Christmas in South Korea 🇰🇷🎄 + Talking about Loneliness Living Abroad

[@marlonaleister]

loneliness comes and goes, especially during the holiday times. hopefully everyone had a great holiday season, full of rest and love :-) even though this topic can be a bit of a downer, I tried to make it as light-hearted as I could and I have no serious issues emotionally, so no worries there. all support and love is always appreciated

[@Joe.Ortega]

Hi, first I'm from Texas in El Paso. I like your content because I'm thinking of making a huge transition to S. Korea or the Philippines. Anyway, even though I'm here at home, only child and my parents are in heaven. Loneliness and introvert are part of my daily life. My feeling is I want to escape here because there is nothing left for me here. Feels like no matter where you lice whether you live abroad or at home. Loneliness will find you wherever you go. Sad but true. Thanks for your vlog.

[@the_river_jordan]

I will be moving to South Korea (possibly to Seoul, but not sure) from the US in March to teach english, and your content has been really insightful. Thanks for creating for us. I appreciate your transparency about trying to find friends and dealing with loneliness sometimes. Merry Christmas!

[@marlonaleister]

being transparent is so important when it comes to HUGE life changes - I don’t want to give the idea of a fantasy to anyone, there are ups and downs and people should be honest with themselves about the reality of moving so far away. good luck on your move here, there is so much beauty and love to discover! teaching can be wonderful, good luck good luck :-)

[@the_river_jordan]

Thank you so much! I am excited to take on this massive change and am also preparing as best I can for the challenges! @@marlonaleister

[@fluorescentFrequencies]

I am a new subscriber to your channel since I have considered moving to Korea a couple months ago since I believe California is a dead zone for me. I just want to say that you are a brave soul also wanted to let know that you are not alone especially during the holidays! I have no one out here and I live alone so it does get lonely. Whenever Im reminded that I am lonely depending on my mood I go for a bike ride, bake, jog, paint, read or pray. Any scenic view Mother Nature lays out distracts me from me but i guess getting a hobby to distract myself from loneliness makes me feel better lol

[@chelseagirl278]

Merry Christmas! You are definitely not alone - we all love you 🎄♥

[@jaguar4120]

Yup with natural hair color. ❤

[@marlonaleister]

merry christmas ahhhh! you are so sweet, waking up to so much love makes me feel so lucky. thank you thank you thank you

[@jaguar4120]

@@marlonaleister I’m glad you are feeling the joy. Just remember you are loved and appreciated by everyone around you.

[@annastayziaa]

Marlon, my grandpa passed away while I was abroad and I have to be honest with you about this…I was actually prepared. Before I moved abroad, something I did was visualize a lot of bad things that could happen and what I would do in those scenarios and it really helped me. When my grandpa passed away, I was actually sick and injured abroad and I made the decision not to go back home immediately and to instead prioritize taking care of myself. Of course, some of my relatives were upset about that. However, I don’t regret it at all. Just because someone died, it doesn’t mean I need to drop my priorities such as my health/injury recovery and travel while sick to be with my family. It’s okay to choose to stay at your home abroad if something bad happens back where you come from. You won’t know all the answers beforehand, but something that helped me was deciding my priorities/value system before I moved abroad. I moved abroad with my health being my #1 priority/value. Having a system of values/priorities in advance helps you to make hard decisions in times when the emotions are high. Please create a value system/priorities so that you rely on it time after time, especially when you have to make hard decisions. also, it’s okay to be flexible … if you feel like flying back home when something bad happens, that’s okay too. I did that as well. but remember that when you go back to visit, don’t have expectations of what “should” happen and you won’t be disappointed. ❤️ I speak from experience and I really hope sharing this helps someone. In the end, we all die and eventually people forget us…so you have to do what’s best for you even if to others it seems ruthless…however, the only person who knows what’s best for you is you because you’re the only one who has 100% context on yourself. Not even your mom who you spent 9 months growing inside of knows everything about you. But you do. And what’s best for you will differ from what’s best for me. Perhaps for one person, staying where they live abroad is the best decision for them, and for another person, the best decision is going back and visiting where the bad thing happened. what I can say for sure is that over time you will learn more about yourself and be able to make better decisions for you. So if you don’t like a decision you make, you’ll learn from it and make better decisions for you from then on. Don’t worry, with time and experience (trial and error and listening to others’ stories), you will gain the wisdom❤️ you are young now and feeling this way is normal.

