I decided to go to teach in Korea a few years ago...
Motivations to go...firstly, it was an excellent way for me to gain teaching experience (as once upon a time, I aspired to become a teacher), a way to make money to pay off my large student debts and to LIVE in another country and truly experience another culture.
Having done the notorious backpacking trips around Europe, hiking through jungles of Central America and having some adventurous road trips along the way, I felt a desire to get a better taste of what living in another place, without a Tim Hortons on each corner, would be like. So I decided; Korea it is!
Korea was a life experience that I will always have; a real learning experience. Culturally speaking, there is no way to compare Western culture to Korean culture, which alone makes my decision to go abroad that much sweeter. If anyone goes somewhere else and is disappointed when it is different... please, do not travel because the differences are what make it exciting, rewarding and educational.
As a career, I help other people in the recruitment process going abroad with Travel and Teach Recruiting Inc., and what has come up time and again with my teachers, is how there are negative postings online about teaching abroad. I must say, having had the opposite kind of experience and knowing an incredibly high number of people who would speak just as highly of it as I, there are many people online talking and sometimes whining about their experiences. I say, take it with a grain of salt. Each person's experience will be different. I know some of these travelers who should not be travelers however and they are (sadly enough) the people who trash an experience that could be the greatest one of your life... and don't let that stop you just because it wasn't the best experience for them (perhaps they really took a disliking to kimchi, karaoke or public drunkenness).
Each and every person will have their own life journey, but if you have that nudging desire to really have an incredible, worldly experience (I couldn't ignore mine anymore) then you should listen to it... no regrets!
Cheers or as they say in Korea, Gombay!
Jennifer
www.travelandteachrecruiting.com