Living Abroad: "Life After Teaching in Korea"

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Since many of you have expressed an interest in knowing what it was like for me to live and work abroad, AEM has launched a new series entitled, "Living Abroad." These pieces are about American expats who have lived or are living abroad. I am also exploring options of moving abroad again in a year or year and a half, and will be writing about that possibility (primarily here), as well as sharing my own experience of living and working in Korea. If you are interested in sharing your story with my readers, please don't hesitate to send me an email (ccrynjohannsen@gmail.com). Those of you who have yet to leave the country are also welcome to submit pieces. This series is part of a public service to let indentured educated citizens know that there are other options, and that they can find fulfilling opportunities beyond U.S. borders. 


It is that time of the week again on Twitter! The wonderfully happy #followfriday tributes are flowing from Tweeps' fingertips around the globesphere (!), so the next post is befitting for the day, because this respondent was discovered on . . . Twitter. I found Jenn Pedde when sending out my tweet called "CODE HELP" to people who mention student loan debt. We immediately struck up a conversation, and somehow Korea came up. Jenn was delighted to hear that I had lived in Korea, because she has too. I asked Jenn if she'd be willing to contribute to my series, "Living Abroad," and she gladly agreed.

Here's what she had to say:

Deciding to teach abroad is a terrifying experience.  You’re not quite sure what is compelling you to want to leave everyone and everything behind when choosing to move to a foreign country.  Some would call it a general higher calling or a need to live differently.  Teaching abroad is not for everyone, which is a good thing.  Those that you meet when you’re out on the road are some of the most unique people in the world, and they will affect you greatly [my emphasis]. 

As it stands today, teaching abroad in Asia is the most rewarding, financially speaking.  Asian countries such as Japan, China, and South Korea pay a premium price for naturally born English speakers.  Salary packages will vary when it comes to the benefits offered. But for the majority of jobs in South Korea,* they will offer:

(a) a monthly salary;
(b) free housing;
(c)  free round trip airfare;
(d)  50% health insurance;
(e) and a bonus upon contract completion, and a pension.

The average monthly salary in Korea is around $2000, and the cost of living in the country is inexpensive, which enables a teacher to save significantly more than if they were living in Japan. Moreover, Japanese teaching positions do not generally offer such benefits, like round trip airfare.  Depending on where you find your job, you may or may not need a teaching certificate.  In Korea, most jobs do not require any teaching experience, but will pay more [if you have] certification or [you possess] advanced degrees.

After a year, many actually come to like the world of teaching English as a foreign language (TEFL).   I know I learned more about the English language while teaching it than I could have ever imagined.  It’s an incredibly difficult language to learn.  We have a lot of inconsistent rules and we love to steal words from other languages (For example, did you know that banana isn’t an English word?  Yep, we stole it from the Spanish).

So what do you do with that one-year of experience when you’re done?

In my case, one year wasn’t enough.  I stayed teaching in Seoul, South Korea for a total of 2.5 years.  I kept finding more opportunities and meeting more of the locals.   Getting invited to things like Korean weddings and family events and being so involved in another culture was almost addicting.   I have never felt so welcomed somewhere and that’s a hard feeling to give up.  I was once given a bottle of wine at a restaurant for just “being pretty” and that was after we paid the bill!  Asian hospitality is unmatched.

With such positive experiences, I returned home with thoughts of going back to school to get my Masters in TESOL and doing this for the rest of my life, but I decided to put that on hold.  The idea of being home to reconnect with family and friends was more important than going off gallivanting again, so I quickly dove into the job search.  If you put your teaching experience on your resume and highlight some of the tangible aspects of the position like working with a diverse staff, performing interviews for potential students, and creating lesson plans and report cards in a timely manner, these skills translate well into entry level jobs for a number of companies that have a global reach.  Your international experience and cultural knowledge may be extremely valuable to a company. It's also an amazing talking point in an interview.

