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As you may or may not know, Julie and I are planning to move to South Korea in early 2010 to teach English. Originally we were planning on leaving sooner, and had a great lead on a job starting in mid-July, however considering we both have siblings getting married in the next few months, we decided to postpone our adventure.

Over the last few days I have been reading a lot of blogs written by people who are currently teaching in Korea and it has really gotten me excited, overwhelmed, and terrified for the move. The uncertainty of not having a job lined up yet (we can’t apply until November), combined with the amount of stuff we have to do to pack up our life is already creating some stress.

Despite the stress though, there is nothing that I want to do more right now than move to South Korea.

Since I was a child I have always loved history and geography. I was sometimes a bit of a nerd. When I got a little bit older, my Dad worked with an organization that frequently brought international lawyers into our house while they were visiting the country. The love of geography and exposure to other cultures has manifested itself as a love of international travel and cultural experiences during my 20s.

In 2006 Julie and I made a rather hasty decision to take six weeks off of work and backpack around Europe. I would repeat that trip in a heartbeat and I think it was the best decision we made in our married lives. Since returning to America, we have both had a desire to live in another country for a year or two. While our focus had always been Europe, researching foreign teaching positions with our qualifications necessitated a focus on Asia.

Choosing South Korea as our first choice was actually very easy. While we considered China, Taiwan, and Japan, the compensation received for our work combined with the cost of living made Korea the obvious choice. We should be able to save a good chunk of money while still being able to live comfortably in South Korea.

While the decision to choose Korea was initially based on money and the availability of both modern conveniences and other foreigners, I have come to be excited to move to Korea simply because of the challenge of the culture and language. My readings have lead me to understand that Korean culture is very different from American culture and I have no doubt it was stretch me in ways that I find entirely frustrating. However, working through the frustration and learning to appreciate and understand the differences will no doubt make me a better person.

In the same way, teaching English to Korean children will allow me to share with them about our culture. They can learn more about the World and they will hopefully come to have a strong desire to learn about different cultures when they get older.

I would be lying if I said that I am not a little nervous about career prospects when we return to America. If we stay abroad for two years, I will be 29 when we come back and will have basically no career. I have faith though that this is what Julie and I are supposed to do and that God will provide answers when we return from this grand adventure.

As far as I’m concerned, 2010 can’t come soon enough!