![\"Woman](\"\/\/www.oxfordseminars.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/08\/TukTuk.jpg\")
<\/a><\/p>\nThe key difference between living abroad and just visiting a country is time.\u00a0 You will have the time to savor all the new tastes and experiences that come your way. \u00a0On a hike outside of Paris<\/a> I came upon a long table of guests celebrating a wedding.\u00a0 It was like a movie scene showing the very embodiment of happiness- a beautiful day, nature surrounding, and a table laden with food and wine.\u00a0 I was hiking with my French teacher because I could study French and travel which wouldn\u2019t have happened on a short sightseeing trip.<\/p>\n You have all the privileges of living abroad without all of the responsibilities. You are one step away with the vantage point of an observer.\u00a0 You can laugh at foibles like when a fistfight breaks out in the local Parliament or marvel at health care systems that actually work.\u00a0 You can even distance yourself from whatever events are happening in your home country.\u00a0 I asked a Peace Corps volunteer in the Philippines if he missed the constant news we get and he answered it was a relief not to follow it.\u00a0 Not to worry, if something really important is going on, you will know.\u00a0 The world is interconnected and no matter where we are, we can find out what we need to.\u00a0 Yet sometimes it streamlines your life to shed what is not important.\u00a0 A teacher who lived in China<\/a> said she learned just enough Chinese to know the words like restroom and shopping language.<\/p>\n Another advantage of living abroad is you can learn about the history of the country you\u2019re in.\u00a0 People often want to show pride in their homeland by sharing things about it.\u00a0 All you may need is some perfunctory language skills to show that you truly are interested in what your chosen country has to offer.\u00a0 While walking through a town square in the province of Tarragona, Spain<\/a>, a group of retirees was sitting on a bench under a plane tree.\u00a0 One called me aside to ask me what brought me there.\u00a0 I explained I was an English teacher. They told me about the Spanish Civil War and showed me a monument to an American brigadista who had fought in a nearby town.\u00a0 That question of what brought you here has served me well in my own teaching experience when I ask that question to refugees in the US or students studying English abroad.<\/p>\n Living abroad can teach you sensitivity to other cultures and allow you to experience them to the fullest. There may be many different ways of doing things that you\u2019re not familiar with. \u00a0In Malaysia<\/a> I could experience Malay, Chinese<\/a>, and Indian cultures<\/a> simultaneously.\u00a0 I tried my hand at learning some Chinese, I went jogging with an Indian friend, and I taught ethnic Malaysians.\u00a0 All of this helped me to see great possibilities of co-existence.\u00a0 As one Malaysian told me while going out for dinner, it was best to order chicken since beef and pork were taboo with Hindus and Muslims. Of course, I was able to try three different cuisines that still make my mouth water to this day.\u00a0 There were the Indian curries eaten with the right hand served on palm leaves, the Malaysian Roti Canai, and Chinese dishes like drunken shrimp and yam baskets.\u00a0 Living abroad requires a sensitivity that we could all stand to learn in this increasingly polarized world.<\/p>\n The most unexpected benefit of your experience abroad will be the possibility of seeing your own country from a new perspective.\u00a0 You will be able to appreciate what you\u2019ve missed and you\u2019ll gain new insights into the places you\u2019ve been.\u00a0 Not to mention that you will have lots of stories to share and unparalleled life experiences.<\/p>\n [wp_social_sharing social_options=’facebook,twitter,pinterest’ twitter_username=’oxford_seminars’ facebook_text=’Share on Facebook’ twitter_text=’Share on Twitter’ googleplus_text=’Share on Google+’ pinterest_text=Share on Pinterest\\” icon_order=’f,t,g,p’ show_icons=’1′ before_button_text=” text_position=” social_image=’ \/blog\/wp-content\/plugins\/wp-social-sharing\/static\/socialshare.png’]<\/p>\n Written By Teresa Peipins<\/p>\n \u201cBe a traveler, not a tourist. Try new things, meet new people, and look beyond what\u2019s right in front of you. Those are the keys to understanding this amazing world we live in.\u201d\u00a0– Andrew Zimmern As an ESL teacher abroad you are no longer a tourist. You can actually live and work in another […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":9,"featured_media":2087,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[343],"tags":[196,8,179,284,90,102],"class_list":["post-2080","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-travel","tag-adventure","tag-culture","tag-life-abroad","tag-living-abroad","tag-teaching-english-abroad","tag-travel"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.oxfordseminars.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2080","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.oxfordseminars.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.oxfordseminars.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.oxfordseminars.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/9"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.oxfordseminars.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2080"}],"version-history":[{"count":13,"href":"https:\/\/www.oxfordseminars.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2080\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4841,"href":"https:\/\/www.oxfordseminars.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2080\/revisions\/4841"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.oxfordseminars.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2087"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.oxfordseminars.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2080"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.oxfordseminars.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2080"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.oxfordseminars.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2080"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}2. Refocusing Your Life on What’s Important<\/h2>\n
<\/a><\/p>\n3. Learning About the History of Your New Country<\/h2>\n
<\/a><\/p>\n4. Experiencing Exciting New Cultures<\/h2>\n
<\/a><\/p>\n5. Gaining New Perspectives on Your Own Country<\/h2>\n
<\/a><\/p>\nThe World is waiting.\u00a0Get out there and explore it!<\/h2>\n<\/p>\n
Download our Course Guide<\/a><\/h3>\n<\/p>\n
Sign up for a free information session about teaching ESL overseas<\/a><\/h3>\n<\/p>\n
Find a TESOL\/TESL\/TEFL course near you<\/a><\/h3>\n<\/p>\n
<\/a>
\nTeresa Peipins spent many years teaching in Barcelona, Spain<\/a> at institutes and\u00a0at the university.\u00a0 Her first job abroad was in Medellin, Colombia<\/a>, and she\u00a0never looked back.\u00a0 From there, she taught in Malaysia<\/a> before finding a home in\u00a0Spain.\u00a0 Presently she’s teaching at the Savannah College of Art and Design Language Studio in Atlanta and has a novel forthcoming with Black Rose Publishing.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"