Month: January 2014

Traveling is a lesson in the art of simplicity. After all, this is your life in a bag we’re talking about. Your choice of items is the nitty-gritty of what matters in serving your purposes abroad. Woe to the one who skimps on preparation. Thinking ahead, doing your research, and making wise investments are absolutely key in learning how to pack for a year abroad.

How do I cope with missing holidays/celebrations whilst living abroad? Well aside from walking around on an Easter egg hunt singing Christmas carols, doused in tinsel, with baubles hanging from my ears carrying a birthday cake, I try to first breathe and think about the long run.

All of us, teachers and students alike, are just people. People with backgrounds and histories. People with families and fears. People who are influenced and have an influence. Now that I’m on the other side of the desk, I am still learning to see the raw humanity in all those I influence. Especially students with behavioral issues.

There’s enough in this world to oppress us into cowardice and fear. We get to choose otherwise. We can take hold of life and embrace it in all its messy, hurtful, beautiful, weird, poetic brilliance. Traveling sets a sublime stage for such bold encounters of abundant life. And no matter what last year looked like for us, we can choose to make a change.

You’ve done it! You’ve sent in an application to use Reach To Teach as your recruiter and you passed the initial interview. Congrats! Now comes the really difficult part, deciding in which city you’d like to apply to teach. Should you choose the bright lights and fast paced streets of Seoul? Or should you opt for a quieter, smaller city?

As 2013 comes to a close, it’s important to remember all the wonderful things that happened, but it is equally important to look to the future with hopeful eyes. I’ve compiled a short list of New Year’s resolutions that I’d like to accomplish to help me become a better traveller and person in 2014. Feel free to borrow any you like and add them to your own list.

Mongolia has awoken me to a divergent reality and shown me how human beings have lived for thousands of years…and how some still do. Thanks to the steppes and the nomadic families who welcomed me into their homes and fed me around their fires, my understanding of the spectrum of societies all over the world will never be the same.