Daniel Lee was the runner up in The National Student’s Student Travel Writer 2015 competition.
After impressing the judges with his irreverent take on travelling, he headed off on a two week trip to South Korea and Japan with ESL – Language Travel to immerse himself in their extensive language courses and the local culture.
We spoke to Daniel about his experience with ESL.
How did you find the language lessons?
I found the lessons to be initially taxing but very worthwhile. They’re intense and the teachers don’t relent but that’s the best way to learn.
Would you recommend them?
I would definitely recommend them! I’d advise definitely doing a small amount of language preparation beforehand, though.
What was staying with the local families like?
I stayed with a family in Seoul and one in Kobe. They could not have been more different of experiences but both were overwhelmingly positive. Everything in Seoul was slightly more complicated from the get-go but that wasn’t necessarily a bad thing. My host family lived in a very convenient area but in a building with no name or number. So when I got there at about 11pm Sunday night with a newly dead phone after 20-something hours of travelling, that was a little tricky. Luckily, the man who owned the nearby 7/11 was very helpful (7/11’s in Korea and Japan are and always will be your best friend).
He could see I was foreign and lost, so went down the road to wake up his adolescent son who could sort of speak English. After about ten minutes of trying to explain where I was staying, it turned out he was friends with the younger son of my host family (his Dad may have exaggerated his English comprehension skills), so all was right with the world and I stepped over the threshold of my Korean home just 45 minutes after I arrived at their road. They spoke very little English and I didn’t really learn enough Korean to say anything other than ‘Hello’ and ‘How are you?’ until the day before I was due to leave so that was a little unfortunate but they were lovely. Kobe was completely different. My host mother spoke perfect English and always seemed to know what I wanted before I asked (especially marmalade). Easier doesn’t always mean better, though. See how much more I wrote about the Korean family?!
Do you think this adds to the experience of staying with ESL?
It certainly adds to the experience but the schools offer a well-rounded course with events and activities that last well into the evening, which you can easily partake in. Staying with the host families was a great experience and I have so many stories from my time with them, but you’d still have a great time if you stayed somewhere on your own.
What was your favourite part of the trip?
My favourite part of the trip was on the last day of my Japanese lessons, when I managed to speak for a strong, solid 45 seconds in Japanese.
What was the best experience of the whole trip?
The best experience was meeting and engaging with new people from all over the world and the way the locals reacted to us. Walking around Seoul with a group of Swedish Daenerys Targaryen lookalikes feels like how Kate Moss would feel if she accidentally got on the tube at rush hour one day. Just cameras and staring everywhere.
How would you recommend getting the most out of the a trip?
I’d recommend definitely preparing beforehand. Just get the alphabet or something simple down. It’s a little stressful on the first day when everyone else has done that and you have not.
What do you think?