You’re not limited to the field of education after teaching is on your resume, though you may find it inspiring.  You can translate the experience into a variety of areas and fields.  I myself went to work in technology and marketing, but I know that I’ll be back in Asia at some point in my life for more than just vacationing, and the potential for an advanced degree is still in the back of my mind.   I know plenty of former ex-pats who came home after one year and went on to get their MBAs or Master;s in Nursing because they also allow plan to use these degrees for future, professional travel.  At the end of the day, whatever you decide to do when you finish your teaching experience will seem like a breeze compared to the challenge of living abroad, but the options are all there. The world is yours!

Jenn Pedde is the community manager for the Masters in Social Work program at the University of Southern California.  She lived in Seoul, South Korea for 2.5 years teaching English. Jenn is an avid traveler who enjoys photography.

*I should note that in my experience, my hogwon did not pay for housing, healthcare, etc. Since they paid above average rates, that is how they justified not covering these costs. But Jenn is correct. Most hogwons cover such expenses.

Hongdae: Entertainment  District of Seoul  (where the founder of AEM, when not teaching and fighting on behalf of the indentured educated class, had loads of fun with good friends)

Related Links

Cryn Johannsen, "Unemployed, educated, and indebted: More Millennials seeking work outside of the U.S.," USA Today, May 18, 2011

From AEM

"Fleeing the Economic Dustbowl: Indebted, Jobless Refugees . . . ,"  May 18, 2011

"Living Abroad: One Expat says, "I don't know if I'll live in the U.S. ever again," May 18, 2011

"Living Abroad in Deutschland," May 16, 2011

"Living Abroad in China," May 8, 2011

"Living Abroad: Returning to Korea," May 4, 2011

From Margins of Everyday Life

"The Politics of Everyday Life: Jobs, Life, Hope," May 1, 2011

Point/CounterPoint - Pell Grants

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Splashlife asked me to take part in their series called "Point/Counterpoint" to discuss the call to cut Pell Grants. There is a heated debate going on in D.C. about cutting Pell, and it's related to austerity measures that our 'leaders' are trying to implement. I am adamantly opposed to cutting Pell Grants. Dr. Andrew Gillen, on the other hand, has a different take. Andy is at The Center for College Affordability and Productivity (CCAP), and he graciously agreed to argue against my points. Andy provided a summation on CCAP's blog of his take on Pell (here's his full argument on Splashlife). 

Here are some important points I made in favor of supporting increases to Pell: 

At a time when the U.S. government should be investing in its citizens and the country’s overall infrastructure, it is doing the exact opposite. After bailing out the banks and Wall Street, the very institutions and individuals who were responsible for the greatest economic downturn since the Great Depression, the government, both at local and national levels, now faces tremendous budget problems. A new and dangerous set of austerity proposals is sweeping across the country. These budget cuts are affecting universities and community colleges, and forcing them to increase tuition to combat the loss of financial support from government coffers. One critical source of funding for higher education – Pell Grants – is under attack. Pell Grants have long served to support access to higher education for low-income students. Presently, a ferocious fight is taking place in Congress, as Senator Rand Paul and others are proposing to significantly decrease the amount of funding allocated for Pell Grants. If funding for Pell Grants is cut, that would mean denying less-advantaged Americans access to higher education.

There is also the issue of the for-profits benefiting from Pell Grants, something that needs attention. That point is critical:

One of the legitimate criticisms of the Pell Grant program is that the for-profit college industry (oftentimes referred to as proprietary or career schools) benefits considerably while contributing little of value to higher education in America. There is a growing body of data that shows that many students do not have success in finding work (if they even graduate – dropout rates at these schools are quite high), and are saddled with high levels of student loan debt. Moreover, a recent study published by The Institute for College Access and Success  found that while default rates are on the rise among all students, the default rates for students who attend for-profit schools are significantly higher. For-profits also invest far more capital in marketing than in their instructors. Despite these obvious deficiencies in the for-profit education sector, in the past decade for-profits have seen Pell Grant aid increase eightfold. According to the U.S. Department of Education this sector receives 25 percent of the funds. But the problems with the for-profit industry are not insurmountable. Policymakers should come up with creative solutions that would hold these institutions accountable for their federal funding. Ideal solutions would have the potential of creating incentives for for-profits to invest more in their instructors, improve job placement rates, and lower the student borrower default rates. That would hold the institutions accountable, without hurting recipients of Pell Grants.  

