Preparing to go

Hello family and friends!

Welcome to the place to find any and all information about my trip to South Korea. I'll take this first post to let you guys know how I came to this decision.

First of all, let me tell you that I absolutely love being a reporter. I think it's what I was born to do. I currently cover Shaler Township, Shaler Area School District and Hampton Township School district. My time reporting on these areas has been wonderful.

I've made a lot of friends and written a lot of great stories. The people in my communities are great, and it will be sad to say goodbye.

There are some downsides to being a reporter, of course. One is that a reporter will never make much money. That's okay for now because I'm doing what I love. The second problem is that many, many papers are dying because they're poorly managed from the top. That's no different than the company I'm leaving. Let's just say I'll be thrilled to tell them goodbye.

I've wanted to travel my entire life and considered teaching English as that avenue since college. My main problems were that I didn't know much about any of the companies that send you, and I was fortunate enough to get a job before I even graduated.

But here I am at a company I don't like and see a chance to go. It turns out my elementary through high school buddy, Dan Sadley, has been over there for four months. So with him as my recon man, I've amassed enough information to feel confident in making my decision.

What better place to go than an Asian country? There are so many things to learn about their culture, language, people and cities. There are very few negatives about the situation.

I'll actually be making significantly more money there as well as living rent free. That will give me a chance to send even more money in to pay off my student loans. That's something I didn't expect to do for a long time.

Teachers over there make nearly three times the cost of living of an average family. Public transportation and entertainment are ridiculously cheap. Working hours aren't too long or demanding, and there will be a host of other native English-speaking countries sending other people for me to meet.

Of course, I will miss all of you greatly. My contract will be for one year. I will get two one-week breaks, but won't be able to come home until my year is over. Even then, it's not far out of the question to assume that I'll consider staying even longer. A year is a long time, however, and much could happen in that time.

Just so you know, the best place to reach me is through crazyruthless@yahoo.com or on facebook. Don't be afraid to get on and try it out. You'll be able to follow this blog on this website or through my facebook page. I'll also post a ton of pics on facebook.

I have about a month left in the U.S. and will update with more details as they come. I'm on the verge of signing with a school in onyeon-dong in the city of Incheon. It's the third largest city in South Korea with 2.1 million people.

Until then, there is still much to do.

Keep checking back for updates!
-Aaron