Jen and I really enjoy our life here in Korea. We have a lot of great friends, we have good working environments, there's a lot to do and see around here, and we've enjoyed learning about the Korean language and culture.
One thing that Korea doesn't do quite so well yet is market itself. Its tourism industry is very much underdeveloped. There is, as I've already said, lots to see and do, but it's just not well advertised. Through a lot of word of mouth and a lot of exploring, we and our friends have all kept busy schedules here in Korea.
When we had originally thought about moving abroad and had suggested Japan as a possible destination, almost everyone we told was so excited for us and wanted to come and visit. But after a long series of events that saw us ending up in Korea, it seems as if our final destination wasn't nearly as exciting. And I guess we fell folly to the same marketing as well. We thought Japan would be a great place to be (and not having yet visited, we don't have any first hand experience to draw upon to verify or refute that), but after having spent the past 6 months here in Seoul, we can't imagine being anywhere else.
Why is it that everyone loves Japan? Why do they want so much to visit Japan? What makes it so special? A lot of people have visited the small island country and brought home many positive experiences. Indeed, that is one of the primary goals of the Japanese Exchange and Teaching (JET) program that Jen and I had originally applied to - to learn about Japan and to spread it's culture around the world once we returned home. Japan is a known quantity. Lots of visitors and a lots of good stories that inspire others to want to visit. Importantly, Japan also has a very well developed tourist industry and makes traveling there easy.
So, if we were in Japan, would we actually have more visitors than we have here in Korea? Incidentally, we haven't yet had anyone visit us, and I think that it will remain that way for our entire stay. It's such a far distance and costs so much that it's not an easy trip to manage. But I digress... Back to the question. More visitors in Japan than Korea? I don't know. Japan is still a costly and time consuming trip. I think that people were just more excited about Japan and made grand plans with their small talk like most people are apt to do when they are excited.
Whether or not our home makes a difference as to how many visitors we get doesn't really matter though. It's purely theoretical. We're here in Korea and not in Japan. I guess the point I'm trying to get across is that although many people wouldn't consider Korea as a top travel destination, it definitely has it's hidden gems.
Life's been good and we're both glad that we had the opportunity to live here.
Now, is anyone going to come and visit us when we're in Dubai...
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