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About Me
I'll be hanging out and teaching English in a hagwon in the Jeolla-buk do Province in South Korea until the end of March. My life isn't bad, my apartment is comfortable, I get paid ontime and am putting money in the bank and I've seen a lot of amazing things here. Do i have any complaints? Yes, I do but that's just life sometimes, anywhere. I try to keep the complaining to a minimum. Unless I think it's kinda funny. I have no regrets about coming here but am looking forward to moving back to Latin America after this. Prior to my Korean life, I spent a few months being a hobo in Guatemala. I guess I also did a tour of Spanish immersion home stays, volunteer work sites including the volunteer fire department, a center for malnutritioned children, a summer library program, a school, and at a general social services center that provided educational, personal hygiene, two meals a day and other economic assistance to disadvantaged children. At two of those locations, I acquired my first English teaching experience and it was there I learned just how much I have to learn. I spent a bizarre month as an insider at a Spanish language academy where I learned many interesting things about the places where the Spanish language, tourism, and volunteer industries intersect. I was so wrapped up in my experience, for some time before Christmas and just after New Years, I accidentally became an illegal alien. When I turned myself into La Migra in Guatemala City, I freaked out a little after I paid my fine and for the 'prorrogo' when they kept my passport overnight for processing. Though the Spanish school had offered me a position, classes were conducted by candlelight after dark because at some point nobody paid the electricity bill. I loved Guatemala but I couldn't afford to work for liters of that horrible domestic beer they have called 'Gallo.' Before it got any stranger, I bought a ticket to Miami and wandered around the States for a minute. As months before I'd wrapped up a seven year career with a domestic airline in the US, I felt like there wasn't much I hadn't seen there.
And then....and then...and then.. I came to Korea where I'm living this glorious dream. Between South Korea and Guatemala, I've been out of the US for most of the past 12 months and I like it that way.
My Friends (21)
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- Briona
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A graphic designer fancying a career change, I completed the...
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- KateSilver
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I have always wanted to teach but did not go...
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- SamLennie
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Hi everyone! Im Sam and i work for i-to-i in...
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- roberts121
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Right, so a little bit about me. I'm 21 years...
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- emmafoers
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I took my CELTA course straight after doing my degree....
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lintse07 said:
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lintse07 said:
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about South Korea information PLEASSSSEEE!!!!!!! (Post)
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lintse07 said:
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lintse07 said:
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Comments on my stuff
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kallenfranchise said:
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honor said:
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Kristnccsu said:
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honor said:
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Spiwak432 said:
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Kristnccsu said:
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PDixon said:
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katieloudreaming said:
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about What are you eating? (Post)
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Angela1902 said:
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about getting bombed in South Korea: more fun than you might imagine (Post)
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Angela1902 said:
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about Why TEFL and Why South Korea (Post)
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honor said:
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about What are you eating? (Post)
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Spiwak432 said:
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about The G-Rated Version: How South Korea has Changed my LIfe (Post)
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Spiwak432 said:
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about The G-Rated Version: How South Korea has Changed my LIfe (Post)
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beehappy86 said:
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about New! Crash Course in Hagwon Survival (Post)
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DEREK09 said:
“awful really, it this wat lies in store???”
about Welcome to the Jungle: My giraffe has a parachute (more adventures in tefl textbooks) (Post)
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ffgmiller said:
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about getting bombed in South Korea: more fun than you might imagine (Post)
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honor said:
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about getting bombed in South Korea: more fun than you might imagine (Post)
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KateSilver said:
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about Korean Restaurant Survival Skills Report (Post)
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KateSilver said:
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about lintse07 (User)
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i-to-i said:
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about Looking for quality TEFL teaching materials-will pay money! (Post)
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PDixon said:
“oh dear...i had a similar experience...i teach in an all...”
about Dangers of the Dictionary in the Korean Classroom (Post)
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KateSilver said:
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about lintse07 (User)
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SamLennie said:
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about Why TEFL and Why South Korea (Post)
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honor said:
“Hey Lintse, This is a a bit of a...”
about Looking for quality TEFL teaching materials-will pay money! (Post)
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honor said:
“Eek! This all sounds a bit soul-destroying... are there any...”
about New! Crash Course in Hagwon Survival (Post)
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roberts121 said:
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honor said:
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honor said:
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honor said:
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about Making the Most of Compulsory Course Materials (Post)
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Rin said:
“Great blog :) Its good to read how things are...”
about 358 Days To Go in South Korea/59 days left to finish my 100-hr i-to-i tefl certificate (Post)
Recent Blog Posts
Korean-Engrish Phrasebook in the Classroom
- lintse07
- Sep 04, 2010
- Views (12)
- Comments (0)
I picked up three copies of the misprinted book at a dollar store and my students have been fighting over them ever since I've added them to the classroom. They've proven to be a good investment as I've been able to get miles of fun in the instant communication they facilitate and the activities I'm able to use them for. Depending on the class level, I've started using them at the beginning of...
