Some sort of update that totally was planned out

So I went over a short list of things you need for your own ESL adventure!  So I suppose before I go into specifics about the list I am going to write about why I want to teach overseas.  As I told in my generic first post I have not really traveled much in my life due to financial reasons.  Not willing to put myself into debt just to have a fantastic week or two, but I have always loved studying people.
When I found my major in college (cultural anthropology) I was bitten by a bug with the desire to travel and to do new things.  I always had the desire to be dropped into a new culture and be forced to assimilate, and perhaps write a kick ass enthnography along the way.  There isn't much anthropologying I can do with a bachelors degree, but teaching English abroad makes me feel like I would be doing something with it.  I finally get to experience getting immersed in a culture very different from my own middle class suburban lifestyle.

I am cautiously optimistic about what our experience overseas will be like.  One of the biggest issues I may end up coming across is adjusting to a new style of cooking.  I am pretty bland and routine when it comes to eating, I am a pretty meat and potatoes kind of guy.  I don't really go out of my way to try exotic cooking, and that could be a problem since eastern food is very very different than American style food.  The language barrier will also be an issue until Manda and I establish a basis of our host country's language.  I expect the culture shock to be pretty marvelous.

The last thing and probably biggest issue I (and I know my wife will as well) face is the fact that we will be forced to leave our cats behind for a year.  We will probably go through cat withdrawal and have the shakes while on the plane!

Some things you need before going overseas!

Well before you can start an adventure in teaching overseas there are a few steps that need to be done.

First and foremost you need a college degree. While is isn't required in 100% of the cases (I heard of some people teaching in South America straight out of high school), but for any job worth having it is a prerequisite.

Secondly this is another important step you will need to do million things of paperwork.   Key to this step is don't be a pedophile and/or felon.  Not making a judgement call about your past, but they certainly will.  You need an FBI criminal history clearance and it needs to be clear if you want to teach overseas.  One of us will write a whole post on the FBI checks because it is the biggest step to securing yourself a position teaching ESL overseas.  It is also the step we are currently on (and barring my wife and I being secret criminals we should be clear of it soon).

Third you need to is to do about a you need to get your stuff apostilled.  You need to get both your FBI checks and your degree apostilled this step is super important because without it being apostilled you can't get yourself a visa.

Fourth you need a contract by posting your resume on one of the ESL websites, or going through a recruiting agency.   Be sure to read your contract carefully and have others look it over so you don't get screwed.

Last you need to get yourself a visa; you acquire this by mailing or visiting your local embassy for whichever country you're planning to teach in.

As I stated, we will go into detail about each of the steps at a later time, but this is a quick list of things to do.

Until then!

Daydreaming Ahead

Sometimes you need to take a break from the planning to do a little daydreaming. So today I'm going to take a little break from the mechanics (there is pleeenty of time for that!) to just do a bit of thinking out loud.

In the midst of all the TEFL certificate completion, paperwork planning and shipping, and the recent part time job, there are larger plans in the works too. Zach and I attended a volunteer interview at the largest children's museum in the world and hope to make some good connections and have some wonderful experiences. We also have a friend moving closer with possible hopes for once we make our return from overseas. I'm also starting to look more into grad school programs and figure out what it is that I really want to do.

I feel driven to pursue information, so a graduate program in library science seems to be the ideal route for me to pursue. Interestingly enough, it seems like the thought continues to develop as we delve further into the ESL experience and plan ahead for what happens when we return. With several friends and acquaintances having recently completed graduate or undergraduate degrees in library science, it spurs me on to make the leap myself.

So, I guess what this all means is that by starting this journey, if it has truly even commenced yet, has made me think even further ahead to what I want, what I want to learn, and other fine details.

An Introduction

Who am I? Why do I want to try teaching overseas?

Well, I'm Manda. I lived in central Indiana for many years where I started college and changed my major plenty of times. Due to circumstances beyond my control, I made the decision to move out to Pennsylvania where I attended community college for a few years and finally finished my degree at a state college. Now, after more years of schooling than I like to admit, I do have a Bachelor's degree in Psychology and minors in Anthropology and Sociology.

 I enjoy psychology, social psychology in particular, but don't find it to be my main area of interest. I am much more fascinated by the fields of anthropology and sociology. However, having said that, I am actually hoping to pursue a masters degree in library science or student affairs at some point in my lifetime. 

I have always been a reader and it's a hobby I continue to enjoy. I am also an amateur photographer and hope to learn more and develop my skills, especially for being overseas! Other, mostly nerdy hobbies of mine include anime and manga, video games, and more recently reading comics. I'm also a fan of BBC programming (Doctor Who, anyone?) and board games. Going along with that, I also have a very extensive list of bookmarks of webcomics of many different types by many very talented artists.

Now, why exactly do I want to teach overseas? Well, why not? Having just moved back to Indiana with a not-particularly-special job, no lease to worry about for an apartment, and pretty minimal strings attached, what else are two newlyweds to do? Teach English overseas of course. New cultures and new languages are always a major culture shock, but with two of us, it seems like a grand adventure, and nothing the two of us can't handle together. Plus, we'll come back with pictures, fantastic experiences, and stories to tell about. Plus, it's pretty nice on the checkbook which will be another perk for when we get back. ^.^

Like 50 steps before "The First Step"

Greetings and good evening everyone who may stumble upon this blog.  This blog is dedicated to the adventures and tribulations of a late 20s couple trying to teach English in South Korea.  I have always wanted to travel, though due to a lower middle class background never had the opportunity or drive to do it myself.  The furthest I'd ever gotten away from PA where I grew up was a single trip to Jamaica, and a trip to Canada after graduating high school.

On a lark my new wife and I decided to move partway across the country to the Midwest in a bid to find greener pastures and non entry level positions.  While we found neither right away we are hoping to find even greener pastures in Asia while we teach English to the people who live there (they are called Asiapeans right?). Hoping to find pastures so green they are actually some sort of super green which no human has ever classified until now.

While we still have a ways to go before our fate filled encounter with ESL we are optimistic that we will not fail terribly or perhaps even succeed, all while fulfilling our sweet sweet wanderlust for a short while.  While the direction this blog will take might vary widely from expectation, I am hoping that I stick with it and don't get incredibly bored as my ADHD addled brain tends to do.  We will however help anyone who stumbles upon the blog with what they need to begin their own ESL adventure, and if we get any questions from readers (HA!) we will be sure to answer them to the best of our juvenile knowledge.

Until then!

The Start Before the Beginning

This blog started as an idea, as many do I suppose; the seed of an adventure for my husband and myself. We chose the title "Our ESL Honeymoon" because we made the decision, with the encouragement of some college friends who are currently teaching in South Korea, to give living overseas in Asia teaching English a try following our marriage and less distant move near my family. I loosely say decision because of the fact that we're just starting this journey and there's still a lot to be done before you even get to the traveling part!

I'm relatively new to the blogging scene, though I am no stranger to blogs as there are so many interesting people with interesting ideas out there. So I hope you don't mind stumbling along with me as I figure out how my writing style fits in this box, and hopefully we come to an agreement that I am understandable and you have a decent idea of what I'm getting at. The husband, Zach, will also be posting and I guarantee you'll be able to tell the difference between his posts and my own and it should keep things lively. 

Now, enough rambling, let's get to the start of this adventure. In another post, that is.