Thursday 7 September 2017 14:28, UK
Niall McGinn is settling into life in South Korea after swapping Aberdeen for K-League Classic side Gwangju FC.
The Northern Ireland international left Scotland this summer after six years at Pittodrie and, in an eye-catching move, became the first player from the United Kingdom to play in South Korea.
He admits that the culture change has been dramatic but told Sky Sports News that bumping into Northern Ireland fans some 5,000 miles from home has helped him to settle in.
"It's been very different but enjoyable so far," he said. "I've gone in the middle of their season and have had to try and get up to speed with the tempo of their game. It's very quick and the Korean lads are very strong but it's been good so far."
In June, Gwangju's president Ki Young-ok, father of McGinn's former Celtic team-mate Ki Sung-yueng, travelled to meet McGinn in Belfast, a journey that helped facilitate the switch.
He said: "The president of the club flew over to meet me in person in Belfast and spend a few days here. It was impressive for them to make that effort, I thought 'why not?' and went over there to sign and the rest, as they say, is history.
"The culture is very different of course but the fans have been brilliant.
"I'll give you one example. I went to Sangju a couple of weeks back and the coach stopped at the hotel and all the team had got off and there was just this one random guy there with two McGinn Northern Ireland tops.
"It was bit of surprise but showed me just how big it was that this international player had come to play football in Korea."
With the eyes of the of the world focused on the Korean peninsula in recent weeks, McGinn could be forgiven for feeling a little nervous, but he insists he is not fretting about the political situation and just concentrating on his football.
He said: "I don't feel it (security) is a problem. Even when we played in France last summer (for Euro 2016) the security was obviously very, very tight.
"I just believe if things are going to happen, then they will happen. You can't afford to think about things too much you've just got to keep enjoying your life, and keep enjoying something you do love doing. So I will just keep playing football and not think too much about the other things."
