As the moon once more fades into the end of its cycle and stands in the sky as a giant "C" for "crone," my focus on the topic of this lunar month begins to wane. This means a wrapping up of my working through the pros and cons of going overseas to teach ESL and the introduction of the next cycle's topic: going to teacher's college.
Bearing in mind the facts that I dredged up, my first lines of reasoning, and my relatively free form musing, I can decisively say that going abroad to teach ESL is definitely a serious option for me.
I've got past experience that I can refer to, it'd be a great experience for my fiancée and I, and it'd give us some actual earning power in a place where enjoyable jobs aren't so difficult to come by.
Yes, it would also put a substantial distance between us and friends and family, but that's what being young is all about. And on a grander scale, it's also a reflection of the fact that you can't actually be everything to everyone, nor can you (or should you) live according to another person's wishes. After all, once that person leaves your life, then you're stuck with a life that's not your own and that lacks its old anchor.
So, if we suddenly had the money to marry and were considering what we'd do next, teaching overseas is definitely the first thing that would come to mind. Unlike teacher's college, it's something that we'd be able to do together (adding to my remaining hesitance, however, is that she's not keen on training to be a teacher in spite of the ESL job being a teaching one), and from which we could honeymoon somewhere crazy.
All that holds us back is that marriage thing - neither of our parents would be particularly pleased or still be on speaking terms with us if we just took two friends and went to the nearest justice of the peace. But a modest affair should come in at a smaller price than that quoted by the Ontario Wedding Blog.
Actually, that there's such a cost to going overseas entwines the options of ESL teaching and teacher's college for me.
Both of these experiences would cost roughly $20,000, one way or another. Teaching ESL at least would only cost me roughly $10,000, but so too could the cost of teacher's college be split by semester.
The problem with going to teacher's college is that, given demand for English teachers, I probably wouldn't be making any money from it for a few years. And so a loan would only lead to debt. Having avoided that so far, I'd prefer to keep it that way. Especially since once creditors find out that I'm trying to also live by writing they'd probably break my wrists before my legs. And I need these wrists...for things.
Going back would be for longer stretch of time than just a year, however.
If I go back I plan to be there for as long it takes to either secure enough money and make enough of a name for myself to live off of my writing full time back in Canada, or long enough to become so established in Korea as to not be able to leave. The second possibility sounds dismal, or somehow shadowy, but I'd at least be able to opt out after two years if it turns out that post-secondary ESL teaching isn't for me.
Honestly though, thoughts of teacher's college at this point make me seriously consider just going and getting hands-on experience overseas. Teaching high school is something to get by on, but teaching at a Canadian college would be better. And post-secondary teaching experience from abroad would be comparable or better training than a certification program specializing in teaching high school.
Nevertheless, there's a risk involved in both.
In going to teacher's college I would definitely need to take out a loan with my current income projection, and that loan would not get paid back immediately. There's also the risk that even with proper training and certification I'm left hunting for a job again. Trying to do so in Small Town Ontario to save on living expenses wouldn't put me at much of an advantage, either.
Going overseas would also require a loan (that marriage needs to happen first), but this loan would get repaid much more quickly. So there's very little financial risk in going overseas. Direct financial risk, at least.
After all, we could land in sub-standard overseas jobs. Nothing terrible, it *is* South Korea, after all, but not getting paid on time, or working serious, uncompensated overtime, or having materials constantly change at the last minute would all be terrible for multiple reasons. The risk of working at such a school is certainly lessened by going with a public school instead of a hagwon, but even then there's a chance that we'd end up in different institutions or with strangely suspicious administrators or both.
Given my fiancée's reluctance to take the teaching path at home there's also a chance that she'd not enjoy the work, meaning that she'd be more interested in staying for a year (unless she could do something other than teach) rather than for two or more.
Nonetheless, the risk of overseas teaching seems much smaller. Even if this size is an illusion created by the promise of a relatively substantial income.
We'd be employed. We'd be able to quickly cover any debt that we created by going over. We'd actually be together while we got a taste of the wider world and some hard and fast experience that could be used back in Canada if/when we came back.
Teacher's college would very likely mean more time apart while I study and then look for a placement while she continues on with things as they've been. It would mean that neither of us would really be making anything more than we are right now. It would mean, really, that the only secure, sure, positive, progressive thing that we'd have is closeness to friends and family.
That's definitely valuable, but hardly the sort of thing that can directly help a young couple move out of their parents' houses and establish themselves once and for all in the world. Sure, maybe one of our friends wins the lottery and decides to share the winnings because we're still in province. But, given my past experience, I'm comfortable saying that we'd probably have the same chance of winding up in questionable teaching jobs in South Korea.
So, though for the next four weeks I'll be laying down the facts and weighing the pros and cons of going to teacher's college, it seems that overseas ESL teaching is the way to go.
But, perhaps my mind, like the moon, will change yet again.
If you've got any comments, drop them in the box.
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