Exactly a year ago today I had a yearning to go visit South East Asia. There was honestly no particular reason behind it expect for the fact that I just purely felt it. Once my mind was set on this, I became extremely hyper focused and just kept trucking at it. As a speech therapist I have my summers off and my first thought was to teach English in Thailand. I heard that it pays well and they accommodate housing for teachers. As I started doing a google search all I saw everywhere was TEFL, TEFL, TEFL. "You can't teach without TEFL." Teaching English as a Foreign Language (TEFL) is a certification that costs around $2,000 dollars and requires you to take a set of online courses. I was told that all teaching jobs in Thailand require this certification despite holding any degree's or certifications you may have in the United States. I really liked the idea of TEFL because in addition to the degree the company also sets you up on job interviews, housing and all around support. I was really inclined to go forward with TEFL despite having a Master's degree in Education. I knew the courses would be pointless for me but I really wanted the support. I've never said this before but luckily for me I didn't have an extra $2000 dollars laying around. So I went back to the drawing board. I started reading dozens of blogs and came across a website called ajarn.com. Ajarn is basically like a Monster or Indeed but for teaching positions in South East Asia. From there, I literally applied to every job posting on the website. I started communicating with schools and quickly learned that I did not need a TEFL certification. These schools were pleased to see My Master's degree in Education and my PA teaching certification. I started setting myself up on interviews after interviews. I must say that I was extremely impressed with the English both through Skype and emails that the schools held. They were very professional and when their particular school did not work out for me they would give me advice and guidance on where to look elsewhere. The interviews were via Skype and at 10/11:00 at night due to a twelve hour time difference. Yes, I would re-do my make up and attempt to look that good at 11:00 at night. I remember one interview where I was so tired I barely had a voice (So embarrassing as I'm a speech therapist). To say the least I was exhausted. Many schools informed me that I would be a perfect match however they wanted me to commit to a year long contract. Since I only had three months this became a huge problem. Especially because their summer break is different then the States. There was nothing that matched my time frame. I still didn't give up. Eventually, I came across an international school in Vietnam in a town I have never heard of (Like I said, I was literally just applying everywhere). Little did I know it was a huge well established city, Ho-Chi- Minh aka Saigon. What I found was that International schools have the same three month summer break as we do in the United States. The Vietnam Australian International School offered a 7 week camp program based out of their school. After rounds of interviews (okay.. three) they finally offered me the position as a camp counselor. I start June 6th. The school even started a Facebook group for all the expats to start communicating. Everyone is in there mid to late 20's from all around the world. I literally could not be more excited to go!!!
Words of wisdom:
Draw it, picture it, and only surround yourself with people who believe in you!! This is a picture of my chalk board at my home with a map of Asia. I drew this map in between interviews. As my best friend Dana has always told me "Put it on the Vision board."
