🫰 Four Seasons of Grief, with Maria

Why Korea? 

In 2019, my father passed away. That year was very tough for me, and when 2020 came, I thought, ‘Alright. This is going to be my year’. Of course, it wasn’t. Covid hit and it was very hard. I was locked down in Chile, alone with my grief… To relax, I started watching a lot of YouTube videos with lo-fi music. When they were done, videos of people walking around the streets of Tokyo in the rain started playing automatically. I’m not sure why these contents gave me so much peace when I watched them, but they did and so, I watched more. I watched people walking around in cities - Tokyo, Osaka, Seoul… I started thinking ‘When Covid’s over, when I’m feeling better with my grief, I will go visit those places’. 

It’s such a beautiful story. Did that make you more curious about the culture as well? 

The YouTube algorithm is a powerful thing (laughs). As soon as I started casually looking up some videos about Seoul or Korea, more videos came about the history of Korea, the music, the culture, etc. For two or three years, I slowly got hooked. Because I work in the startup world, I also watched the K-drama Startup on Netflix out of curiosity… and I got hooked as well (laughs). 

Is Korean culture a thing in Chile? 

In Chile yes, but I was back in Uruguay when I started watching more and more K-dramas and listening to more K-pop. I would tell my friends and none of them knew about it. They all thought I was weird. It was very strange to me that they showed no curiosity at all towards this content I had found so deep. This content that had helped me heal, in a way. 

Is there any drama or song that comes to mind that had a particular impact? 

After Startup, I watched Itaewon Class and, well, the main actor Park Seo-Joon, is a very good-looking guy despite his horrific haircut in the drama (laughs)... But the storyline is what resonated. The whole drama was about his life after he lost his father. So many scenes made me relate. 

It’s strange, right, how we can relate to content produced so far away…

Fun fact: if you look at what’s the furthest point from Korea on a map, it’s Uruguay. It’s basically a straight line, on the opposite side of the world. 

Oh, really?

Yeah. I’m not sure why realizing this hit me so hard, but I told my friends: next year, I’ll spend my birthday in Korea. Everyone was like ‘Yeah right’, but I didn’t take any holidays, booked my ticket, and flew to Seoul next April. On my birthday, I was riding my bike along the Han River and watching the cherry blossoms. I was so happy I had given this gift to myself. I was so happy because this long winter in my life was over, and I could feel Spring inside of me too. 

You weren’t disappointed by the real Korea, compared to the version you had built up in your head? 

I knew when I left that reality was very different from fiction. I especially wondered if I would feel like an alien, different. But instead, I came and I felt at peace. There was something so magical about the whole experience. I didn’t feel threatened, I was in a safe place. I don’t think there are many places in the world where you can put your phone on the table to save your spot (laughs). That’s so awesome and it was such a surprise. I originally was coming for two weeks - I had planned two weeks in Tokyo, and two weeks in Seoul - and I ended up staying 10 months. 

How did you manage to convince your workplace to let you be away for so long?

I still work normal hours… So twelve hours difference! But honestly, I don’t mind at all. I can do my stuff during the day and work at night. I can enjoy doing cultural activities, meeting people, digging deeper into the culture, and researching.

Researching what? 

One of the main goals of my trip to Korea and Japan was to research the startup ecosystem. I wanted to bridge the Latin American market with East Asia. I’m an Accelerator Director for a Venture Capitalist in Chile and I want to see the Latin American way of being flexible, resilient, and creative to find solutions and resources, paired with the more organized, structured, work-oriented mindset in Korea. I always think that a cofounding team with Koreans and Latin Americans would be such an interesting vibe. 

All this sounds amazing but… When do you sleep? 

From 3 or 4 am to 10 or 11 am? (Laughs.) It is a sacrifice, but then, I look outside the window right now, and there’s snow falling and I’m in a nice cafe and, you know, I’ll sleep when I die. 

It’s eh… a life philosophy, for sure (laughs).

I’m getting more organized (laughs). It’s a process. Last year my health was a bit of a mess. The thing is, I get carried away, I want to do it all. I have a lot of energy. Now, I’m trying to go cheon-cheon-i (slowly, slowly) in the Korean palli-palli (quick, quick) culture. Even though palli-palli is my culture (laughs).

Did you feel less ‘weird’ among Digital Nomads? Is that why you stayed so long?

Definitely. I loved going to the Hoppin Seoul workation, last winter! I met a group of people I didn’t know existed. We did cool cultural activities together, like learning to cook Korean food, dancing to K-pop songs… I didn’t feel like the crazy person that my friends were asking questions to: ‘What are you doing at the other end of the world?’. All these nomads had the same questions I did, and not always the answers. I like that. We’re all similarly independent and curious. We love talking together because back home, no one understands why we need to go to the other end of the world to work until 4 am, with only our suitcase. 

You also traveled to Japan and China. Why do you think you like Korea more? 

I enjoyed the three, to be honest. Each one has its flavor. But for living, I find Seoul to be the city I’m very comfortable in. I think culturally, Koreans are a little bit more open, and since I’m from Latin America - you know how we’re very approachable and open (laughs). I felt more comfortable here. I also loved China and Japan, but something about Korea and being in Seoul made me feel at home. Which is very strange (laughs).

Was that right away from the beginning?

Not exactly. I got a feeling when I first arrived here - and I didn’t know I could feel like this as an adult! I felt like… a baby. I didn’t know the language, I didn’t know anyone. When I walked inside the metro, I would just look at people and see how they did things. Like a child looks at their parents, I felt like I was discovering the world again, unlearning. It’s something I never experienced as a grown-up - new ways, new things. I felt like an observer most of the time and it’s one of the things I enjoy the most. I love observing life. I don’t want to be the main character of the story. 

It’s a very poetic outlook on life. 

I guess I believe in signs. If life keeps bringing me back here… I wanted to experience the four seasons and I’ve done it. I came in Spring, then Summer and Fall. Last year I was back in Uruguay and I got an email inviting me to a conference in December. I thought it was a scam (laughs) but it was someone I met and learned a lot from last year during my research. He is very involved in the tech and innovation ecosystem and has built an amazing community. his organization wanted to invite a VC from Latin America. I couldn’t believe it (laughs). I didn’t want to get my hopes up until I got the ticket, but they flew me over and I finally saw the first snow of Winter. I was walking around, eating a warm hotteok. All these emotions, all this happiness they give me, are making me look into ways to come back more permanently. Let’s see!

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See you in two weeks!

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