My Life! Teaching in a Korean University

  • ESL Korea
  • Teaching English
  • ESL Activities
  • Learning English

in Life in the Classroom

Going Home After Living Abroad | Life After ESL

Going home after living abroad

Going Home After Living Abroad

Did you know…I’m Leaving Korea

Do people that read this blog know that I’m leaving Korea in March 2016 for a triumphant return to my motherland, Canada? I haven’t really talked about it that much on here I guess.

Staying here for 10 more years because I like 5 months vacation = not a solid plan

Anyway, these days, I’ve been thinking a lot about what it takes to be successful in the transition back home after living abroad for a decade. It’s not that I hate Korea, I don’t. But, I don’t love it either and sticking in a place for 10 more years just because I work 3 or 4 days a week and get 5 months of vacation in not a good way to live.

Conversation Classes: I hope we never meet again

It’s onward and upwards to bigger and better things for me that do not involve teaching any more “conversation” classes, ever again, for the rest of my life. Never, ever again. I’ve reached my maximum capacity of them.

Nervous Energy = I think I’ll write a book about it

In an effort to make my own return as awesome as possible, I decided to write a book about people who went back home after teaching English abroad and made it work, hoping to squeeze the maximum amount of wisdom from them as possible. I surveyed 55 of them and the book, “Life After ESL: Foreign Teachers Going Home” should be coming out in early September 2016. But, in the meantime, here are a few tips to make your return home as awesome as possible.

Need even more ESL awesome in your life? Get it delivered straight to your inbox each week

* indicates required



Top 5 Tips for Going Home After Living Abroad

A Plan: Get One

Those who return home with a fuzzy sort of plan that involves living on friend’s couches or in parents’ basements just don’t do well. It’s too easy to coast along, indefinitely without a job that way and the longer you’re unemployed, the harder it is to get employed.

Serious Job Skills: Get Some

The people that do best are the ones who have some sort of well-defined job field they can go into. Or, they need to be willing to go back to school to get that, in a lot of cases. That is my plan: to get the minimum education necessary so that I can take all the certified financial planner (and other similar things) licensing exams.

Many ESL teachers abroad make a serious mistake when they think that they can do this same job back home. You can, but you’re competing against people with serious qualifications and experience for $15 per hour part-time jobs. Do you really want that for your life?

More tips here: Jobs for Former ESL Teachers.

A Money Pool: Have One

Having $30,000 or $50,000 goes a long way towards giving you a bit of breathing room so that 2 or 3 months of unemployment during your job search won’t force you back overseas.

A wee bit clueless about the money? This is the book you’ll need: The Wealthy English Teacher: Teach, Travel, and Secure Your Financial Future

Motivation: You Need Lots

Some people seem to head back home just because they don’t really like Korea, or whatever country they’re living in. The people that do best are the ones who are going back to their home country because they really want to and not because they have nothing better going on.

Support: The More the Better

Those with a good network of family and old friends back home seem to do much better than those without that, for obvious reasons. Having this network makes it a lot harder to leave again as well.

Bonus: Reverse Culture Shock

An extra bonus tip for you! So many people in the survey mentioned experiencing reverse culture shock. It is real and it will likely happen to you. Be prepared for it!

Where Can I Find Life After ESL?

Job Ideas for former ESL teachers

If you’re thinking about a move back to your home country after doing the TEFL abroad thing, then the book you’re going to need is this one:

Life After ESL: Foreign Teachers Returning Home

You can get the book in digital, print and audiobook formats. Yes, it really is that easy to start preparing for the transition back to your home country and to get some serious advice about which jobs you might want to consider.

Check it out for yourself over on Amazon:

shop-now-button

What about the Audiobook for Going Home After Living Abroad?

Or, you can listen to the book for free on Audible.com. Yes, free. You can get your first book for free when you sign up, so why not make it this one, right? Find it here:

Life After ESL on Audible

Games, Activities & ESL Teaching Tips

* indicates required

Have your Say about Returning Home After Teaching ESL Abroad

Do you have any comments or questions about this important topic? Leave a comment below and let us know what you think.

