How Teaching Abroad Shaped Me

Hello everyone! My name is Ria, and if you have been keeping up with the blog posts on the CIEE site, then you might have been reading a bit about my experience in South Korea. However, it dawned on me that I never really formally introduced myself to all the blog readers out there and thought what better way to make our relationship between reader and writer closer. So here are some quick Q&As to get to know me and my experience abroad a bit better. 

Where are you from? 

I love this question because I am kind of from all over. I’m ethnically Latina (Mexican and Salvadoran) and Middle Eastern, and I was born in California but grew up in Atlanta, Georgia for most of my life. 

What was your academic background or career before teaching abroad?

Prior to teaching abroad, I was working at a marketing firm in Los Angeles, California. I double majored in Business Administration and Marketing Communications in my undergrad and then got my masters in Communications. I kind of knew I was going to end up working at some type of marketing or PR firm or in the communications or marketing department of a company. 

However, something I always told myself and honestly anybody that would listen when I was younger was that I didn’t want to spend the rest of my life working a boring job in an office where I would rot away and not change the world. Big ambitions, am I right? So, after the pandemic hit and everybody was getting laid off at work, I decided to find a way to perhaps work abroad. That’s sort of how I ended up in South Korea. 

What was the biggest challenge you faced? 

The maybe not so obvious biggest challenge I faced while being abroad has been adjusting to how involved parents are or can be in their child’s education. While many teachers would encourage parent involvement, in South Korea, there are some parents that take “being involved” to a whole other extreme. Some even go as far as telling the teacher what books they should be teaching, how they should be teaching said books, and how we need to be teaching phonics. Not every parent is like this granted, but every now and then, you have that one. 

The most obvious challenge was being away from home. When you move abroad, everything in your life back home doesn’t go on pause. People keep living their lives and things change while you are away. Realizing this and actually having to accept it was a hard pill to swallow. I knew things would change and that people would grow, but for some reason, I always thought that if I was to go back home, things would just pick up right where I left off. Even realizing that I would have to start scheduling FaceTime calls or that my sisters are not going to instantly answer my texts was difficult to grasp. I just thought they would always be there for me when I wanted to catch up and talk, not realizing that they also had their own lives and things as well. 

How did you learn and grow while abroad?

While I had lived alone for most of my adult life since the age of 18, this was the first time in my life that I was completely and utterly alone. I was in a foreign country where I didn’t speak the language and I could just call my mom for help when I needed something because she was on the other side of the globe. Being abroad really taught me to not just be independent but it taught me how to push past the fear and take risks. Since moving abroad, I have been able to become involved in my local community organizations, have made tons of friends, and I have even been more open to traveling locally as a solo traveler and just exploring. 

I have also grown up a lot in terms of what I let bother me and what I let just roll off. No country or workplace is perfect and there is going to be some levels of conflict. However, in my time being abroad, I’ve learned to pick my battles more wisely and just let things be. There is always a new day ahead, a new school, a new city, so I try not to let things get to me. 

How was your experience abroad impacted by your personal background and identity? Gender? Physical appearance? Sexual orientation? Ability level? Religion? Do you have any advice to share with future applicants from a similar background?

For me, I grew up as a child of immigrants. My first language was Spanish and so, I too, have gone through the ESL process. I have a relatable experience to my students in which I understand what it feels like to have to learn English as a second language and try your best to become fluent in it. Being Latina-American is also interesting in Korea. There have been many times where I’ve been asked where I’m from and if I said I’m American, the other person would start rambling on about the one place or the one thing they know about American culture (which is usually California, New York City, or some celebrities). 

However, I say that I am Mexican, they instantly say “Oh, Mexico! Taco!” which isn’t inherently bad or racist, but it just shows Korea’s lack of exposure to other cultures. Most things they tend to know about other cultures are things that are shown to them in the media or even in textbooks. I can’t count how many times I’ve come across some weird sentences about aspects of Indian or African culture in these English textbooks.  

Being part of the LGBTQIA+ community can also be a bit difficult. Korea is a very conservative country and despite their societal values being rooted in Confucism, a lot of South Koreans follow some type of Christianity. You can probably imagine where I’m going with this, right? Despite this, there has been a big push to celebrate LBGTQIA+ community members and expand their rights in South Korea. 

I say all this to say that these minor hurdles shouldn’t deter you from experiencing South Korea and what it has to offer. I started working with CIEE in 2019 right before the pandemic hit, finally made it out to Korea in 2021, and I haven’t left. Whilst parts of Korean society might not be ready to embrace others or be more open minded to things that are a bit different, you will most definitely be able to find like minded people in Korea and make lifelong friends. 

What specific resources (Facebook groups, bloggers, local organizations, etc.) were most helpful for you? Share links if you can!

For me, Facebook groups, Instagram, and TikTok have been the most helpful resources for me. Actually, my TEFL instructor was the one that suggested that I look on Facebook for groups of other English teachers in South Korea in order to connect and make friends. Since then, I have joined probably over 20 groups. There are lots of Facebook groups in Korea for everything but these are just some of the few that I am a part of: 

Latinos in South Korea 

Content Creators in South Korea 

English Teachers in South Korea 

English Teaching Jobs in South Korea 

Everything PAWs: Pet Owners in South Korea 

Summarize your teaching abroad experience in one word.

Transformative

What kinds of jobs have you held (or are you considering) after teaching abroad? 

It’s so funny that you ask that because I am still in South Korea. Since first arriving in 2021, I have made tons of friends, connections, and I have even gotten married to a Korean person. I don’t really see myself moving back home or to another country any time soon and I also don’t think I will change up my profession any time soon. I have actually grown to love teaching and working with children of all ages. This experience teaching abroad has inspired me to go back to school and get a second degree in education and pursue a career as a certified teacher. 

How do you think your teaching abroad experience has shaped (or will shape) your career and life after teaching abroad?

I think teaching abroad has made me a better person. I am more patient. I am more understanding. It has taught me to slow down and think more critically on solutions to help my students who are really struggling with learning English. It has also made me feel more powerful as a professional. I am not rotting away behind a desk in a boring office job. I am out in the world exploring with students. I am in the classroom bringing the world to them through books, videos, song and dance. I am forming relationships with students and coworkers that I will carry with me wherever I go. 

Last Thoughts 

If I could give one piece of advice to anyone that is considering the teach abroad program in South Korea through CIEE, I would say just do it. Just take the risk. Take a chance on breaking away from the everyday routine. Step out of your comfort zone and travel to the other side of the planet. I made my journey to South Korea at just 25 years old and here I am, almost 30, fully enjoying the life I have cultivated for myself here. What is stopping you from making the leap?