cool questions!
1. I wonder how come you left your native country and chose to teach abroad, in countries where the language and culture are so different from your own?
i was studying marketing management in school and by the time i had finished my degree i was pretty sick of business. after i graduated i spent 3 weeks in europe and that made me realize i wanted to travel some more. so after i got back from europe i enrolled in a tefl course and months later i was in a classroom in korea.
2. Can you recollect any instance of the so called "culture shock". when you understood that something you considered common knowledge was unheard of in your new country of residence, or when you did something you considered OK but which made people around you raise their eyebrows?
even after 5 years in korea, this seems to happen almost all of the time. one funny thing that springs to mine happened at my first school. the classroom doors all had windows. my director was standing at the door, which she sometimes did just to observe the class, waving at me. i smiled. she waved again. i waved back. then she opened the door and asked me to step out of class for a moment. then i remembered that when koreans gesture "come here" with their hands they do so with their palms down in contrast to americans who gesture "come here" palm up. gesturing with palm up in korea is how you summon a dog and is very offensive.
thanks for the great questions manuela!
