Live Truly

After further thought and further research, I’m still not sure about elevating living abroad to goal status. It’s a definite desire, but I feel I need a few more days and a few more pages of writing before making that commitment and starting to visualize it–I’m already having a hard enough time concentrating.

Last night and this morning I did do some further research and found out that it may actually save money. It turns out that unless someone is making over 70 or 80k, there are abroad tax exemptions. So someone making 40k here, would end up keeping 26k. Whereas someone making 29k in Japan, would end up keeping the same 26k. Not bad! However, there are other factors: like the cost of living and having to learn a new language (it’s good to be learning, but frustrating not being able to speak).

There’s a fantastic post about teaching English in abroad: rec.arts.anime.misc: ot ba wanted to teach English abroad. K9 covers just about everything and really puts things into perspective. He really brings home the point about really analyzing one’s reasons for going to teach abroad, and understanding the commitment and responsibility. He also has a great little chart about the pay, costs, savings, positives, and negatives of working in the four top countries. Thailand is in the top four and I can’t wait to get back, but it seems that in order to make a real impact, it might be more worthwhile to make money elsewhere and then use it to make a greater impact there.

In fact, looking at the net income, one really has to have some very valid reasons to only save 6k that year. It’s one of those experience versus time questions. The culture, the language, the insights, new (good) habits, friends, connections, and experience, but at the cost of one year in career and one year in pay/savings. I’m still not sold either way. Will I make a true difference for my students? Will I really gain such insights? At the same time, why not make this count as a year in career development? Is it worth 15k though? For that I could live in Thailand for a year and pay for a dozen kids to get high school educations there.

The more I think about it, the more I think it’d be better to start building my career and investing now and perhaps taking my trip in two or three years. On the other hand, perhaps this could be the opportunity of a lifetime, since I’m still unclear about my career and still not sure where I’m going. Yes, spinning without a target, but perhaps this could be removing the blindfold.

Perhaps some further reading for this weekend:
Teaching English Overseas: A Job Guide for Americans & Canadians
The Global Citizen: A Guide to Creating an International Life and Career