I graduated from a liberal arts college with a degree in comparative religions.  Armed with my degree I ventured into ‘the real world,’  -  a nebulous and vaguely frightening term I only ever heard whispered in dark corners of the campus library.  Sitting in my studio apartment I waited for employers to knock on my door, eager to hand over fistfuls of money for access to the knowledge I accrued during the four years of my $100,000 education.   Finally I bought a copy of the local newspaper.  The ‘job opportunities’ section was full of ads from employers seeking applicants with experience and practical skills.  There was not a single vacancy for long-haired idealists, novice oracles or budding poets that could rhyme in iambic pentameter.  I was at a complete loss - finding a job wasn’t covered in African Metaphysics 201.

I brooded over endless cups of coffee, the world owed me a favor but no one seemed to notice.  In dire financial straits I applied for an administrative position at my old college and was hired to be the Assistant Director of the Annual Fund.  Everything seemed fine, I got out of bed looking forward to driving to my office, where a secretary and a leather chair awaited me.  Gradually things started to bug me.  My boss suggested I take out my earrings and cut my hair.  There was no spring break to look forward to and I was expected to show up every day, even when I had a hangover.  I found out that behind my fancy title my real job was to raise money for the college.  As each day passed I liked my job less; I had set out to change the world, not call wealthy alumni and ask them for donations.   After six months I was full of it  -  so I quit and returned to sulking in my apartment.

As fall turned into winter the money I saved from my first job ran out.  Facing the prospect of having to move back home I swallowed my pride and signed up with an employment agency.  My first assignment was scraping the gum off a mall parking lot at night.  My supervisor was a high school dropout who wasn’t old enough to buy cigarettes.  I felt worthless and suspected there was more to life.  On an off day I visited my college career center and saw a flier which advertised teaching positions in South Korea. Interested, I sent off my resume, and a few weeks later I received a contract in the mail that seemed to be written in "Klingon".  I didn’t really care what the terms were, it had to be better than what I was doing.  A few weeks later a plane ticket to Seoul appeared in my mailbox. The only thing I knew about Korean culture was that drinking copious amounts was acceptable and they respected people who dressed well.  I wore my suit to the airport and got drunk on the plane.  Most of the people getting off the plane were as tipsy as I was and smoked like chimneys.  I fit right in.

A man who spoke no English was holding a piece of paper with my name on it.  I followed him to a van and we drove into the suburbs, past endless blocks of blazing neon. He produced a key from his pocket and led me into an apartment building.  The elevator let us off at the eighth floor, and my companion pointed to a door, handed me the keys and left.  I noticed that the door to the apartment across from mine was decorated with swastikas.  Undeterred, I entered my apartment and locked the door.  Ten minutes later I heard a persistent knocking on my door.  My neighbor turned out to be the friendliest neo-Nazi ever, a short balding man with glasses and a perpetual smile.  He knew a few English words and I didn’t speak a lick of Korean. The few words I could make out were “Jew”, “animal” and “cage”. I smiled and nodded, but during our entire conversation I thought he was a war criminal on the run that had plastic surgery to alter his appearance.  Despite his friendly overtures I couldn’t foresee us getting along.   It was several weeks later before I learned the man was a monk, and that an inverted swastika is a traditional Buddhist symbol and the “Jew” he was referring to was the local zoo.

Three days later my roommate showed up, a fresh faced girl from rural Montana.The two of us were the entire staff for a brand new language school.  English schools dot the Korean landscape like mushrooms after a rainstorm because Korean parents pay through the nose to have their children learn English from foreign teachers.  At first everything was new and exciting and my job seemed easy.  No real teaching was involved, all I had to do was play games and baby-sit.  My boss smiled a lot and took us out to dinner many times. 

Then things started changing.  The number of students began dwindling, our schedules changed constantly and our boss became a very angry man.  I started feeling like a clown in a classroom, and being the alphabet bingo king was wearing thin.  That’s when I started drinking.  Playing games with children nine hours a day wore on me.  At night I was transformed from the bingo king to king of drinking.  I drank until I couldn’t remember anything, and then drank more.   The school, which paid for our housing, moved us into progressively smaller and dingier apartments.  Our paychecks became smaller and less frequent.  One day I went to school and the desks were being carted out to make way for a karaoke bar.  I was unemployed.  Again.

