formspring.me

Why did you choose Korea?

Ooh. It's my first real formspring reply. It's all so exciting. The first question I answered was a test question that I had my brother ask.

The answer to this question isn't a simple one. I didn't really choose Korea, it just turned out that way. At community college I figured that I would finish my two years, go to a university for two years, and then straight for a teaching credential. However, after getting into UCLA, I realized that I wanted to go abroad for a while before really cracking down and pursuing a career. There wasn't anywhere in particular that I wanted to go. I just knew that I wanted to leave the United States for a bit. I learned about teaching English in Japan with the JET Program from someone and figured that would be a reasonable option. I mean, I like anime, Japanese food, and giant robots.

However, a little over a year ago, while I was busy trying to finish college with the least amount of effort possible, I realized that I ended up missing the deadline for the JET application. I didn't think about it too much at the time, but as graduation approached I figured that I should make some money or something. Applying to school again wasn't in the question, since I also missed all the deadlines for that. Instead, I applied for a few jobs in China because I thought it'd be a cool place to go. I got turned down from those for not having enough experience. I learned about teaching English in Korea through my friend Alex who was already starting the application process. Actually, I didn't even apply for Korea when I heard that's what he was going to, but continued my daily craigslist searches for jobs abroad and in the country. I stumbled on Teach Away through my job hunting and got in contact with them about working abroad. I sent them my resume and they said I'd be able to get a job in Korea. I guess that's when I really decided to go. I started the application process with them. I didn't actually realize that they were recruiting for EPIK until later, so it just turned out that I was applying for the same job as Alex. The rest of that story is me basically finishing the application process and waiting to see if I got the job or not.

So, it all worked out in the end. Working in Korea just worked out. It's not as if I was opposed to the idea of coming to Korea either. I liked Korean food and knew a little bit about it from Korea-American friends. However, I do understand why people ask me this question. Korea's not a really big tourist destination and people know less about it than China or Japan. However, knowing what I know about Korea now, I probably would have applied for this program first. It would have been a lot easier than trying to find a different job.

Ask away.