DNK Newsletter #16 - December Interview

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✨ You’re reading the DNK December 2024 interview

💬 Contact: [email protected]

Annyeong !

Welcome to our interview of the month, where we put the spotlight on one of our community members. They’ll share their digital nomad story, how they experienced Korea (so far) and give you three personal recommendations at the end.  

Meet Gaymer.

• Most don’t know his real name…

• He likes working out.

• He’s learning Korean.

• He’s starting a tech company in Korea.

• He’s gay.

• He hates being lonely.

• He was a moderator of Digital Nomads Korea’s community for a while.

• He dreamt of Korea for 5 years before coming for the first time.

Why did you leave Denmark for Korea?

The reason why I came to Korea is weird (laughs). I learned that Korea had fast internet back in 2016. I fell into this rabbit hole of random information where, the more I learned, the more I fell in love with the idea of coming here. It made me set a goal for myself: I’d save enough money to travel to Seoul.

With so much expectation build-up, how was it when you landed?

I went for the first time only in 2023 because COVID-19 delayed me for quite a while. At this point, I had been thinking about going to Korea for more than 5 years! (laughs) Can you imagine? I was planning to stay for 40 days, I was so happy. And yet, I ended up going home after 20 days.

Did something happen?

I just felt so lonely. Everyone who had done this - being a digital nomad, or gone travelling alone - had told me I needed to be careful of loneliness. I think I was too confident I’d find friends easily because I had mine in my country. It’s something I took for granted, I guess. I wasn’t ready for the emotion to swallow me up like this.

What got you to try again?

After 3 months of being home, the urge to go back to Korea came back. I can’t explain it. (laughs) I asked my boss if I could go, and he said yes, so I went again for a month with a new aim: be as social as possible. I wrote to everyone I knew from my first trip, even the passing acquaintances. I went to meetups, language exchanges, and events. I kept going out, even when it terrified me. And It worked! I met a lot of people I now call friends.

Where did you connect with people?

The Holy Grail of my social life comes from a language cafe in Gangnam called Global Seoul Mates, and Digital Nomads Korea’s meetups. I found Digital Nomads Korea’s Instagram before coming to Korea because I thought ‘I can’t be the only one going to Korea to work remotely’...  The community was still very small back then, and I started helping to moderate the community online and be more involved. At the end of that second trip, I didn’t want to go home, I wanted to stay. It felt like I was leaving something wonderful behind me.

So you came back, again.

For three months this time! With a new mission: build a healthy routine. For me, that’s eating healthy food, making sure I have a good environment to work in, and surrounding myself with people I can trust. I also have hobbies: learning Korean and working… And I date! (laughs)

You like setting goals and missions for yourself…

For me, goals are justifications. I think I’m looking for a feeling of… ‘correctness’? It’s so I can justify throwing my stable comfortable life in Denmark away. (laughs)

You’re spending a lot of time in Gangnam, which is rarely the area of choice for digital nomads… or anyone who has a choice. (laughs)

Honestly, I ended up there by accident. (laughs) The first time I came over, I had signed up with Go Go Hanguk!, a language school which is in the area. I stopped the program after a week because I found it difficult to do it while having a full-time job on the side. But I stayed there, made friends around, things escalated, and now, I’m sort of the go-to guy in Gangnam for digital nomads meetups. (laughs)

Why do you like it so much?

The things I love about Gangnam, they scream that I’m coming from a small country. (laughs) The skyscrapers, the ppalli ppalli (quick quick) culture, the great night bars... In Gangnam, people know how to talk to a tourist, but don’t handle you like a tourist by default. Basically, you’re treated like a local, but no one is surprised to see a foreigner. I like that.

You’re a regular visitor of the Global Startup Center there. Thoughts?

I mean, it’s free. (laughs) It’s a nice place to work at if you’re around and it was particularly great for me because they also do OASIS classes, which allow you to qualify for the D-10-2 (tech startup preparation visa) and then the D-8-4 (tech startup visa). I’m on the D-10-2 visa, now! Proud owner of a resident card.

Was it difficult to get?

Not really. I took one class (OASIS 5), and I qualified because my business idea is an application. I had a 1:1 consultation in the Global Startup Center to ask many questions and learn legal lingo I had no idea even existed. I also called 1345, the immigration number. It’s funny because their webpage is shit, but when you call, they seem to know everything! They’re super friendly and helpful. Really, it wasn’t difficult except for one thing: getting my Bachelor’s Degree apostilled back in Denmark. That was an administrative nightmare. (laughs)

You said you work out. Is it any different from working out in Denmark?

Korea has a big workout culture. It’s not a taboo to care a lot about your physique, and that’s something I like a lot. Personal trainers, especially, are really good and much cheaper than in Denmark. That being said, it’s important to know what you want to get out of it. There are unhealthy aspects to the workout culture that go hand in hand with the beauty standards in Korea - you need to have the right hairstyle, wear the right makeup… Like in many countries, Korea has big problems with enhancing drugs in fitness and the body profile culture advises you to do things that won’t be good for your body. But if you want a healthy approach, it’s also easy to find a trainer that will help you strive towards your goals.

What about dating?

Being gay in Korea is super different from being gay in Denmark. One thing that I found is that I have never felt more like a man than in Korea. (laughs) It’s such a weird thing to explain, honestly. There’s something about being in Korea that makes me feel like I need to do things that other men do. It just feels like you’re very much seen as your gender here. In Copenhagen, it’s the opposite. Your gender is a side trait of your personality.

Is it a good thing, or a bad thing in your opinion?

I’m not sure. A funny thing that happens is that no one in Korea guesses that I’m gay which is crazy, because usually, abroad, people know right away. It took me time to figure out how I felt about this. In the end, I decided it didn’t mean much. I think it just gives me the freedom to be the gay I want to be.

Do you have any advice?

First of all, google things before coming to Korea. Stuff changes all the time. Places open and close, it can be difficult to keep track. I found an app called Tipxy, which gives you a view of all the LGBTQ+-specific or LGBTQ+-friendly locations in Korea. I’d say Rabbit Hole is definitely a great place to go. It’s a very warm and international community. Night Sounds is also very nice. I think it’s important to distinguish between LGBTQ+ places and gay places, also.

What do you mean?

In LGBTQ+ places in Korea, everyone is welcome as long as you follow the guidelines. If you go to gay places, you’re entering a man-only world. These places are much more dominated by Koreans, there are next to no foreigners. To quote what people have told me: ‘You might as well be invisible in those places’. A lot of Korean men are not interested in talking to foreigners there. I think it’s because they would have to take on a double fight: being gay and being with a foreigner. It’s easier to only pick one. Being gay is still very taboo in Korea.

Do you ever regret leaving? Does it sometimes feel like you threw your life away?

The hardest part of leaving is that I can't hug my family and friends from afar. I do regret that a lot and… not leaving Denmark earlier! (laughs) Moving to Korea feels like the first thing I truly did for myself. Devoting 10 years of my life to my career didn’t make me happy. But being in Korea really did.

💚 Gaymer’s Recommendations

+ 🦌 Lingodeer, a great language app for learning Korean

+ 🍺 Art Monster in Gangnam, a craft beer bar with Hong Kong vibes

+ 🥬 EatYourKimchi, a classic Youtube channel to learn about K-culture

💌  Send us your digital nomad story and tips! We’d love to feature you in a future issue of this newsletter. You can answer this email or contact us through Instagram.

Happy New Year 🎉 See you next month!

🫰

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