[@elaine-s_joy]

I like watching ramblings about life and skincare! And I had always worried about possibly living abroad and how that would make me feel not seeing family and friends, so it's helpful to see others talk about loneliness (I do think it's a gap in topics that are talked about). I'm glad you're happy and content with where your future is going in South Korea, that's wonderful! I hope you had a pleasant holiday season 🌟

[@marlonaleister]

like so mant other people said, it comes in waves and some waves are bigger than others. I really love videos like this where I can just get stuff off of my chest and talk honestly, I hope people continue to enjoy watching this kind of stuff :-) happy holidays

[@dylanthekoreanteacher]

Great job with another quality video! :)

[@marlonaleister]

thank you so much! all the support is always so appreciated :-)

[@PeelingFineTunes]

Awesome vlog, Marlon! In the middle of feeling kinda lonely and everything being super quiet, there's actually a chance for some self-discovery. Embrace that alone time, 'cause that's when you can really get to know yourself better. Merry Christmas, dude!

[@marlonaleister]

this is so true - all of this time on my own has really shown me my true priorities and what I should strive for going forward. very valuable to be alone sometimes. thank you for watching and merry christmas to you too :-)

[@iamwhalien52]

Wow I feel like we have the exact same personality and relationship with our parents.

[@이나윤-p5i]

You seem to have adapted well to South Korea and are living wisely. Watching at the various videos on your channel, it appears that your South Korean acquaintances are teaching you all the details of South Korean culture.

[@marlonaleister]

this means so much, I feel so welcomed and at home here in korea now. it took so many endless hours studying, awkward encounters, and mistakes, but I have such a great bunch of people in my life that I love here in korea, as well as plenty of work and stuff to keep me busy. thank you for always watching and supporting by the way

[@crazwidowonestepatatime]

I had the same problem when I moved to France back in the mid 90s. We didn’t have social media back then and calling home was expensive so I just walk around all the time saying Bonjour” to everyone which I found out later on was weird to people. You were supposed to say something else. I don’t remember 🤔. Imy student visa expired and I never found the perfect Frenchman to marry 😂😂😂 so I had to come back to the states. Dang it 😢 My advice to you is to get out of the house/apartment and surround yourself with your friends or your neighbors, take a walk, go to the open open air markets, (i miss those) eat your favorite foods, meet new people, buy yourself something new if you can afford to, eat a bowl of spicy kimchi ramen for me 😉, above all else call your parents and tell them you love them. They need to hear it more than you need to hear i love you from them. Yes I’m a mom . I have 2 children id die for. ❤❤❤ love your videos, buddy. I hope you had a Merry Christmas, from Rawlins Wyoming ❤

[@marlonaleister]

this is sooooo sweet ahhhhhhh im gonna call my folks right away :((((( thank you so much for taking the time to write this out. getting out of my comfort zone is something I do very well, and I attribute it to one of the reasons I learned korean to the point I have now. I will eat all the yummy korean food and even soon hopefully upload a video about all the kinds of food I eat in a week living here! thank you thank you again

[@crazwidowonestepatatime]

@@marlonaleisteryou’re welcome ❤

[@annastayziaa]

yes 🎯I went through a breakup while on a business trip in Armenia and my immediate family and closest friends were literally on the exact opposite side of the world in America and I had to be patient and wait until the middle of the night or wake up super early to talk to them. The time difference requires the person far away to be more resilient and self-reliant in hard times, or to at least have the ability to be patient enough (distract oneself) until your support system can talk with you. ❤️

[@HCK_Cat_]

You’re gorgeous 🤍😍👍🏼Thanks for sharing this video! Love from new sub in Norway 🇳🇴

[@StuDean12230]

I've always wanted to move abroad and honestly don't know what you maybe going through. If it's one thing I've learnt moving into my mid-20's is that loneliness gets everyone at one point (some more than others depending on situation). Though we may feel lonely, we may not be alone. Those around us, those who share our situation or those who we can share our humanity with. Your videos are insightful into life in South Korea and thank you for all the content you have shared this year ❤

[@KyuubiCatT]

“Making friends in Korea is NOT hard” :D *reads caption* oh…

[@marlonaleister]

the WORST time to misspeak hahahah

[@jongmul1965]

말론은 결코 혼자가 아닙니다: 우리가 모르는 사이에도 가족, 친구, 지인들이 혹시나 하는 마음에 당신을 지켜봐 주고 있기 때문입니다!!! #MerryXmas 🎄😊

[@mskym2268]

Merry Christmas to you!!

[@athenasantiago3465]

OMG Marlon! I'm a new subscriber and I'm LOVING your content! I saw you doing skincare tho, and I just wanted to tell you to be careful with the skin under your eyes. It's very sensitive and if you pull too much at it overtime it'll stretch and wrinkle one day. loool sorry for the randomness of this comment! I just saw that and wanted to quickly tell you this! I hope the holiday season treated you well and I can't wait for future content

[@urairakread1720]

am very introvert myself, so, having a partner its help a lot. Not one that stick together and wearing same cloths. we both independent financially, not one that call or text every hour. one that nice and care. am not been back to visit my family since 2004.