Also be sure to give this article a share on Facebook, Pinterest, or Twitter. It’ll help other teachers, like yourself who are thinking about moving back home.

Games, Activities & ESL Teaching Tips

* indicates required

About Jackie

Jackie Bolen has been teaching English for more than 15 years to students in South Korea and Canada. She's taught all ages, levels and kinds of TEFL classes. She holds an MA degree, along with the Celta and Delta English teaching certifications.

Jackie is the author of more than 30 books for English teachers and English learners, including Advanced English Conversation Dialogues and 39 No-Prep/Low-Prep ESL Speaking Activities for Teenagers and Adults. She loves to share her ESL games, activities, teaching tips, and more with other teachers throughout the world.

You can find her on social media at:
Facebook
Pinterest

« What Truly Motivates Students to Use Essay Writing Services?
The Korean ESL Industry is Not What it Once Was: Learn More Here »

As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases. What does this mean? I recommend products (only ones that I like) and if you purchase a product through that link, I earn some money.

67 ESL Conversation Topics with Questions, Vocabulary, Writing Prompts & More: For English Teachers...
67 ESL Conversation Topics with Questions, Vocabulary, Writing Prompts & More: For English Teachers...
Check Price on Amazon
39 ESL Warm-Ups: For Teachers of Teenagers and Adults who Want to Start Their English Classes Off...
39 ESL Warm-Ups: For Teachers of Teenagers and Adults who Want to Start Their English Classes Off...
Check Price on Amazon
39 No-Prep/Low-Prep ESL Speaking Activities: For English Teachers of Teenagers and Adults Who Want...
39 No-Prep/Low-Prep ESL Speaking Activities: For English Teachers of Teenagers and Adults Who Want...
Check Price on Amazon

More ESL Activities & Games

39 Task-Based Language Teaching and Learning Activities: A Very Practical Guide to Using TBL in the...
39 Task-Based Language Teaching and Learning Activities: A Very Practical Guide to Using TBL in the...
Check Price on Amazon

Recent Posts

  • ESL Sentence Making Games and Activities, Lesson Plans, Worksheets
  • English Grammar Games, Activities, Worksheets & Lesson Plans
  • ESL Phrasal Verbs Games, Activities, Worksheets & Lesson Plans
  • WH Questions ESL Activities and Games | ESL WH Question Ideas
101 Activities and Resources for Teaching English Online: Practical Ideas, Games, Activities & Tips...
101 Activities and Resources for Teaching English Online: Practical Ideas, Games, Activities & Tips...
Check Price on Amazon
Sale 101 ESL Activities: For Teenagers and Adults
101 ESL Activities: For Teenagers and Adults
Check Price on Amazon

About and Contact

Jackie Bolen has been talking ESL South Korea since 2014. The goal is to bring you the best tips, ideas, and news for everything teaching English in Korea, including university jobs.

Contact Jackie Bolen and My Life! Teaching in a Korean University here.

Email: [email protected]

Address: 2436 Kelly Ave, Port Coquitlam, Canada

Find the Privacy Policy here.

Facebook

Pinterest

TikTok

YouTube

LinkedIn

Best Seller

101 ESL Activities: Games, Activities, Practical ideas, & Teaching Tips For English Teachers of...
101 ESL Activities: Games, Activities, Practical ideas, & Teaching Tips For English Teachers of...
Check Price on Amazon

Search

As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases.

Advertise on My Life! Teaching in Korean University

Recent Articles

board-games-for-esl-students

ESL Board Games: Check out these Conversational English Board Games

extensive reading

Extensive Reading for ESL/EFL Students | English Reading Skills

teaching-esl-korean-universities

Teaching English in Korean Universities: The Ultimate Guide

Authentic materials for lower-level students

Authentic Materials for Language Learning with Lower-Level Students

Copyright © 2022 Jackie Bolen + My Life! Teaching in a Korean University. All Rights Reserved.