Saturday, January 21, 2012

Why teach in Korea?

Why Korea? Good question! When I first started researching teaching job overseas, I naturally thought of teaching in a Spanish-speaking country because I have a Bachelor's in Spanish, and I'm conversationally-comfortable ("fluent" as some might say) in it. However, I discovered that the teaching overseas jobs that pay the best- generally speaking- are in Asia, not Latin America. As for Spain and the rest of Europe, I crossed them off my list partly because I heard the competition to get a job there would be higher than for a lot of the Asian jobs.

Besides, I have never been to Asia and have always wanted to go! (I know, I know; Asia is a huge continent and there are immense differences in cultures, languages, etcetera, but I have to generalize to some degree as I'm sure you understand.) I heard about the JET program in Japan, but wasn't sure I have the minimum qualifications; I didn't look into other programs in Japan for whatever reasons or lack thereof. The more I researched jobs, the more it seemed I was talking to people who had worked in Korea, or who ARE Koreans living and working in the U.S., so I gravitated towards Korean jobs.

Also, ALL Koreans I have ever met have been very friendly, warm people! Plus, all Korean food I've ever tasted I have loved. For all of these reasons, and my innate curiosity, I decided to teach in Korea.

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