First Post

I spent my undergraduate career studying a wholly academic humanities subject pretty useless to the world at large. I earned my Bachelor of Science in Political Science in September 2006. At that time I wanted to go abroad to teach English. Instead, I got a job as a cubicle crusader, a mortgage, and life got in the way. Now I'm realizing that if I don't go abroad now, life is going to continue to get in the way. This is my journey to achieve that goal.

I am interested in this topic as it represents a piece of my past. At the time I was born, my father was flying helicopters for the US Army in South Korea while my mother raised me. My mother is from Busan, the largest port city in South Korea. Busan is located on the Southeastern most tip of the Korean Peninsula, and its weather ranges from hot and humid to cold and snow.

Many Koreans learn English, and other subjects, from private for-profit academies called Hagwons. Native English speakers are often hired to teach at Hagwons. The minimum requirements for such teaching positions are citizenship of USA, Canada, United Kingdom, Ireland, Australia, New Zealand or South Africa, and a full university degree obtained in one of those countries [1]. In return for signing a one-year contract, the institute provides an instructor with a monthly salary, round-trip airfare from his or her country of origin, a rent-free apartment or housing stipend for the duration of the instructor’s contract, and an additional one month “severance pay” at the completion of the contract [2].

[1] Hi KOREA. (2007). Foreign Language teaching (E-2). Retrieved November 17, 2009 from http://www.hikorea.go.kr/pt/InfoDetailR_en.pt?categoryId=2&parentId=382&catSeq=385&showMenuId=374&visaId=E2.

[2] Cerralbo, Y. (2005). The good, the bad and the hagwon. Retrieved November 21, 2009 from http://www.cbc.ca/news/viewpoint/vp_cerralbo/20050530.html.