Among the many reasons why teaching ESL abroad rocks is travel. Being in the country you teach in is travel in and of itself. Take for example South Korea, which is where I am.
If someone were to plan a trip to Korea coming from the United States or Canada, it would be a major event. The flight time alone would be somewhere in the vicinity of 15-17 hours in the air, depending on the number of connections they have. Once in Korea, they would have around 7-10 days to see what there is to see before they have to board their flight back home. Usually, people see the big ticket items in a super city like Seoul, try some foods and pick up some knick knacks to remember the trip by.
If you were to travel to Seoul, Korea for one year as an ESL teacher, you would have all the time in the world to see the big ticket attractions. More importantly though, you would be able to see and experience the destination in a way that is simply impossible on a short-term excursion.
You will meet and live with the native culture. You will see the little, priceless aspects of the culture that cannot be found on TripAdvisor. Your overall experience would be far more meaningful and memorable than any experience you could have in one or two weeks.
That’s not where it ends though.
If you are living abroad as an ESL teacher, you will also have many opportunities to travel to other countries as well. Remember the 15-17 hour flight to Korea? Well, to go to Japan, China, or SE Asia would be the same sacrifice.
Traveling to those destinations from Korea? 2-4 hours. You would already have seen many things before your counterpart coming from America reaches their halfway point.
Recently, I was tipped off by a friend on Facebook about a KILLER flight deal coming out of Busan to Taipei. Apparently a new line to Taipei was being added to Gimhae International Airport through an airline called V-Air. They were running a special for $25 each way. After all the fees and taxes, my round-trip airfare was under $100.
You just can’t do that from back home.
Lucky for me, this deal fell right smack dab in the middle of my allotted vacation time. I immediately jumped on the deal, secured a hotel, and was off two weeks later.
As I look at my new life as a traveling ESL teacher, I realize that this was yet another reason why I now know taking this new path in life was the right choice for me.
Some people teach abroad for one year. Others for the duration of their life. Their commute to work is the next country they want to teach in. It’s a commute that I am now very happy to make.
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