How a chance encounter led me to write for Greenvil

My first meeting with Greenvil CEO SunMee Jin was outside in nature. Along with a love for healthy living, I discovered that we had lots of things in common. Having both lived in New York, my birthplace and Africa, where I grew up in Zimbabwe and where SunMee worked briefly in Angola.

So when she asked me to share my experiences of food, culture, different lifestyles, travel and Korea on the Greenvil  blog, I did not need further convincing.

My name is Tichakunda Murira Mafundikwa “Ticha” for short. I have been living in 

South Korea for two years and currently work as an English teacher at a private elementary  school in Incheon. I also hold a bachelor’s in journalism which I acquired from SUNY New Paltz in upstate New York.

Tichakunda means “We  shall  overcome” in the Shona language of Zimbabwe. Like most foreigners, I had to overcome a lot of challenges when I moved from Zimbabwe to Korea. Exploitative employers, a different pace of life, home sickness, cultural differences, my own biases, limitations and projections.

Korea has also been very good to me. It has given me second chances when everything looked bleak, expanded my network of friends and added new tastes to my culinary palette.

In my blogposts, you can expect to read about how I increased my spicy food tolerance level, changed my beliefs on pork (which I didn’t grow up consuming), similarities between Asia and Africa, as well as other movie script worthy misadventures.

So please join me on a literary ride that will have you thinking deeply, laughing out loud or shaking your head in disbelief.