I hope you read the piece - both my take and Andy's - in its entirety.

Finally, I wish to thank Andy for agreeing to take part in this important debate, as well as The CCAP for featuring and commenting on number of my pieces in previous months (links below).

"[My education] was a serious mistake:" An Indentured Educated Citizen Laments Her Decision to Go To School," originally posted on August 19, 2010

"Trapped in Debt," originally posted on June 23, 2010

Links for 5/7/10 (Andy is the one who  made a comment about my work. The way he describes what I'm doing is quite humorous)

UPDATED Primer: All Education Matters

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If you are new to All Education Matters, I want to assure you that you are not alone. There are millions of people, like you, who are struggling or unable to pay off their student loan debt. In fact, by June of 2012 outstanding student loan debt is expected to hit $1 trillion. That is precisely why I assert that there is a student loan debt crisis. While many critics will suggest that it is your responsibility to pay back your loans, they fail to grasp two important things. First, nearly all the student debtors with whom I have spoken (and by now that is in the thousands) want to pay back their loans. They take full responsibility for their student loan debt, but are frustrated by the private lenders' refusal to work with them on negotiating new terms for repayment. Moreover, if one defers or puts loan(s) into forbearance, that borrower can rack up hefty fees, penalties, accrued interest, etc. That means that a modest loan can quickly balloon, making it difficult to ever pay off. (There is also the issue of defaulters, but I'll table that one for now). I know of countless cases in which someone borrowed, say, $50,000 and now owes upwards of $100,000 or more. Sadly, lenders can justify their fees all they wish, and they are getting away with it. Those justifications, however, will fall on deaf ears in this corner of the world, and that is because they are making money by keeping people in debt. Sick, isn't it? That tells me that the system is broken. It is usury at its worst, and that is why we need a solution now.

Who I am

I am Cryn Johannsen, the founder & executive director of All Education Matters (AEM). I am an advocate and researcher for - what I call - the indentured educated class (i.e., student loan debtors). I am a regular writer for USA Today and have blogged for the Huffington Post. In addition, I have been published in scholarly journals and revered online publications (see here and here), and am well-connected to other groups and individuals who work on issues relating to student loan debt and higher education finance reform. Indeed, there are the non-profit groups like SponsorChange, the political groups, like Shared Sacrifice, and the ever aggressive 'scambloggers,' who work on exposing the truth about law schools. Nando's Third Tier Reality is most notable, and we have worked together on numerous occasions. (Most recently, Nando and I organized an online talk - the JD in the New Economy - with WestLaw. I was the moderator, and Nando was one of the panelists. Incidentally, you can sign up and listen to that debate for free). That's just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to the various groups and individuals whom I work with. I also work on a regular basis with congressional offices and policymakers in order to influence legislation that has the potential of affecting millions of student loan debtors. Most recently, I was the managing editor for EduLender's blog, EduTrends.

I am also an educator, and am passionate about teaching (I have taught abroad and in the U.S.). Last year, when I founded AEM, I was teaching and living abroad in Korea. I have now lived on three continents and am in touch with ex-pats and international friends on a regular basis. This provides me with a global perspective on issues relating to finance, higher education, markets, etc. First and foremost, AEM serves as a public service to inform and educate student loan debtors. That is why I recently launched a new series - Living Abroad - to provide recent graduates with information on living and working outside of the U.S. The latest piece can be read here.

What is AEM? Why does it matter? 

