(no subject)
Feb. 22nd, 2006 02:23 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
taratemimaAs always, suggestions, comments, questions welcome.
Teaching English abroad
Pros
I won't be broke when I travel overseas
Immersing myself into new cultures
I love language, my own and others
Would be great for when I apply to grad school or Peace Corps
Entertaining stories for the people back home
Meet interesting new people
Want to actually experience sex during travel
Bragging points for actually going to tourist sites and stuff in Lonely Planet guides
May meet people my friends know too
May be able to visit relatives if I teach in Europe
Plenty of agencies to help me find work
I do want to visit Asia
Can convince employers that I am OK with people who are not like me
Can get a job at The Globe Travel Bookstore
Can see places mentioned in favorite stories, movies, songs, and poems
Relatives will be impressed that someone with my problems actually did something on her own in unfamiliar territory
I get to find and listen to new music
Best way to learn a language is being forced to speak it
Get a perspective outside of US
Get bragging rights on any subject related to the country I work in. Only other way I would get that is if I served in the military. Hah, even if I lose weight and stay in the closet, I suspect that I will have a big case of PTSD afterwards
Asia has a lot of teaching positions
Might get a bit part in a country with a movie industry. "Hey, look at that subtitled Egyptian movie at the Brattle, I’m drunken and loud Westerner #5!"
If I can still remember how to count to 10 in Korean, the structure of the subjunctive in Spanish, and the several words meaning 'penis' in Yiddish, I should do fine learning a new language
Can experience the joy of Beavis and Butthead dubbed in Polish or Rocky Horror audience participation lines in other languages (How do you say "Buy an umbrella, you cheap bitch?" in Hindi?)
Oddly enough, being aware of how mutable social customs are, I might learn them faster than if I was 'neurotypical'.
Might get free drinks when I get home
It’s my astrological destiny. Really.
Get neat gifts for the people back home
Will learn about the trashy celebrities of their country and impress others
Doing my part to make 'Engrish' a bad memory
I could also teach in Latin America
Shock treatment for inner xenophobia
Cons
Exchange rate will be to my disadvantage
Have my religious and political views misunderstood by new and exciting people
Given how I am, I might set off an international incident or become an Amnesty International poster child
Will need the 'I’m sorry about the actions of my country’s president. I didn’t vote for him anyway' t-shirt
I can learn the phrases and grammar of a language. Vocabulary, for some reason, does not always stick. I also have a pronounced native English speaker accent no matter what I speak
I learned the hard way in Russian class that non-Romanized alphabets are not my friends
Single woman traveling alone—yeah, I won't be in any danger
What if all I do after work is hang out with other English-speaking ex-pats?
Learn quickly that a letter to the editor critical of the government will get me lots of annoying questions in some places
Be an unwitting drug mule and experience Thai prison
Surly store clerks scare me more than terrorists
Paperwork before
Paperwork after
Immunizations
Learn new ways to stay "Stop staring at my breasts!"
Bargaining? Huh?
Bartering? Huh?
Prostitution? Yikes!
Will need to avoid staying home after work, IMing people about how lonely I feel
They understand English too, and might catch me writing about gay porn, bombs, or my opinions of the current government
Public transportation there might make me learn how to drive
Teaching requires patience and public speaking skills, two things I do not have
I’m afraid that all they will want to talk about with me is 1) Bush, 2) Britney Spears, or 3) Harry Potter.
What about medical emergencies?
What about my apartment?
Teaching certificates are often required, and require lots of time and money
What if all I get are teaching fellowships because they think my experience just applies to that?
Creepy people and confusing customs may make me stay home forever
Will the hiring agencies be any good?
I don’t know Chinese, Japanese, or Korean.
Cannot read body language no matter the country
Maybe that is not the treatment for inner xenophobia
Teaching English abroad
Pros
I won't be broke when I travel overseas
Immersing myself into new cultures
I love language, my own and others
Would be great for when I apply to grad school or Peace Corps
Entertaining stories for the people back home
Meet interesting new people
Want to actually experience sex during travel
Bragging points for actually going to tourist sites and stuff in Lonely Planet guides
May meet people my friends know too
May be able to visit relatives if I teach in Europe
Plenty of agencies to help me find work
I do want to visit Asia
Can convince employers that I am OK with people who are not like me
Can get a job at The Globe Travel Bookstore
Can see places mentioned in favorite stories, movies, songs, and poems
Relatives will be impressed that someone with my problems actually did something on her own in unfamiliar territory
I get to find and listen to new music
Best way to learn a language is being forced to speak it
Get a perspective outside of US
Get bragging rights on any subject related to the country I work in. Only other way I would get that is if I served in the military. Hah, even if I lose weight and stay in the closet, I suspect that I will have a big case of PTSD afterwards
Asia has a lot of teaching positions
Might get a bit part in a country with a movie industry. "Hey, look at that subtitled Egyptian movie at the Brattle, I’m drunken and loud Westerner #5!"
If I can still remember how to count to 10 in Korean, the structure of the subjunctive in Spanish, and the several words meaning 'penis' in Yiddish, I should do fine learning a new language
Can experience the joy of Beavis and Butthead dubbed in Polish or Rocky Horror audience participation lines in other languages (How do you say "Buy an umbrella, you cheap bitch?" in Hindi?)
Oddly enough, being aware of how mutable social customs are, I might learn them faster than if I was 'neurotypical'.
Might get free drinks when I get home
It’s my astrological destiny. Really.
Get neat gifts for the people back home
Will learn about the trashy celebrities of their country and impress others
Doing my part to make 'Engrish' a bad memory
I could also teach in Latin America
Shock treatment for inner xenophobia
Cons
Exchange rate will be to my disadvantage
Have my religious and political views misunderstood by new and exciting people
Given how I am, I might set off an international incident or become an Amnesty International poster child
Will need the 'I’m sorry about the actions of my country’s president. I didn’t vote for him anyway' t-shirt
I can learn the phrases and grammar of a language. Vocabulary, for some reason, does not always stick. I also have a pronounced native English speaker accent no matter what I speak
I learned the hard way in Russian class that non-Romanized alphabets are not my friends
Single woman traveling alone—yeah, I won't be in any danger
What if all I do after work is hang out with other English-speaking ex-pats?
Learn quickly that a letter to the editor critical of the government will get me lots of annoying questions in some places
Be an unwitting drug mule and experience Thai prison
Surly store clerks scare me more than terrorists
Paperwork before
Paperwork after
Immunizations
Learn new ways to stay "Stop staring at my breasts!"
Bargaining? Huh?
Bartering? Huh?
Prostitution? Yikes!
Will need to avoid staying home after work, IMing people about how lonely I feel
They understand English too, and might catch me writing about gay porn, bombs, or my opinions of the current government
Public transportation there might make me learn how to drive
Teaching requires patience and public speaking skills, two things I do not have
I’m afraid that all they will want to talk about with me is 1) Bush, 2) Britney Spears, or 3) Harry Potter.
What about medical emergencies?
What about my apartment?
Teaching certificates are often required, and require lots of time and money
What if all I get are teaching fellowships because they think my experience just applies to that?
Creepy people and confusing customs may make me stay home forever
Will the hiring agencies be any good?
I don’t know Chinese, Japanese, or Korean.
Cannot read body language no matter the country
Maybe that is not the treatment for inner xenophobia
