I’m Melanie; a twenty-something recent graduate of Brock Universities Child and Youth Studies Program, and soon to be ESL instructor. In eleven short days I’ll be boarding the 14 hour flight from Toronto to Seoul, where I will spend the next year teaching kindergarteners English in one of Chungdahm’s 125 hagwons. While I’ve experienced a broad range of emotions these past few weeks (varying from anxiety when thinking of training week to utter excitement in anticipation of starting life abroad), I currently feel a sense of calm and readiness. Ask me how I’m doing tomorrow though… you might get a different response.
To give you a little background about myself- I have always known that living and working abroad is something I would do. I was born in Singapore, and moved to Canada when I was three. I’ve grown up in beautiful Niagara (wine country!), where I attended Brock University. While growing in population, Brock is a relatively small school and I appreciated the sense of community it’s known for. However, for as long as I can remember I’ve had a serious case of “farsickness,” which I would describe as a more intense version of wanderlust. Travel is not merely educational, rather a necessity. I’ve had the privilege of volunteering with children in educational contexts twice before (Peru and Namibia), and these experiences fostered my desire to pursue a teaching position abroad. During the last year of my undergraduate degree I began researching various international opportunities for someone with my educational background and experience- and voila, I stumbled upon Aclipse. Shortly after applying online I was contacted by my recruiter Colette Neville who worked with me, explaining the process of obtaining a teaching position with Chungdahm, from pre-departure to classroom. After passing my interview and compiling document upon document, my file was accepted and Visa issued. I am so thrilled that I am heading off shortly on an amazing adventure that will challenge me to see the world in a completely different way, while allowing me to work with children abroad. How lucky am I?!
I cannot wait to arrive in Seoul, meet the other teachers, and start training week. I’ve heard it’s quite intense but it’s comforting to know that there’s a group of us in it together. The Chungdahm location I was assigned is in a district of Western Seoul called Gangseo. I am looking forward to meeting my students and settling into life as an expat. It seems so bizarre that a few short months ago I was preparing for my departure, thinking about how far in the future it seemed, and now it’s finally days away. Exciting to say the least.
If you need me these next few days you’ll probably find me stressing over packing, trying not to think about how much I’ll miss my friends and family (thank God for Skype), and frantically trying to get some basic Korean down pat.
