Nothing can broaden the mind quite like visiting a new country, but there are many ways to travel and they aren’t all the same. It can be thrilling and rewarding to spend even just a few days in an exotic place, though living there is a different experience altogether.
Let’s look at some of the differences between visiting and living in a foreign country.
Adopting the Customs
When you visit a foreign country, the differences jump out at you right away. Perhaps they drive on the other side of the road, and the road is filled with free-wheeling auto rickshaws. Maybe street food gives rise to smells you aren’t used to in public places, and eating it is another pleasure altogether!
When you live in a country, you spend enough time for these strange things to become normal. You might even learn a new language. Rather than being stunned and stimulated by this newness, it eventually becomes ordinary and familiar.
Absorbing these differences makes you see the place where you were born with new eyes: the customs from home are suddenly seen for what they are, not merely the natural way for a person to live, but how people in one part of the world just happen to do things. You realize there is no one single natural or inevitable way to live!
Working Gives You Local Perspective
A person who grew up in a country that is exotic to you will always be grounded in that place in a way you probably can’t ever quite achieve, but living and working there is the closest you can get to forming a true connection with this country.
You commute like a resident, rather than a tourist, using the local infrastructure the way locals do. For example, tourists can afford to travel subways at off-peak hours, but you need to get to work: you’ll experience the system the way people who actually live there do.
Teaching for a Globalized World
Between the aviation industry and the internet, the world has certainly shrunk! But not everybody speaks the same language. If you want to learn about teaching English in Korea there are companies out there that make it easy to live and work in another country by ironing out all the formalities before you teach English as a second language (ESL) abroad. South Korea is a very popular destination for ESL teachers, for many good reasons — Korea is a fun, safe, and developed country.
If this appeals to you, look for a larger company that handles all your needs — moving to another country can involve sorting out difficult logistics, and there are companies dedicated to managing every step of the process for you. This includes plane tickets, visa documents, finding you housing, helping integrate you in your new environment, preparing you for teaching, and ensuring you’re OK once you’ve settled down a bit.
Whether you decided to visit or live in a foreign country, nobody ever returns and says, “I wish I didn’t go!” Travel is always a rewarding and thrilling experience. But if you get the opportunity to live and work in a foreign country, it’s sure to be an even more deeply satisfying experience that will change you forever.
Love traveling.
