Looking around the airport, he tries to gather his disheveled thoughts, doing his best to understand what the native people around him are saying. Signs and advertisements written in a foreign language place him further in a sea of ambiguity, over five thousand miles away from everything he knows.

His eyes scan the majority of the people in the area and he notices that their skin tone, hair, eyes, and the language they speak are vastly different from his own. Moises Loza begins to feel a little more out of place. Having made some friends who speak English with him on the flight, he stays close by them, holding on to the tiny bit of security that at least they understand each other.

Even though he has been to South Korea before as an exchange student, this time is different. After being accepted into Korean President Lee Myung-Bak's Teach and Learn in Korea program (TaLK), Loza and nearly four hundred other native English speakers flew from across the world to teach elementary students throughout the country how to speak English. And as it turns out, even the teacher of a classroom can be taught by the students.

"Teaching abroad has helped me in my life by taking examples or situations found within a foreign classroom, and being able to adapt them into my own life," Loza says.

"There is a noticeable difference between the study habits of foreign-educated students versus students from your home country. I have myself been able to learn from Korean students, and apply their habits to my own."

Richard Magana, an SF State alumnus and current English teacher at the Avalon English Academy in Incheon, South Korea, agrees on the benefits of teaching English abroad.

"Prior to leaving the states, I never had a strong desire to leave my social comfort zone," he says. "But it got to a point where my life became a routine that I soon got bored of, so I decided that I would have a more meaningful impact on my life and others by teaching."

"I have had numerous jobs back in the states," he continues, "but teaching is the most challenging and rewarding job I have ever had--knowing I am making an impact on a students life, whether it be directly related to expanding their knowledge of the English language, or expanding their knowledge of American culture through my teaching."

Sharon Jung, a Korean American from Long Island, New York, also participated in the TaLK program, and she thinks highly of her time spent in Korea.

"It was such an amazing opportunity to just get out and experience life in another country," she says. "Even though I've grown up in a Korean family and know about Korean culture, I'm still American so it's different to have lived in a place outside of where I grew up. I'm thankful because I made a lot of new friends and met so many interesting and different people from all over the world through TaLK."

There are several government and non-government programs dedicated to having native English speakers teach in their prospective countries, all with varying qualifications and lengths of stay. While TaLK is geared toward South Korea and offers a six-month or one-year contract, other programs, such as the JET Programme and NET Scheme, invite people to teach in Japan and Hong Kong for a full year.

Those who are interested in teaching outside of Asia, in Latin American, or European countries, can look for more information from the English Opens Doors Program offered by the Chilean Ministry of Education, or the Czech Ministry of Education to teach in the Czech Republic.

While most programs offer room and board along with a monthly stipend or compensation for the time spent teaching, other programs take a philanthropic approach to having native English teachers, where the compensation is the "experience," as Lindsay VanCantfort, another student at SF State, puts it.

VanCantfort took part of the program Cross-Cultural Solutions, a non-profit organization where volunteers pay to work in third and second world countries. Her time with the program was spent in Africa for six weeks, in the countries of Tanzania and Kenya, where she spent nearly seven hours a day, five days a week teaching and caring for children between the ages of three and nine.

"I have always had an attraction towards Africa," she says. "[After] hearing about all the things happening within Darfur and the surrounding areas, I couldn't resist. The situations and circumstances we allow people to live in was something I was not going to sit back and watch."

VanCantfort applied for programs like the Peace Corps, but didn't fit the requirements, so she found a smaller organization and went with them instead.

"The experience never stops affecting you. I will most likely have a career involving this line of work," she says.

Especially with the economy in a rut, graduating students who are unsure of what to do or looking for a means to travel, experience life in another country, and earn money can find a solution in teaching English overseas, where the qualifications are not as demanding as one might think.

Jose Felix, a senior at SF State, is a prospective teacher for the program English Program in Korea (EPIK), another program from South Korea.

"If any other students wanted to [teach English abroad], you pretty much have to have a degree from an English-speaking institute," Felix says. "Some places don't even require a degree. But you can have your degree in pretty much anything as long as you're from a country where English is the natural language. Some places require a [teaching] certificate, but most others just require you to have your four-year degree."

People who haven't had any teaching experience needn't worry. Most programs offer a training period or orientation, which helps teachers with insight on cultural barriers and tips for classroom management. TaLK and EPIK also provides a native Korean co-teacher to work with, so that the language barrier and learning environment can be more effective.

"It's a whole new experience and a good way to get out of your comfort zone," Felix says.

Contact: edwinlee@sfsu.edu | Eddie enjoys skateboarding, playing poker, watching Entourage, and busting a move on the dance floor. That's what she said.