Thanks to generous donations from readers, AEM officially became a 501(c)(4) in October of 2010.  While millennials are facing the highest level of student loan debt ever, my research shows that the student loan debt crisis is an inter-generational problem. There are a multitude of people from varying backgrounds and of different ages who are struggling or unable to pay off their debt. Although I still run AEM just as I had in the past, the organization is no longer asking for donations or actively involved in fundraising campaigns of any sort. There are complicated reasons for why I came to that decision, and part of the explanation can be read in a post entitled, "AEM is over."

History of AEM

All Education Matters began as a research and policy-based blog about the student loan debt crisis. I launched AEM in July of 2009 when I took a week of vacation from my publishing job. Since I am more than just a little bit familiar with the academic milieu (I was working on my Ph.D. to become a professor in the cultural and intellectual history of modern Europe), I wanted to create a blog that discussed higher education and academia. At the same time I was the promotional writer and marketer of social media for a student loan debt movement, so the nature of my work became focused on issues relating to student loan debt, defaulted borrowers, and so forth.

I made a point to write at least 2-3 times a week, and was able to make critical connections with people in D.C. (where I was residing at the time) who were (and are) part of higher education policy circles. In addition, I was meeting authors and activists whom I have respected for years, the most important being Barbara Ehrenreich. She is a woman I deeply admire, and that is because Barb is an intellectual and an activist. We've spent quite a bit of time together discussing various societal crises in the U.S., and of course a part of those discussions have been about student loan debt. (She's a big supporter of my work, which is humbling). More recently, I have been in frequent contact with Henry Giroux, a public intellectual who has deep concerns about the state of higher education in the U.S.


Top 6 Must-Reads  

Recently, I was asked by someone in Hollywood to send them links to what I believed to be the most important pieces I've written on the subject of student loan debt. So here they are (some of them are links above):

"Point/Counterpoint: Pell Grant Funding," Splashlife (originally posted on May 25, 2011)
(My piece on the issue is in favor of increasing Pell - Splashlife wanted two perspectives on the issues).

"Uemployed, educated, and indebted: More Millennials seeking work outside the U.S.," USA Today (originally posted May 17, 2011)

"Higher Education Under Attack: An Interview with Henry A. Giroux," Truthout.org (originally posted April 22, 2011)

"How do Student Loans Affect my Credit Reports and Credit Scores?" EduTrends (originally posted March 4, 2011)

"The New Indentured Educated Class: If only they had their health . . .," New England Journal of Higher Education, November 18, 2010

"Student Loan Debtor Confesses: 'I think about jumping out of the 27th floor window of the office every day," Huffington Post (originally posted December 20, 2010)

"Plight of Current Borrowers: An Appeal for Immediate Relief," Paper delivered at a convention sponsored by the Rainbow PUSH Coalition and the Rev. Jesse Jackson (submitted when I was unable to attend as a panelist)

AEM can be found on Facebook. 

AEM's logo was designed by graphic designer Paul Ramirez

Repost - Investigating Law Schools (Class Action Case)

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If you attended one of the law schools listed below, please reach out to me via email (ccrynjohannsen@gmail.com). I know someone who is doing extensive research on these institutions, and they'd like to talk to former graduates.

• Albany School of Law
• New York Law School
• Pace Law School
• Touro Law School
• Hofstra Law School
• California Western School of Law
• Chapman University School of Law
• Golden Gate Law School
• McGeorge Law School/University of Pacific (#100)
• Southwestern University School of Law
• Thomas Jefferson School of Law
• Western State University
• Witter College of Law
• Thomas Cooley School of Law

Fleeing the Economic Dust Bowl: Indebted, Jobless Refugees . . .

Copyright Notice: If you are not reading this at All Education Matters, and unless I've explicitly given an individual or entity permission to publish my work, this post has been illegally appropriated. Please read original content here.


 . . . seeking asylum from U.S. economic slavery . . . which countries might be willing to take us in?