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소곤소곤 체코생활

체코이민/해외이민. 꼭 가야한다면,,준비되셨나요?

체코 3월이 되면서 조금 날씨가 따뜻해지나 싶었더니. 프라하 날씨가 지금 영하 5도 입니다. 

한겨울 외투를 다시 꺼내 입었어요. 
도대체 햇빛은 언제 나는 건지요~~ 정말 기나긴 프라하의 겨울입니다. 


체코에 여행 오신 분들은 아시겠지만 프라하에서 3시간정도 버스를 타고가면 

아름다운 마을 체스키크룸로프가 있는데요. 프라하말고도 한국분들이 여행 많이 가십니다. 


어제 체스키크룸로프에 1시간에 4cm 폭설이 내리고.눈보라가 휘몰아치고 그랬다네요. 


남편 직장 상사분이 체스키 크룸로브에 계셨는데. 

어제 프라하로 올라오려다가 결국 고속도로도 차단되어 몇시간 도로 정리 될때까지 기다렸대요. 


그런데 그렇게 눈보라가 휘몰아치는데ㅡ 

체스키크룸로프를 여행하는 여행객들이 보이더라는거죠. 


'이렇게 눈보라가 몰아치는데 여행을 하다니 !! '


이렇게 생각하고는 가까이서 말하는걸 들어보니 한국 사람들이었대요. 

정말 의지의 한국인이에요~~ ^^ 멋져요!!! 



체스키 크룸로프에서 호스텔과 식당을 운영하는 남편의 상사가 궁금하신 분들은


[체코 CZECH] - 체코인 보스에게 한국이란?



남편은 상사한테 이렇게 말씀드렸대요. 


"한국 대부분 직장인들은 휴가를 받는 것도 자유롭지 않고,1년에 1주일 정도밖에 휴가를 받지 못하니유럽에 온 이상 최대한 다 보고 가야되요. " 


남편이 말이 사실이라 더 씁쓸하네요. 

눈보라를 헤치고 여행다닐 만큼 '강한 의지의 한국분들께',,,,,,,

오늘은 미루고 미뤘던 남편의 포스팅을 하려고 합니다. 

이 주제를 가지고 남편이 제가 블로깅 시작하며 계속 쓰라고 했는데. 

제가 안 쓰자 결국 자기가 쓸테니 포스팅하라고 해서 하게 되었습니다. 

남편의 글이라 영어라는 점 양해 부탁드리고요. 


제 블로그의 검열관(?)인 남편은 

제가 블로그에 좋은 내용만 주로 쓰기 때문에 사람들한테 체코 생활에 대한 환상을 심어주는 거 아닌가 걱정했거든요. 

혹시나 체코여행을 하시면서 프라하가 그리워서,,, 체코 가서 살아볼까? 라고 생각하고 계신 분들에게ㅡ

체코에서 생활은 현실이라서, 여행의 아름다운 기억과 다를 수 있다고 말씀드리려고 포스팅합니다. 

글이 길어서 2번에 거쳐 포스팅 할예정이고요. 
직설적인 남편의 성격에 따라 굉장히 솔직하고 직선적 표현이 많습니다. 

다른 사람의 쓴소리에 마음 약하신 분들은 안 읽으셔도 되요~~ 

하지만 체코로 이민이 아니더라도요, 

해외이민이나 해외생활. 해외취업을 고민하고 계시다면, 한 번 읽어보셨으면 하는 제 바람입니다.  

생활 국가를 옮기는 거 쉽지 않은 결정이니까요...

여러 사람의 이야기도 들어보고 본인의 상황도 심사숙고해서 결정 잘~~~ 하시길 바랄게요. 


   집 떠나면 고생이라 잖아요. There's no place like home. 


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Dear readers!

First of all thank you very much for visiting this blog. It is (most of the time) fun to read.

I do from time to time try to get through some articles although I still struggle with Korean language and it is interesting and fun to read about how the cultures so different can mix and clash and interact.

