thus speaking to your parents VS speaking to your friends require different particle, words even more so grammar. It is very complex yet so interesting that two different language from totally different root has the similarity that not that many languages in this world posses. This thesis is the first ever comparison study between Korean and Javanese. There are of course many shortfall since I literally trail-blazed this field, but as the old saying says, a good start is a half of the battle. Yep. 

Between these two years so much has happened into my life. Meeting hundreds of new friends in Ohakdang when I did the Korean Language Intensive Program, and then in graduate school. And one of the most important one is that I met someone very special that he is one of the reasons I am staying in Korea. Haha! He is from Morocco. Pretty far away indeed, as my Dad back home would say. Yet, I love how we met here in Korea. Like in between, well not literally in the middle, but just if we think about the probability to meet a special someone in a completely different place from both of the parties' homeland, it is just amazing isn't it? Of course there are differences since we are two people with a completely different background, but somehow it works. Well, we make it works. ;D

After I finished my master degree, I got hired in an IT company as a translator. Basically I translate everything back to back from Korean to Indonesian to English and vice versa. In a way I love that this work keeps me studying and keeps my brain sharp with all the new things, new vocabularies, new worlds yet on the other hand, as you might suspect, kekeke, I want more. So these days I have been researching about getting into another graduate school to pursue a PhD. But in the meantime I will enjoy my day to day life here in Seoul. Since I opened this blog this morning I realized how God has given me what I have always dreamed of, studying and living here, for free heheh. And just when I feel like it is too monotone to continue, I have found the spark again.

From now on I will post more often. About my daily life, my struggle, and my dreams. Cause I believe that the more people know about your dreams the more possible it is to come true. :D

See you soon in another post!