Live and Work Abroad: the Best Way to Experience the World
There’s seeing the world and there’s experiencing it: many tourists decide to parachute in to an exotic location and leave with some fun memories and hundreds of pictures, but others decide to experience the world by steeping in it for longer.
To be sure, either of the above approaches can be a wonderful experience, and everyone has their personal preferences. However, there’s a major difference in being somewhere foreign long enough to absorb parts of it and merely passing through.
Get Working Quickly, Smoothly
Sometimes it may be difficult to find a job where you live, so it may be surprising to hear how easy it could be to get a job abroad. Without having to struggle you can teach English in Korea by simply hiring the right teacher recruitment company.
The best companies have hundreds of schools in cities across South Korea, like Seoul, Inchan, Daegu, Songdo, and Ilsan. Plus, they can sort out logistical issues before they become a headache for you, such as: Visa paperwork, booking and paying for plane tickets, renting out clean, comfortable and convenient lodgings, and helping you get used to the classroom and to the country.
Save your energy for exploring your new home and professional development, not for clearing up mundane travel issues.
Slip into the Culture
It can be very difficult for people to get enough time off work to be somewhere long enough to absorb part of its culture, so all they do is see it. That’s why tourists research what locals do, because they know they are outsiders in need of an insider’s take.
If you work in another culture, you’ll be in the same routine as the people around you, heading to your job in the morning and coming back in the evening. Experiencing the city within the same work-life cycle as the actual people there is an essential way to be in sync with the world around you.
Meet Locals
While you’re working at your job, you’ll inevitably meet locals who have their own unique understanding the history, culture, language and other customs. This will help you wrap your head around your new environs.
Plus, they will have excellent recommendations for what to do and where to eat! To be sure, you’re trying to make friends not avail yourself of a free tour guide, but most people are happy and even proud to show off their home to guests. Offer to return the favour by hosting them or one of their friends should they ever find themselves travelling in your hometown — that’s what hospitality is all about.
You don’t need to take time off work to travel if travel is a part of your job! If you are somewhere new and exciting for long enough to absorb aspects of it, you’ll probably develop an attitude of humility which makes you realize it’s too complex and subtle to be understood fully without being there for a lifetime — when you have made this realization, you’ll be on the road to experiencing the world, rather than just seeing it.
