Dear Gobi Desert,
I appreciate your desire to travel, and fully understand the thrill one receives when hopping from country to country. Seeing the sights in China, North Korea, South Korea, and Japan offers you the chance to become well-traveled; and earns you bragging rights among your friends—the Sahara, the Arabian, and the Kalahari. However, your seasonal travels bring with them unwanted tag-alongs; and although I am a fan of sand, I have not found much in common with the other particulates that accompany you on your journey. Blowing through many interesting and highly populated areas gives you an opportunity to pick up an abundance of souvenirs, which unfortunately includes harmful industrious pollutants.
Perhaps you are unaware of the sulphur, soot, ash, carbon monoxide, mercury, cadmium, chromium, arsenic, lead, zinc, copper, and other carcinogens that consider you a "free ride." In addition, many viruses, bacteria, fungi, pesticides, antibiotics, asbestos, herbicides, plastic ingredients, combustion products, and hormone mimicking phthalates seem to enjoy your yearly excursions. I'm speaking for most of East Asia when I say we would prefer not to breathe in these additional toxins. The daily sore throats and nasal problems have not been met with joyful acceptance, and I fear my already slow running pace is being negatively affected as well.
In addition, I'd like to express to you my desire for a blue sky. Over the past several months coinciding with your trip, I've been tricked into believing the sky has permanently morphed into grayish yellow. Thankfully, I have easily convinced my young students that their light blue crayons are still called sky blue while yellow is reserved for the sun and many species of flowers. As of yet, they have not caught on to the discrepancy; but I feel there isn't much time left.
Please understand my request of your exodus from this area. I think Mongolia is an incredible place, and I hope to visit you personally one day.
xoxo,
Travelgirl
3 comments:
Hi! I came across your blog and find it so informative! I am thinking about teaching in S. Korea this summer. Is there any advice you can offer about recruiting agencies or schools? I have just started looking for jobs. Thanks! Keep on blogging!
Hi Raya,
I used an agency called, Flying Cows; which is based out of England. They were really great in helping me find a job that fit what I was looking for. I'd definitely recommend using a recruiter if you're coming to Korea for the first time, because they usually have a solid relationship with the schools they deal with and know more about the ins and outs of the entire process. As far as types of schools to consider, there are many. I work in a hagwon, which is an after school academy. I have 1st through upper-middle school students who show up starting at 3:00 pm and come in rotating shifts until nearly 10:00 pm. Therefore, my work hours are much different than for those who work in public schools. Of course, there are pros and cons of both including vacation time, work hours, foreign to korean teacher ratios, curriculum, etc. If you'd like more information, let me know your e-mail address and I'd be happy to talk with you more in-depth. Thanks for reading my blog! Good luck with everything!
thanks for the info. my email is rayabelna@gmail.com i sent flying cows an email. how do you like it there?
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