Most of the time when asked why, I try to dodge the question with a "Why not?". It saves time and makes them feel about as awkward as I do when they ask. It's a good question, though. I like to take it in stages, the choice to teach, the choice to leave the country and the choice of where I landed (there were a lot of options).
Aside from early feelings of stage fright teaching, for me, has always been easy. Part an act, keep whoever you're teaching entertained; part mentor-ship where you provide guidance and give approval or discipline and of course part tool to be used to impart knowledge. I've been teaching one thing or another (karate, religion, English) since I was a teenager and always felt comfortable in that role. That, and a degree in Psychology with which I had no real plans for meant teaching English, which required no more than a one month certification program and a BA in any subject, was perfect for me.
The decision to leave America was the easiest. I want to travel, always have. My father was an immigrant/traveler and one of my favorite books is the travel journal kept by my great-great-great grandfather Patrick who came from Ireland to America and then from Boston out West with the wagon trains. I've played with the idea of everything from military service to the Peace Corps, but I only really started taking the concept truly seriously at the same time I heard about English Teaching as a professional option. While working at a large computer retailer store I helped a young couple that just got back from a whirlwind, five year excursion across Taiwan and China. As we talked, I learned they were English teachers and had gone directly after graduating from college (which was coming around the corner for me at the time). They told me stories of lil' Asian kids screaming and bouncing around, having fun in the classroom; they told me how they paid off their student loans years in advance and how they got to learn a new language and culture while being paid for it (like a Travel Channel gig, but you get to stay!). It sounded perfect and later, as I looked into it a bit more online, that perfection only seemed to get shinier. So a season or so after graduating I went in to the Oxford Seminars of Boston and came out with a TEFL (Teaching English as a Foreign Language) Certification.
As far as teaching in Thailand, that took a bit more time. I originally intended on teaching in Taiwan at the same place as the young teachers I met at the store. However, after a few rejections (before I became certified) and some good old fashion day dreaming, the thought occurred to me to check out what Thailand was like. I am half Thai, my father immigrating to the USA at 17 for school, and always played with the idea of living there (somehow) one day. I visited as a kid for a short stay, but don't remember much and I don't really know any of the family over there (except maybe a cousin or two). That and I've always been into martial arts (karate teacher and all) and the chance to take authentic muay thai is a huge plus for me. That plus the fact that the entire country is pretty much jungle/beach paradise with some of the nicest people culturally and a food that makes the French look like the English and it was almost a slam dunk. So, a few months after getting my certification (one month of classes and I'm already re-burnt out) I send out another batch of applications, this time to Thailand and almost immediately get a job.
I was stunned, couldn't believe it. Yeah, sure I was sending out apps, but I did that before and nothing came of it. But lo and behold, less than two weeks from first sending out my resume I have a job, a day I need to be in Thailand by, and living arrangements (the school, thankfully, will provide housing). This is the first of many instances in the following month of "Shit just got real".
They say "You go to Thailand for the lifestyle, not the money", basically because there is none. I'll be making slightly more in Thailand full time than I do currently working at my part-time, college, retail job. I've had to defer my loans and save up money just to make it through the first few months there. Even though I'll be making a lot compared to my local, Thai counterparts I still apply for all economic hardship check-boxes on pretty much any questionnaire from any loan office or bank thanks to the exchange rate (33 baht to a dollar). The first year, as you still learn the culture and language you also tend to get conned a lot so this is expected to be a very pricey job in the beginning, but the benefits should pay off many times over once I get the skills and knowledge to succeed at Professional Teaching on an International level.
People ask me all the time how long I intend on staying there and the truth of the matter is I have no fucking idea. I've told people everything from "forever" to "this is a one year contract" (which it technically is, but let's not get into that right now), but honestly who knows? If I like it, like the country, like the profession, like my family I could find myself staying for many years past even my own wildest dreams. I could finish my assignment then take off for Korea or Japan in a year or two. With this kind of job I can go where the wind takes me and not give a shit, and I really (REALLY) like that. But I do have a certain amount of plans. I plan on learning the language. I plan on learning the names of all my aunts and uncles and to get to know them and their families well. I plan on being a badass kickboxer with a crazy finishing move that harkens back to Tekken and Hajime no Ippo. So until I complete at least the first two, I think I'm stuck there for a while (let's call it a "few" years). And I do know, that so long as I do realize I hate children all of a sudden and that teaching English gives me brain-rash, then I'll use it as my meal ticket around the world as far and as often as I possibly can.
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