Why Seoul?

MacKensie, why are you heading off to Korea after studying Chinese for six years? That's a good question.

After a series of dissapointing rejections from graduate schools this spring I felt like I had two choices; continue working in CRM as I have been for two years (which was neither impressive enough for my graduate applications nor lucrative enough to get me out of my mom's house) or try something... well, completely different.

My original intent upon entering the field of anthropology was always so that I would be able to live and work in Asia doing a job that I actually enjoyed. Since it has proven harder than I anticipated to enjoy both Asia and anthropology at the same time, I guess they will have to take turns. Hopefully an opportunity to combine the two will present itself in the near future.

My current plan is to take teaching jobs in Asia and volunteer, when possible, on digs and at museums wherever I am located. As I still have some bills to pay off at home I am heading to Korea first, where higher pay and lower cost of living will allow me to save up enough to support myself should I move on to China afterwards.

At the date of this post I have not yet secured a teaching job in Korea. I have amassed all of the requirement documents, updated my resume, and written a cover letter. Tomorrow I will submit application materials to a recruiting agency and go from there! I will also be contacting archaeologists at various museums in Seoul to find out about volunteer opportunities. Wish me luck!