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by 오뎅바 posted Feb 01, 2017
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한국생활인터뷰같음 부탁해

Austin Berry took a path unlike most American soccer players by heading to Asia where he spent last season on loan with FC Anyang in South Korea.

November marked the end of the K League Challenge season, South Korea's second division, as well as the end of the 27-year-old's loan spell with the team. Despite finishing out of the promotion playoff places, Berry was pleased with how the team played to the end after going through some difficult spells throughout the campaign.

"I think I adapted well to the K League Challenge. I credit that to the coaches and players during preseason for being so welcoming and helpful in the transition," Berry told Yanks Abroad. "Obviously it was a disappointing season not being in the promotion playoffs. That was a goal of ours from the beginning. We had a tough stretch for a while where we didn't get a win for a few months that ultimately proved too much in the end. We finally had a coaching change, who made some changes and ultimately went on a very good run in the second half. Going from last to where we finished showed that we had a solid squad that should have been towards the top. That's just how seasons go sometimes though."

Prior to the start of the 2015 Major League Soccer season, the native of Cincinnati, Ohio, was left in limbo as to where he would be playing soccer as he was deemed surplus to the requirements at the Philadelphia Union. After two productive years with the Chicago Fire, who picked him ninth in the 2012 MLS SuperDraft, Berry was traded to the Union in hopes of strengthening their defense. However, injuries would limit his time on the field, and he was looking for a move away from the Eastern Conference side.

Although it was a trying time for Berry as he had no idea where his career was going, he said he was happy that there was a solution in the end.

"It was just hard always waiting to see what was going to happen. Was an unfortunate situation for both sides but ultimately we were both finally able to move on. I would have liked for it to have worked in Philly, great fans, city and especially teammates but just wasn't meant to be," said Berry.

Then in February reports came out that Berry signed a season-long deal to play with FC Anyang. It's uncommon for teams in Asia to sign American soccer players as their preferences are usually for players from South America, Africa or Europe. However, Berry thrived on being able to play in the K League Challenge and felt no pressure whatsoever in trying to prove himself among his peers.

"Too be honest, I never felt any pressure from that standpoint," said Berry. "The whole country but especially everyone involved in the K-League was so welcoming and friendly that I was never nervous about it all. I really would like to see more American players going over there. It is a good league and an awesome country to live abroad in."

When playing for a new team, one wants to make a good first impression with his coach and teammates. Despite the language barrier, Berry has nothing but good memories of the time he spent with the coaching staff and teammates.

"I had a great relationship with everyone at the club. The coaching staff are good people and always supportive of their players. The guys on the team were great. Pretty much all didn't speak any English so we couldn't really talk and do stuff outside of soccer," said Berry. "Still, I had great time at training and the few times we did get together outside of soccer. I still chat every now and then with some of the players I met there."

Anyang, which is located south of the capital Seoul in Gyeonggi Province, is worlds apart from what the former Louisville Cardinal experienced back at home. Leaving friends and family and changing your normal routine can be difficult. Getting used to life as professional soccer player in a totally new environment can also take some getting used to. These were a few things that Berry had to adjust to as soon as he set foot in the city.

"The first thing I had to get used to was the scheduling. Ever since college it had been training in the morning for couple hours with all meetings, treatment and gym included, and then finished for the day. Our team in Korea housed all players (except myself and few others) in a player dorm, had all meetings and three meals a day in the dorms," he said. "Players get there schedule for the day in the morning. Sometimes training at night, sometimes middle of the day. Gym sessions would be thrown in randomly along with video at random hours. That was tough to get used to and didn't make any sense to me."

However, things would pick up for Berry later in the season thanks to a coaching change, and he got the chance to explore more of South Korea when he was not in training or playing games.

"Once the new coach took over, advanced scheduling started to happen and no more long, drawn out days. It was at that time during the summer I met a bunch of English teachers that work in Anyang," he said. "Once I started to have a group of friends to hang out with outside of soccer it really got enjoyable. Went out to eat all the time, trips into Seoul, Jeju Island visit and my personal favorite was screen golf."

On the field, FC Anyang had an up and down season in 2015. The team found wins hard to come by in the first half of the season as they went winless for 18 games (12 ties and six losses). They did improve in the latter half of the season and finished a respectable sixth place in the standings. However, that was not good enough to qualify for the playoff places for promotion to the K League Classic division.

Despite missing out on the promotion places, Berry looks on the bright side of things when talking about their season.

"It hurt a little. We had a goal for that and always is a downer when you don't accomplish. However, it did relieve a lot of pressure from the team/coaches so that they could enjoy the trainings and games more," he said, adding that his most memorable game from the season was their first - a 3-0 home win over Suwon FC.

Now back stateside, where he will play for newly founded FC Cincinnati in the United Soccer League this season, Berry speaks highly of his experience in South Korea and perhaps down the road he could make a return to the "land of the morning calm."

"I really did enjoy my time enough that I would love to go back to Korea," he said. "However, it has to be the right situation. You don't want to go overseas, just to be overseas. If all the boxes tick for me I would really like go back. Korea was a great place to live as a foreigner."