Job Discussion Forums

[BenE]

I really want to teach abroad to meet new people and discover the culture in a completely different part of the world. I'd also be interested in learning the language and seeing different towns and places.

I guess the teaching part is also important to me as I may come back home and get professional teaching qualifications after a year if I enjoy it. If it all goes wrong I'm sure I can still come back to England or Germany and find a job so I don't see it as a career destroyer. Besides it's not like I'm finding tons of jobs at the moment.

[gajackson1]

I'm not going to meander through 14 pages of this; it reminds me too much of our Korean boards!

Let me say, as a single teacher that has been out of the USA for over 10 years, and has no plans of ever going back to live/settle down on any kind of permanent basis, that there are, at a glance, 3 basic 'types' of teachers that I meet - with oodles of variations on these:

* For some ESLTs, it is a vehicle to do some exploring, kind of like the work-study or friendship visas some countries offer. You do it to get out, see part of the world, maybe make a little money to repay debts or save a little for the future, but more likely just to travel and stretch wings. It usually happens to recent grads, but I've seen it in older people, as well. It is just a temp thing.

*Then, there are others who decide that, because of the lifestyle or their experiences, they want to keep on doing it. Some try to make a niche for themselves someplace; some pursue more credentials/qualifications; some climb up the ladders in a country, or switch regions as their interests change. A number of these may well wind up marrying a local along the way, or meet another teaching kindred spirit. They do make it into a career, and many of them find it rewarding. If they choose to go home, they rarely leave the industry completely (as is evidenced by the number who stay here on these boards, much like ex-backpackers haunt the LP forums).

*The 3rd group is the trickier one - it is those ESLTs who drift - they are chasing money, but spend what they make, or they are chasing a lifestyle, which is never quite what they thought it would be. They romanticize countries, jobs, people, cultures, regions. Sometimes they are running towards something, sometimes away from something. But ultimately, time passes, and the feel more and more disassociated from everything & everyone. Many vets know the kinds here I am talking about, and it does seem to be in the older males more predominately.

The first and second are both fine, if you are honest with yourself & others along the way. The 3rd one is the problem, but one that, I think, isn't just limited to expat teacher-types. I've seen it in the military people I know, in traveling businesspeople, in the fishery industry I worked in briefly in Alaska. I hear it also in settled-down, established friends - especially those married, with kids, about how they wish they had 'gotten out into the world' instead of having not.

There is a world of difference between ESL/EFL teaching as a job, and as a career.

Regards from Brunei,

Glen

[GambateBingBangBOOM]

That was a great post, Glen!

Nicely put.

[gajackson1]

Thanks kindly, GB3 -

What makes it more credible is it isn't just 1st-hand observations, from a self-admitted people-watcher. I've BEEN in all 3 of those stages over these past 10 years.

Right now, I just came out of #2, and here in Brunei, I may be taking a step back, re-evaluating, and then moving on again, possibly pushing/taking my career in a different (but related) direction in the Middle East.

I know people only after money - and there is, and will continue to be, lots of money to be made. I know people who are looking for cultural experiences and/or the opportunities to branch out their work experience/CV into different areas - and that is there, too, and will continue to be.

By the same token, there will ALWAYS be the money traps, easy-come, easy-go, grass-is-greener 'opportunities' that people will fall into - some unknowingly, others pretty well aware of it - they did it before, and will do it again, and again, and again . . .

Sad (for the latter lot, or those who have to work/deal with them), but true in my experience.

G.

[jpvanderwerf2001]

Yes, great post Glen. You have hit the nail on the head. I, too, have been all or parts of all three. I am now firmly a #2. I surmise that many almost need to go through your parts 1 & 3 to get to 2 (not that that is always the case of course). I'm quite content being a #2 for the rest of my working life

[naturegirl321]

I started wanted to be a number 3, but after landing in my second country, ended up falling in love and have been here for nrealy five years and am now number 2. And will probably be here in the future, but plan on taking a year off to head back to Asia with my husband.

[scrog_420]

27,000 views!!!! Surely we can get to 30,000.

[naturegirl321]

Acutally with the economy being what it is, I have a feeling that MORE people will be getting into TEFL.

[Rich B]

this is an interesting thread. as a newbie, ism reading it carefully. thanks to the experienced participants.

[[email protected]]

My wife and I (both 59) would like to live abroad when we retire in three years. BK (before kids), we lived in Austria for a year and in Mexico for 6 months. Last child is in college.
We would like to teach ESL to finance our base cost of living. We have some other money to cover trips, etc. We are targeting Europe.
1. Will our ages kill us?
2. In May, 2009, I had a heart attack. Have since lost 30 lbs, exercise regularly, eat less and feel very good. What will this do to my prospects?
3. We both have graduate degrees but not for ESP. What certification should we get? I probably would get the certification at home and get some experience teaching ESL. My wife could get the certification abroad.
Thanks in advance for your reply.

[naturegirl321]

Living in Europe might be hard without an EU passport.
Age is also a factor, many jobs cap at 50, 55 or 60.

How about retiring abroad?

[cdodson]

[cdodson]

[[email protected]]

[canadianjesse]

My wife and I left Canada in 2001, planning to stay in S. Korea a year to pay off some student debt. We got back to Vancouver last year. After over 8 years and five countries (many more visited), we thought we felt the "settle down" tug.

We're starting to think we were mistaken.

There is so much out there (be it money, cultures, adventure, history, blah blah) and so little here to hold us.

The thrill of our return wore off for family and friends within months. And they seem no different from when we'd left. We could come back in another decade and they'd just be older, grayer and slower, but the same otherwise.

Work here is a joke. Just read previous posts. We only just get by because of our slight experience advantage (having gotten into esl a couple years before the really big 'boom' of graduates.)

...will this be my generation's Woodstock? "Grandpa, did you go to Japan after university?"

We're not having kids, by the way, so no worries there. Heck, we don't even want pets.

We have spent the last two months, every night, over drink
s, saying to each other, "Let' check that PROS and CONS list again. We must have missed something. Why are we still here?"

There are so many people we've known who can't stay away from home too long. It's natural and beautiful and fine. We're trying so hard to feel it, but can't.

We did get tired of living out of suitcases -eight years, moving every year, living on student-type budgets to put every extra penny into loan debt and travel funds. You get burned out. That's when some choose to settle down at home.

But when you look at old photos and remember the first kangaroo you ever saw, or walk by a Chinese food restaurant and the smell reminds you of a neighbourhood in Taipei, or you see a special on komodo dragons and remember the guide on the island yelling "run! this one's angry!"... you are reminded why you had put up with that lifestyle for so long.

ESL:
A) Do a year -only!- call it 'finding yourself... and drinking a lot' then go home and start your real life.

OR

B) Keep moving, keep spending, keep saving, keep traveling, keep applying, keep tutoring, keep in close touch with all friends, keep skyping your new niece, keep doing tropical Xmases, keep complaining about lonely planet's shift to tepid middle class travelers as target audience, keep trying new roasted insects, keep untagging yourself in photos where you look too drunk, and keep ignoring posts by that one guy on the forum you are sure is full of sh@t.

and keep one carry-on packed by the door, "in case of midnight run."

dang