Stéphanie Guillaume visited South Korea for the primary time when she was 22. She spent 10 days there with two pals, and the second she arrived in Seoul, the capital, it felt like residence.
When she returned to Lausanne, Switzerland, the place she grew up, she advised her mom that she wished to dwell in South Korea someday.
It wasn’t till a decade later, in 2022, that Guillaume lastly turned her dream into actuality. All it took was a single dialog with a pal, who had requested her what she was doing in Switzerland.
“I used to be like, that is a superb query. I haven’t got a solution for it,” Guillaume, 35, advised Enterprise Insider.
She was working in gross sales for a grocery chain, a job she took after her earlier digital advertising and marketing function ended when the corporate she labored for went bankrupt.
“I wasn’t glad with my life,” Guillaume stated. “I simply realized that point handed, and I used to be like, oh my God, it is going to be two years right here, and I do not even like this job.”
With no youngsters or accomplice at that time, she felt free to make the transfer. With that, Guillaume utilized for a scholar visa by a language program.
Seven months later, she packed up her luggage and stated goodbye to her household.
Beginning afresh
When Guillaume arrived in Seoul, she hit the bottom operating. Her lessons, held at Kookmin College, started inside every week of her arrival.
Though she’d picked up some fundamental conversational Korean over time by watching dramas and listening to music, the construction of a proper program helped her make actual progress, particularly in writing, studying, and grammar.
“I had class daily from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. The remainder of the day was spent on homework,” she stated.
On the similar time, Guillaume was searching for a extra everlasting place to remain. She managed to seek out an residence and a roommate — one in every of her classmates — shortly.
It took her a couple of months to calm down into her new life correctly, she stated.
Since then, Guillaume has moved twice. She now lives in a studio residence close to Seoul Forest. She paid a deposit of 10 million Korean received, or about $7,000, and the month-to-month lease is about 1.167 million Korean received, or about $810. This additionally covers administration charges, web, cable TV, and a mattress.
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Her constructing options communal areas, together with workspaces, a gathering room, and a gymnasium. Though her residence comes with a washer, there’s additionally a shared laundry room and a communal kitchen for residents to make use of.
The very best a part of her residence is that the forest is barely a 10-minute stroll away, she stated: “Once I really feel overwhelmed, I must have some nature close by.”
Guillaume says she accomplished a few yr and three months of the two-year language program earlier than switching to a enterprise visa. She is now making ready to launch a journey expertise enterprise.
Coping with the paperwork and different administrative duties of beginning a enterprise in South Korea has not been simple, she stated, including that she needed to get a pal’s assist.
Constructing a life in Seoul
In recent times, South Korea has emerged as an more and more widespread alternative for foreigners searching for to dwell overseas.
Information from the Ministry of Justice confirmed that the variety of foreigners dwelling in South Korea on the finish of 2024 stood at 2.65 million, a 5.7% improve from the earlier yr.
When Guillaume first arrived, she stated she made it a precedence to place herself on the market and meet new individuals.
“The primary yr, that was my plan. I had a goal of going out to a minimum of one occasion every week,” she added.
Today, she’s constructed a small circle of Korean girlfriends and a wider community of expats she’s met at numerous occasions and thru a Rotary membership.
Wanting again, Guillaume says her time in South Korea has been a interval of progress. Furthermore, being self-employed offers her the liberty to plan her schedule.
“I construction it how I would like. For now, that is a giant luxurious in comparison with working a 9-to-5,” she stated.
Most days begin slowly.
“Within the morning, I drink tea or sizzling water, and I simply go and stand exterior. Or if I really feel prefer it, I am going to stroll across the block for quarter-hour with my mug,” she stated.
On different days, she’ll apply yoga or meditate earlier than diving into work. If there’s an occasion to attend, she’ll find time for that, too.
“I see my pals through the weekend largely, however I additionally enable myself one or two days through the weekdays if somebody needs to satisfy up,” Guillaume stated.
If there’s something she misses about Switzerland, it is the abundance of nature and the way it encourages her to decelerate. Though South Korea is fast-paced, she says she appreciates how shops typically keep open late.
“In Switzerland, when you dwell within the metropolis, we open at 8 a.m. and we shut at 6, 7 p.m. For those who dwell within the countryside, then it is 5 p.m.,” she stated.
Having constructed a new life in Seoul, Guillaume says there’s one factor she’ll inform anybody eager about transferring overseas: Ensure you’re snug being alone.
In any other case, it helps to have a robust help system, she stated.
“Both somebody who’s already there, or individuals again residence whom you possibly can rely on and who’ll attain out when you’re not giving information,” she stated.
Do you’ve got a narrative to share about transferring to Asia? Contact this reporter at agoh@businessinsider.com.