Unfortunately, sometimes I’m afraid it might be too much fun read.

 

From this point, I will be very honest so if you are not ready to face it please close down this positing.


Alright, Ladies.  Do you know why most men don’t like to watch romantic movies with you?

Well, there is no shooting and no aliens. It is simply booooring to men!

But more importantly: movies, similar to books and songs and… BLOGS…

show life stories much simpler than they really are, they make everything look so easy, so perfect, so sweet.


The Hero will in the end show up in his white Mercedes with bouquet of roses, explain that the other girl was just his sister helping him to pick the right wedding ring, not a lover, and he will take the Lady for that trip to Caribbean she always wanted.


Now your boyfriend and me, we don’t like to watch those movies and we actually don‘t want you to watch them either, because as ordinary men, we don’t own white Mercedes and we don’t have a month of vacation to spend.


The movie doesn’t show you how the Hero had to work 18 hours a day to get all that stuff, and it doesn’t show you how many failed relationships the Lady had before she met the right guy.

Because nobody would watch it and it only lasts for 2 hours, so we need a shortcut.

The movie makes it look so easy, that sometimes, and that is why we –men- are nervous around romantic movies, sometimes ladies tend to expect these things, or something similar to happen in real life.

 

I sometimes try to read this blog, struggling with Korean I have to have my dictionary open and slowly chew word by word.  Me and my wife talk about the stuff described on this blog at home quite often – the difference between cultures, the difference between people here in Europe and back in Korea, how so many things work in such different ways.


As I said, it is fun to read… just like it is fun to watch a movie, 

but please please please, don’t forget that the blog is also a simplified shortcut


There is a happy ending, a married couple living in a stable life after they went through some little struggle. 

But we didn’t see all the trouble my wife and me had to go through to make this happen, 

and please believe me there was a lot.


Please let me tell you what my wife and me have been through.

When I met my wife, I lived in Korea for few years already but I wouldn’t dare to say I fully understood the country or the people.  I think I can say I loved them.  And I still do. I love 고추장, seafood. 

I like to watch 런닝맨 as you know if you read this blog, I love my new family although it is not always easy to communicate. I admire the effort Koreans put into everything they do.


Actually my future wife refused to go out with me 3 maybe 4 times before she finally agreed to have one quick coffee with me. It took another 2 months to get her to go for an actual date. And then we were together for two more years in Korea, then I had to leave Korea when we were not ready for separation.


The next year and a half, we only spent maybe 4 weeks together when she came to Prague to see me or when I went to Seoul to see her. The rest was only Skype, MSN… 


It was the most difficult time of my life and everything I could think of at that time was to save up some money to bring her here because there was very little chance that I can find a job and move back to Korea.


Time difference was a trouble too. To have a call with her, I had to rush home after work when it’s around 1 or 2 am in Korea. She was still awake, waiting for me to call although she had to wake up to work herself in only few hours. 

We talk until she falls asleep. 


Then I jump on the internet, looking for information –


* How long can she legally stay in Czech Republic with Korean passport?


* What kind of visa can she get?


* Are there any job offers for her?


* Any apartments we can afford in case mine will be the only income for long time?


* What’s a good language school for foreigners?


* How about insurance?


* Are there any Korean grocery stores in case she gets craving for Korean food?


* What cellphone should she be using, when most phones here don’t support 한글 

and Korean applications?

 

So many things to go through and still, when it finally happened and my wife left everything she had at home, family, friends, her beloved puppies and a job she enjoyed so much… it felt like we were not prepared at all!


The next 7 months was almost as difficult as the separation time, you can read about the struggles with immigration and many other issues around this blog, but to put it simply we both were under much stress, we got depressed easily and then argued.  And we were so worried so couldn’t sleep well during this whole time.


It was not a movie at all. 



다음 이야기가 이어집니다.

[소곤소곤 신혼일기] - 체코이민/해외이민. 꼭 가야한다면,, 준비되셨나요?-두번째