Chapter 8. A New Path

The day I walked past the Korean church was the day my life truly changed for the better. I was in a bad headspace and had pretty much given up on life. The second I heard the beautiful Korean singing was the time I decided to have a look. The following Sunday I had rung the pastor in advance and had organized to come to the church. I walked in, however, was a bit shy and overwhelmed. Everyone greeted me and they were all Korean. The service was done in Korean and of course, I was unable to understand any of it but I did enjoy the atmosphere and the sense of acceptance. After service, we ate together and I remember people coming to me and talking there best in English to try and communicate with me. The people I met changed my life and I was determined to learn Korean. A few months later, I became best friends with the pastor’s daughter who went to an all girl’s high school. I decided to move to her school and I completed my last year of high school with a bang of success and great memories. That year was the best year I had had in a long time and I had the greatest friends alongside me. I continued to go to the Korean church and my faith in God began to deepen. In 2015 I moved to Auckland to study at university and met a great number of friends at the sister church in Auckland. Since then my Korean has improved and I now communicate better in Korean than I do English. I believe that finding that Korean church was no coincidence and that God planned it for me, to help me get through the bad times I was in.

I definitely believe that if I had not come across the Korean church, The Korean people, and the Korean language at the time I did, I might not be here today writing this blog for all of you.

This is why the Korean language and people will always be so important to me because they were the first people in a very long time to truly welcome me and treat me with kindness.

Now, I have happily been in love with my wannabe Samoan but Korean boyfriend for almost 2 years, I'm enjoying University and have made great friends. I am an english tutor to Koreans and have met so many wonderful people. I am also moving to South Korea for a University exchange in 2018... Life is going good except for the fact that Steve moved back to Dunedin a couple of months ago... However he does not control who i am anymore nor does anyone else.

My name is Telesia Iris Losa Nielsen Caldwell, I am a half Samoan Kiwi living in New Zealand who speaks better Korean than she does english, I've had a tough past and had many obstacles that i've had to overcome but i've had the help of those around me, giving me the strength to get through.

I'm me and I'm happy