the last five years.

Well, hi — but maybe I should say 안녕~

A lot has happened since the last post, so we’ll do our best to recap.

– FRANCE –

My semester-long practicum in France was potentially the fastest four months of my life, but I never expected work to be so fun!

Between excursions with my students, projects for practicum, my own social life, and day-to-day work, I kept busy. As part of my Master’s degree, I had to complete five projects that exemplified the five pillars of international education. While some projects were less exciting than others, my absolute favorite was running the Strasbourg Center’s social media! It gave me an opportunity to highlight all the different areas of studying abroad and interact more with the students to figure out what they would like to see.

This included joining them on museum visits throughout the semester and going to the opera — plus our trip to Paris with the Art History class. I was there part as chaperone, part social media manager, and part fun (but responsible) guide.

With the students, I traveled throughout France, Germany, and Switzerland and I genuinely couldn’t believe that I was getting paid and getting school credit for country hopping, running a social media account, and drinking good coffee. Don’t get me wrong, there were plenty of times I was busy and exhausted, but wow! Who knew work could be so fun?

top of the arc de triomphe

On top of that, I had an exciting life update! Early on in the semester, my supervisor, Mary, asked me to reach out to the home study abroad office at Syracuse University to see if there were any openings. By some miracle, there were and I worked quickly to get my resume in as the application was closing at the end of that week.

Within two weeks, I submitted my app, was interviewed, and had a job offer as Syracuse Abroad’s new International Program Advisor for Strasbourg and Madrid semester programs! A mouthful, I’m aware.

What was especially exciting about this, was that I was able to visit the Madrid Center for a few days after our Paris trip! I had only been to Spain once before during TAPIF, so I was excited to experience a new city — even if I was mainly in offices learning about the program and their services. They treated me to lunch and churros and a super extensive walking tour of downtown Madrid, so even though I nearly passed out when I got home to Strasbourg, I had a great time and learned so much!

Coming back from both fall break and my Paris/Madrid trip meant my life in Strasbourg was on the downhill slope. If you’re curious about my practicum projects, you can view my final presentation here.

I wrapped up my final few weeks with completing my graduate projects, having one last pain au chocolat, and taking my time walking along the Rhine.

– GRADUATION –

There was no rest for the weary coming back from France.

My parents and I landed in California late at night and the next morning, I was out the door to meet up with my classmates for coffee! Priorities, as we all know well by now.

I won’t recount every detail, but I was amazed at how much energy I had running around Monterey with my friends and meeting my professors for the first time in person. Even though COVID robbed me of a “normal” grad school experience, I will always be grateful for the community that the MIIS gave me.

And at the end of it all, I am now a Master of Arts in International Education Management~

jack of all trades and a Master of one

– SYRACUSE –

Going from the most charming city in France to upstate New York was a shift, but I made the most of my time working for one of America’s best study abroad programs. Over my two and a half years at Syracuse Abroad, I assisted students with and processed visas for four different countries, hosted admissions events, and ran so many pre-departure orientations that I genuinely lost count.

Not to mention, I got to return to Spain and France and visit our center in London as one of the group flight leaders, so I’ll always be grateful to SUA for those experiences.

And I’d be remiss to not mention my remarkable coworkers, whose group chat was named Chicken Parm (and I recently learned they rebranded, which was the final nail in the coffin to my time in New York). While the first year in Syracuse was especially bumpy, that team of coworkers-turned-friends really made my time in ‘Cuse worthwhile.

admissions event at Amherst

HOWEVER. Once I hit two years in Syracuse and started on (what would have been) year three, I started to feel restless. Maybe it was just the freezing winter or that weird stage of limbo at the start of every year, but there was suddenly that feeling of my time there was coming to a close. But through a wild turn of events, I ended up applying for a position at the University of Utah’s satellite campus… in South Korea.

– THE IN-BETWEEN –

So you may be wondering:

‘How does one go from studying French from elementary school all through grad school, had two study abroad experiences in Eastern Europe, and yet somehow end up on the clear opposite side of the world where they speak no language that you’ve studied before?’

Well.

It technically began during my practicum in France when one of my students kept talking about how one of her favorite Korean dramas was filmed in the same Swiss city that we were visiting on a school trip. I laughed it off at first, but after she kept talking about it, I decided to look it up.

I watched the whole thing (16 hour-and-a-half long episodes) in a week (all while doing my practicum, completing Master’s coursework, and going on another school trip with the students to Paris).

While I want to say my initiation into Korean culture was something like studying the Joseon Dynasty or picking up Hangeul from my friends who had lived in Korea before, it was the Korean dramas (and eventually Korean music) that dragged me in.

While living in Syracuse, a friend from MIIS suggested traveling to South Korea and Japan together, as she had studied and taught abroad in Korea prior to starting her master’s (similar to my journey with France). By then I was neck-deep in the Hallyu wave, so I thought, ‘why not?’

I enjoyed visiting Korea, but at the time, moving there wasn’t an actual thought. France was still my move of choice and teaching English again sounded… painful. So it remained a distant “what if” and not a definitive “when”. But then one night, while on a call with my sister, she found this position in Korea that had no language requirement, no citizenship requirements, and was not an English teacher position, which is essentially as rare as a unicorn sighting. It was the day before I left on another trip (this time to France and the Netherlands), so I brushed up my résumé, submitted the app, and called it a day.

What I wasn’t expecting was the interview invitation.

We’ll fast-forward, but after interviews, conversations with people who have made the move to Korea, and taking a genuine look at my current career and what I wanted from it, I signed the contract and made the move over to Incheon.

– SOUTH KOREA –

It’s been (almost) officially two years since I moved to Korea, which feels insane. I can’t tell if I just got here or if I’ve somehow lived here for a decade, but everyday has been so different from my other international experiences.

I can’t count how many pre-departure and arrival orientations I’ve facilitated or how many committee hours I’ve sat in for scholarships and credit petitions or how many times I’ve had to ask my team how to say something in Korean, because, unfortunately, my Korean is still basic at best.

But each day is a new opportunity. Even if my language skills are rough and I’ve never lived in a place before where I was visibly a “foreigner”, people have been so gracious and always encourage me to practice or ask questions. And while my students can be… well… students, they are also some of the most fun and creative people to have around.

First visit to Korea

While naturally, I try to post the fun and pretty stuff, this move has been a big adjustment while I navigate a culture I didn’t spend the better part of my youth learning about and now work in an office with primarily Korean colleagues and students. How I communicate with my team looks different than back in Syracuse and I often have to look to my colleagues for guidance when I’m not sure if something is cultural or personal.

But I’ll continue to capitalize on every opportunity — whether that’s exploring a new part of town, traveling to countries that are suddenly nearby, or going to every concert I physically (financially) am able — and keep creating new experiences way out east in South Korea.

Anyway, I better start prepping for the Fall 2026 semester (yes, I know it’s June) and for my next international trip (this weekend).

Until the next life update,

Kate