[@jaguar4120]

Why don’t you just get a boyfriend/girlfriend to keep you company. I’m sure you’ll get one. You are very attractive and seem like a nice person to be around. ❤

[@marlonaleister]

this is very kind, and I understand the sentiment. relationships will not always fill in the whole of missing friends or family, but it is definitely something that CAN help a lot of people. I’m very happy with the life I live now, and I’m content with knowing that I still have not met all the people I will love in my life. so many people to still meet, time will pass and things will change, I’m in no rush now :-)

[@jaguar4120]

@@marlonaleister Of course. I hope you will find your own happiness the way you want it. I completely understand your situation. It can be difficult to make friends in adulthood and even harder finding a partner who is willing to take the time to know you and care enough to form a relationship.

[@keiths2902]

It’s ironic but it seems us introverts do better living abroad. You’d think it would be the extroverts. But the more you think, the more it makes sense.

[@marlonaleister]

I thought I would have such a hard time making friends, but it turns out I just needed a few great friends and that was it! I don’t need much more, and I’m very content witt that hahah no concerns about going out every weekend or networking to the max, I’m happy with myself :-)

[@ana-marijavincetic3360]

Hey I wanted to get you input on something. So my husband and I are currently in Ireland, we both work in warehouse, picking and packing orders; for big pharmaceutical company, my husband is also driving all sorts of machines. Do you think individuals like us have a chance in South Korea? I'm 28 and he is 29, and we both are Croatians.

[@joonkim202]

Enjoy your loneliness. When you get older, you'll miss the peace and comfort of not dealing with professional, social, and family hassles.

[@taeynav5715]

Where is the sauna at 0:30?

[@破滅喘鳴]

Are you Korean-American?

[@saranghankuk991]

한국인도 결혼하지 않으면 외롭습니다...결혼을 하면 한국 남자들도 대부분 가족과 보내기 때문이죠..

[@KoreanJinCanada]

I moved Canada for living. Your vedio makes me more Miss my country. Jimjilbang you went looks so authentic! Hehehe Merry Christmas🎉

[@marlonaleister]

hahaha the jjimjilbang was definitely a highlight, sooooo many people relaxing and enjoying the holiday. it’s in 양주, about an hour away from where I live. hope you can head back to korea to visit soon! 캐나다로 이주한 것을 축하하고 좋은 경험을 많이 하시길 바랍니다 ^^

[@KoreanJinCanada]

@@marlonaleister I haven't been to yangju hehhe you are awesome! You know even more than koreans heheh Thank you so much for your kind words! 한국에서 소중한 추억들 많이 만드시길 바래요! 새해 복 마니 받으세요!

[@annabelrodwell]

Completely understand - INFJ here and do not need to pretend friendships - it’s just exhausting. I love surfing, hiking, nature. I love peace.

[@ourovermelho23]

Thank you for sharing I’m happy you found your place in the world I think we all need to do that and find somewhere near or far where we can feel we belong

[@marlonaleister]

we all belong somewhere, and it can take years to find, and I’m so happy to have found my home :-) thank you for your words, very very true

[@libbywish7123]

We’re sending you 🫂💚❤️♥️💜Thank you for sharing your experiences and life in all its truth. My daughter and I want to visit South Korea so all the information you share is very helpful. Merry Christmas 🎁🎄

[@haveialigned]

My advice for people struggling with loneliness is to do volunteer work. It's a great way to meet people and feel connected to your community. Especially volunteering with children, animals, or the elderly will give you so many opportunities for emotionally fulfilling socialization.

[@jasonjenista]

Happy Christmas. Lets be lonely together!

[@marlonaleister]

merry christmas, couldn’t have said it better myself :-) anyone here who is lonely, we aren’t alone now!

[@ergo322]

pop goes the pimple hee

[@KennieinKorea]

i can totally relate! When I arrived, I had a lot of Korean friends but over time, like 5months after, I realized that I was on my own. I was either ghosted or blocked by both gender. Reality of living in Korea I believe. Thankfully, I am used to being by myself even in my country. Anyways, we can do it!

[@jinjintan4303]

It's common in countries surrounding China, floor heating in China is called 地龙, floor dragon because of how the underground tunnels that channels heat and smoke from the fire is twisted throughout the house like a dragon's body

[@sune6708]

Did someone punch you in the face ? 🤔

[@민초파이-n7m]

You nailed to shoot vlog in korean influencer's content style. Congrats.