I found myself living in a windowless motel room making ends meet by teaching students privately- I found that Korean parents pay up to forty dollars an hour for teachers to tutor their children at home.  When I left for Korea I had vague notions of ‘finding myself’ in the ineffable East, and this wasn’t what I had in mind.  The thought of eating rice and pickled cabbage made me sick and the people around me seemed childish and irrational.

Then something marvelous happened; the IMF financial crisis.  As the value of the Korean Won plunged on a daily basis, my income was cut in half in a matter of weeks.  Qualified teachers left by the planeload.  I suddenly found myself respected, and my services in great demand.  I was a walking goldmine- I had the power to pick from a plethora of jobs. The duck-duck goose diva retired.

I accepted a position at a university as a professor of English.  My students respected me and came to me for advice.  I looked forward to preparing for class and finding new ways to make English relevant to my students.  I stopped drinking so much and started learning Korean.  The more I learned the more I realized that actions I had previously seen as ‘childish’ and ‘irrational’ were knee-jerk reactions based in my ignorance of a foreign culture. Gradually I became more organized and self confident in front of large groups of people. I found myself becoming a teacher, and enjoying it immensely.  Over the next two years I took advantage of my paid summer and winter holidays and traveled extensively in Asia, from Mongolia to Singapore, while paying off my student loans at the same time.  I stayed at this university for two years, before leaving Korea to explore other parts of the world.

A few months later I found myself on an ocean going freighter bound for Brazil. I ended up teaching in Sao Paulo Brazil for one year.    Although my salary was a fraction of what I earned in Korea I made enough money to live comfortably in Sao Paulo.  My schedule was more relaxed as well and I found time to organize an intramural baseball league for street children.  The apex of my stay was the ten days I spent in the city of Salvador for Carnaval.  Every pore of my being was stuffed with sensory perceptions, as though I spent a week inside a giant kaleidoscope with 100,000 other people.

After my year teaching English in Sao Paulo I still had enough money saved from my time in Korea to backpack up the coast of Brazil, and up the Amazon River into Peru.  I rode all manner of floating crafts in my journey up the Amazon, tying up my hammock wherever I found room and sleeping in it when I could.  Ultimately I hiked through the Andes Mountains to watch the sunrise over Machu Picchu before winging my way back to North America.  I taught junior high school English for a while in the public schools but I found the curriculum to regimented and monotonous.

I met up with my old roommate and co-worker in Korea, Jeff Strachan.  Since teaching English abroad had such a profound impact on both of our lives we decided to form a company that facilitates sending people to teach English overseas.  We seek to help people find rewarding and gainful employment overseas as English teachers, while avoiding some of the pitfalls we encountered.  Drawing on our years of international experience we screen the schools to make sure they are reputable institutions with positive working environments, and we screen applicants to make sure they have what it takes to succeed as an English teacher abroad.  It is free to apply to be a teacher through Footprints Recruiting, and throughout the entire process- from initial contact to placement in a host country we do not charge teachers a dime.  Footprints Recruiting derives profits solely by charging schools a teacher placement fee. At this time we place teachers throughout the year in Taiwan, South Korea and Japan, and on a semester basis in Brazil.  We are looking to expand into Eastern Europe, Southeast Asia and Central America.  Teachers can expect to save money working in Korea, Taiwan and Japan, while they can expect to live comfortably within the local economy in Brazil.  In Korea the school pays for housing and airfare.  Experience is looked favorably upon but is not necessary.  The chain of schools we recruit for in Taiwan provides unparalleled teacher training and opportunity for advancement.

In a five-year span I saw large parts of the world.  Memories of riding a horse across the Mongolian steppes, watching the sunset from the temple of Angkor Wat in Cambodia and watching the sunrise rise over Macchu Picchu in Brazil are memories I will never forget.  I have watched people die and been the beneficiary of unthinkable acts of kindness.  I have experienced aspects of the beauty and sadness of life- and  this is the opportunity we wish to extend to you.  Step beyond a typical job, and get paid while experiencing what the world has to offer.  Feel free to visit our website and fill out an on-line application. 

www.footprintsrecruiting.com

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