Dawning of a New Era in South Korea: my birthday
- lintse07
- Sep 02, 2010
- Views (14)
- Comments (0)
My hagwon was established in the same year that I came to being on this planet. Incidentally, in my case that exact date happens to be September 1st. For this reason, any work environment and scheduling imperfections aside, I've gotten used to the place and at least know what to expect when I come to work everyday, and that I will be paid the full amount on time. Perhaps I waited until I was uncertain...
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Recent Discussion in lintse07’s Groups
| Group | Topic | Activity | Posts |
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| A Day in The Life of a TEFL Teacher | The first ever lesson | hours ago | 1 |
| A Day in The Life of a TEFL Teacher | The first ever lesson | hours ago | 1 |
| Help! I’m Stuck on my TEFL Course! | Tenses | days ago | 5 |
| TEFL Lesson Plans | Lesson Plans | days ago | 3 |
| South Korea | North Korean Threats | 3:39AM | 3 |
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Profile Comments
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Log in to leave a comment or Create an accountHey Lintse, thanks for the advice, il in stay in touch, good luck with your travels
Hey,
Well...first give me an idea of what you would want.
Do you want to live a big city or a small city? Do you prefer to live by the coast or in the highlands? Do you prefer to work at a public school, private school, or a language institute? Do you want to live with an Ecuadorian family or would you prefer to live by yourself? Do you have any significant health problems (asthma, bronchitis, or any other breathing related problems, or heart problems)?
This can help me to give you some better options.
Hey,
No probs - I've zapped the code in your profile. With your email it's changed with regards to your TEFL course, but with Chalkboard it's more tricky to change, so your email alerts will continue to go to your old email address. Sorry that it's really inconvenient! You could always set up an auto-forward to get the messages sent to your correct email address.
Hey Lindsey,
No problems about your email address - if you let me know what you want it changing it to (PM me if you like) I'll get the guys in our courses team to switch it across so you can get your ESL Library subscription and finish up your course.
By the way, I was actually going to ask you a favour - I'm working on an article of tips for finding TEFL jobs independently and, as someone who's (I think!) gone out and found a TEFL job without any help from i-to-i or anyone else, I'd love to hear your ideas! Just a short 30-word or so tip about how best to find jobs abroad would be wonderful!
Hi Lintse, thanks for your reply. I have a friend teaching in Korea and he recommends Busan as I understand Seoul can be quite chaotic.
there are certainly much more seasoned international travelers than myself out there...the past 12 months have been exceptional in that my life has been divided between Guatemala and South Korea. prior to now, my international travel experience mainly consisted of an occasional visit to Mexican border cities in the Western US currently most famous for drug cartel violence. i can't say i wasn't terrified of Guatemala, but it seemed less daunting because i'm not illiterate in the language and culture. i was afraid i would be killed before leaving the airport in guatemala; in korea i was afraid i wouldn't be able to sucessfully find the bus to a city 3 hours away from the Incheon airport. it sounds like you have some good qualifications and experience. koreans and japanese have similar issues with english acquisition. i'm chock full of advice but to keep it short, your best bet is to be choosy about selecting a job. At some jobs in particular, the curriculum won't jive with common sense or what you learned in applied linguistics. the wrong job could lead to some serious frustration! otherwise--as for living in korea; i'd say it's not necessarily the most user friendly place for English speakers--grocery stores/restaurants.... Koreans are all required to study English in school and usually whether they know any or not they've always been very helpful to me. Have you thought about where in Korea you'd like to work yet?
hi,
sorry for the random message, currently doing TEFL with an eye to heading to South Korea and am looking for as much advice as possible as im not a seasoned traveller. Ive recently graduated as a mature English student and have experience within applied linguistics and in teaching Japanese students at the University of Birmingham. Do you have any suggestions/advice for heading to Korea? It all feels a bit daunting at the moment.
thanks
Matt
come here right now and teach me Spanish!!! I`ve got a really old book I found in my dad`s house and I`m learning but I don`t have much time and I need someone to explain to me why what I learn from the book doesn`t even help me to read the paper! I can make myself understtod most of the time but I find it hard to understand what I hear as the grammar is so different. At least it helps me to sympathise with my students. Years ago I lived in Spain for a bit and picked up diiferent words, different grammar and a strong Andalucian accent - it`s not helping as much as I hoped it would!
Hi
Yeah, I`ve heard it`s good money in Asia but I haven`t got a degree, so can`t work there. Never really appealed to me much to be honest, I like the South American way of life - muy tranquilo! Too many laws for me in China - I`d probably be depoerted within a week.....
Thanks. And good you are starting to learn Korean. I just had my first Mandarin lesson yesterday.... oh my goodness, it seems VERY complicated. Hopefully by August I will at least know enough to be able to hail an cab - and arrive at where I think I'm going! lol.
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