Where in the World are Magda and Brent? Exploring Ha Long Bay! After the detour from hell followed by witnessing three near-fatalities on a Hanoi highway, we've opted to sell our bikes to save on travel time (and funeral costs). The bikes were fun and I highly recommend a motorcycle as a way to see and experience the countryside. ...
Read below for an interview with Julianna Will, who taught ESL in South Korea for two and a half years. In this article, Julianna answers questions about her first experience teaching and traveling in South Korea, from how she found a job teaching English in South Korea, to how she dealt with culture shock, to her advice for people thinking ...
In this video, Oxford Seminars instructor, Peter Connell, speaks about the confusing situation he ran into with his German students when he said the German word, "gesundheit", after a student sneezed. His high-level students were confused when he explained that English speakers often borrow words and phrases from other languages like German and use them in every day speech, ...
So, you have your ESL teaching certificate; you have done all the research on the country you want to live in; you have a job lined up in that country; you have begun the tedious job of getting all your paperwork and travel arrangements in order; you have narrowed down your life to fit in a few suitcases. Now, ...
Where in the World Are Magda and Brent?: Our Arrival in Vietnam Our Arrival in Vietnam went by in a blur. We took in the chaotic sights and sounds of the country’s second largest city, Hanoi, a city beset with swarms of scooters, blaring trucks, and vendors hawking all wares imaginable. In the midst of the swirling chaos, we managed ...
In this video, Oxford Seminars instructor, Jennifer Goodnow discusses how living in a foreign country is different. She admits she was initially overwhelmed with all the changes she faced while teaching English abroad in Japan. Many things were different, unfamiliar, and confusing, but then she came to the realization that, just because it was unfamiliar, that didn’t make it ...
“Be a traveler, not a tourist. Try new things, meet new people, and look beyond what’s right in front of you. Those are the keys to understanding this amazing world we live in.” - Andrew Zimmern As an ESL teacher abroad you are no longer a tourist. You can actually live and work in another country and experience its ...
I had been teaching English in Vietnam for a few weeks when I finally figured out which bus to take to work. The bus system in Hanoi is quite a puzzle, but I found a bus that took me nearly door to door. There was no shortage of buses on Hanoi's crowded streets, some big, some small. The small buses ...
As a foreign woman traveling in Oman, and one who did not cover her hair, I was constantly stared at by men. They weren’t threatening stares, I soon realized, but curious ones, which at least in part spoke of the locals’ curiosity about me (and about my many colleagues both female and male) as newcomers and obvious foreigners. Although ...
When my friends and family ask me what I miss most about South Korea, I say the food without having to think twice. I mean sure, I miss the Korean friends I left there, and I miss my students. But let’s be honest, I miss the food. Korean food is absolutely fantastic and the Korean restaurants in North America ...