Tag: advice for living abroad

Last year was my first year in Korea, and my first year learning about the dreaded term “desk warming.” If you’ve not yet experienced desk warming season, then let this list be your guide during those awful bitter weeks when most expats tend to go a bit mad and lose their minds.

Living abroad is one of the most exhilarating and life changing experiences a person can have, and those of us who are lucky enough to have the experience can attest to the positive changes expats can go through while living in another country.

Introducing our latest teacher interview. This week we interviewed Stefanus who took the plunge and made his first steps into a teaching career by moving all the way to China to begin a teaching position. Read on to see what experiences he has had as a first time teacher in China.

Having the ability to speak the language in Taiwan, or in any location, will open up your experience so much more. I have lost count of how many times I have felt on the outside of a conversation being had in mandarin by my friends or people I know here. Jokes will be told that I don’t get, plans will be made that I hear about afterwards, locations exist that I cannot find. Worse than all of this is feeling like a burden to a group who want to speak mandarin but they have to keep explaining everything to me in English. I hate being that guy.

Ho, ho, ho! Good will to you, dear friends of expats! In case you missed the first part of my amazing Christmas gift so you can send your friend abroad the perfect present, you can find part 1 of this awesome gift list here.

Nothing is harder than spending the holidays away from family, friends, and all the cozy familiarity’s back home. Sure, your friend abroad is having a great time, but that doesn’t mean that the holidays are easy to just ignore while they’re seeing the world.

Back in August, precisely 17 days before my departure to become an EPIK teacher in South Korea. I was blinded by images of green tea fields, rice cakes and kimchi. I would read a new expat blog every day (or every hour, if I had the time!). I was ready; or so I thought… This article was written by Neysha Bauer, you can find more of her articles on her blog http://travelsuras.com/

Friends of travelers know this truth more than anyone else: traveling changes a person. If you’ve met someone after they’ve spent time abroad, chances are you met a much different person than had you met them before they boarded the plane to live in Korea.