How to study abroad, again
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Study abroad again
Studying abroad is the best, or at least that’s how we remember it. No matter how many mishaps or homesick moments, the study abroad experience tends to live in our memories as a rose-colored blur of adventure and small, savory victories. We remember running to catch an overnight train to Berlin, trying gelato for the first time with some sort of chocolate powder on top, stumbling through everyday interactions with the coffee barista at the Turkish kiosk, renting a car in New Zealand and naming it Lambchop, and finally returning to college wearing huge pashmina scarves—a badge as if to say, “Yes, I studied abroad, and it was AWESOME.”
Studying abroad is an amazing opportunity that everyone should have access to. If you didn’t, it’s not too late. And if you did, why not do it again?
What about teaching English?
As you graduate from college and try and figure out what the real world is all about, think about getting TEFL certified and teaching English abroad: the more professional, more individualistic, and (I would argue) more adventurous study abroad experience. Teaching English abroad is an amazing way to see the world and get paid at the same time. Besides seeing the world and not going broke, you will continue to collect small, savory victories that are only possible when you are pushed to the edge of your comfort zone. You will ride around on bumpy buses or squeeze into shared taxi cabs. You will find your local fruit vendor and buy a pound of avocados for fifty cents. You will haggle in Chinese for a pair of fake designer sunglasses. You will set up a hammock on the roof of your Spanish apartment and wonder how you will ever be happy in the US again.
And instead of going to class, you will be teaching class. And your students will adore you because they see how happy you are and they get to be part of your experience. You will care about your students much more than you cared about your homework when you studied abroad—because you’ll realize that as they learn English, doors open up for them in life. You will learn how to stand in front of a class confidently, look around the room, and see and understand each student’s face. Even though you won’t be their teacher forever, they will remember you and your funny cultural ways.
Teaching abroad is the best, or at least that’s how you will remember it. It will be hard to come home, and it will be hard not to get on the plane and do it again.