Before I get into all the nitty gritty details of what Alex and I have done up to this point, I thought I would write an introduction so that you would know who I am and what's going on inside my head. I organized the introduction into a few simple categories so that it makes them easier to read. I will do my best to get Alex to answer similar questions. However, she is busier than I am with work right now, so her introduction will probably not come for at least a few weeks.
Who am I and where do I come from?
My name is Michael Davidson and approximately twenty-five years ago I was born in Burlington, Ontario, Canada. I lived the first 18 years of my life in Hamilton, Ontario attending elementary, middle and highschool before I went to York University in Toronto to study Chemistry. Two years into my degree I decided to switch to an Education degree and a year after that I decided I needed a change in scenery. I moved out west to Victoria, BC to attend the University of Victoria, where I completed my Bachelors of Education in June 2007.
I have been involved in a variety of extra-curricular activities through all of my years of schooling, but the last 10 years or so I have focused mostly on running. I ran with the track and cross country teams at my highschool and both universities I attended. My successes were small, but I am happy with what I accomplished. Lately I have been busy working three jobs so I have been unable to run as much as I would like.
I am also very big on the idea of sustainability. There are those who would call me a tree-hugger, or environmentally friendly, but they are missing the point. I believe that we are all a part of the world around us. If we hurt or damage the world and it's other inhabitants we are hurting and damaging ourselves. If I had a goal with all of my thinking about the issue it would be to help people to change their perspective so that they see how we are all connected to each other and our surroundings (environment?).
Why do I want to go to Korea?
The cliched answer would be: “why not?” but I'll spare you that for now. As you may have gathered in the above answer, I have not been anywhere in the world (except for a few Canadian provinces and a few American states). The biggest appeal for teaching in Korea is that it is somewhere different. I have always wondered what things are like elsewhere. I want to experience a different way of life. That being said, those who know me will know that I'm a bit particular about certain things. I want to eventually see the world, but I don't think I'm ready for a lot of the places that I want to go to. I think (and we'll see if this turns out to be the case in the coming months) that Korea is a nice first step. Things will be different, but I don't expect them to be so different that I won't be able to function. It is my hope that Korea is the first step on a career spent teaching and helping those all over the world.
Korea also has an established history of english speakers coming over to teach as well as a large network of agencies and companies that can help with the placement process. As mentioned above, I like to try new things, but at this point in my life, I'm not ready to take huge risks by going to a country in which I will have no support network.
I have also had a big attraction to Asia (to be honest, I've had an attraction to most global areas that I haven't been to) and for the longest time I've wanted to go there. This will give me a chance to live there and, on occasion, visit other countries that are close by.
One final reason I will discuss (I'm sure there are many more I could add to this explanation, but it is getting a bit long) is the lack of jobs and opportunities where I am. Being a teacher I was told there would be a lot of work. There has not been much where I am living right now (Victoria, BC) and I have heard that other areas of the country (Ontario) have more teachers than classrooms. Though this is helping me feel good about my decision to go, most of my frustration finding a teaching job came after I decided to go to Korea.
Thats all for now. I'm sure you'll learn more about me in future posts and hopefully you'll learn all about Alex as well. If you have any questions you would like answered, please post a response and I will try to include answers in future posts. Keep in mind, I do have some ideas and I plan on being very comprehensive so I may already plan on answering your questions.
Until next time...
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