Published by kkaholo
My name is Kalama and I’m a 25-year-old American (26 in Korean age) who is going to teach English as a Second Language in Seoul, South Korea.
I went to school, Marshall University, and got my degree in Graphic Design. I have been a graphic designer, in the non-profit world for two years since graduating in 2009. However, I started becoming more and more burnt out creatively.
Anyways, I bet you’re wondering how I even got into teaching? I started my whole teaching experience teaching art classes to kids preparing for university life. I can tell you summer art classes are not easy for students who literally can't stand to be there! My first day of class started out with me asking everyone’s favorite artist. I expected the normal text book answers of Van Gogh, Da Vinci and Rembrandt. Instead I got the answer of Michael Jackson (I did say famous Visual Artist) and Tom Hanks (one of my students pointed out that he was in The Da Vinci Code). I have to admit that was probably the one time I stood there and questioned what I was doing?!? But nevertheless I kept going and ended up having a pretty good group of students, when I could get them to pay attention. So I taught summer classes for two years straight and it actually kept me in the goal of teaching.
Now to continue on with how I got into English as a Second Language (ESL). Being in the non-profit world you know a lot about other non-profits. I found a great one around where I live called Literacy Volunteers of Harrison County; they worked with kids, teenagers, adults and ESL students. I admit I instantly knew I wanted to be an ESL tutor and set about getting certified. I went through Literacy training, ESL training, ESL certification, Laubach training, WVTESOL Conferences (where I became a board member) and Literacy Conferences. I have tutored a number of students through this program and enjoyed every teaching experience. Then it dawned on me, I enjoy doing this! Why don’t I do this for a living! So off I went into the land of the internet to see “Where to teach ESL?”. I had a ton of hits come up with China, Thailand, Japan, Philippines and then I saw in South Korea! I officially knew where I wanted to teach without having to look at other options. South Korea was where I wanted to go. I love the people, the food, the history, the culture just about all of it! So I looked at the best way to get a job in Korea (which I will talk about in an actual post) And officially got accepted right before Christmas 2011!
So Now I’m off to Korea, Febuary 20th, 2012!.
(Sorry a bit long!)
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