Thirteen Reasons I Teach EFLAs an English as a foreign language teacher I have a love hate relationship with my job. I realize that is not limited to us EFLer’s, however our jobs are viewed by most as transient anyway. No one expects to do it more than a year or two. So when you keep coming back to it, well there just has to be a reason.1. Number one is both a reason to keep teaching as well as to quit – the students! Just as some of them make you want to jump out a window to end everyone’s pain, some you really look forward to seeing and working with. I will never forget getting postcards from students after the course is over, or even how much I simply enjoy speaking with others. Some of my best discussions are with students. If anything I feel guilty, almost like they are paying me to be a friend. Every student that drives you crazy, there are 10 that you are happy you were able to meet! 2. Travel!!!!! Teaching English lets you travel to your gypsy soul’s content. China for Christmas, Taiwan for New Years, and Rome for the weekend are just a few of the trips I have been able to do thanks to teaching English. There are times I wonder if jumping out the window is a better alternative than listening to a student argue that they know my language better than me (in which fine, keep making parties then, you obviously know what I do not! ;-P ) and then I think about how in 3 weeks time I am going to the Caribbean, and less than a month a long weekend in Krakow. It is the balm on those days with cantankerous students.   3. The FOOD!!! Tied into my real number one reason, which for no particular reason is appearing as number 2, the food you get to eat is amazing. Although sometimes what is placed on display for you is enough to make you queasy for weeks (raw horse meat, cow brains, and fermented squid guts have all been pushed upon me, none without a great amount of success) others make me wake up in the middle of the night craving a return. Mie Machi in Japan despite being a village in the middle of a rice field has restaurants that do not rival but surpass any and all I had been in before and since. And who could forget the Asado’s of Argentina as you feasted on a plain with no one but you and your travel partner in sight.
4. Who else is going to pay me that much money to ramble on about topics that interest me in the interest of bettering a students general conversational skills?
5. Mt. Fuji. I will never EVER do it again. But I am so proud of myself for doing it. 
6. Movie theaters in other countries. This may be me being a freak, but I love going to the movies, and I love seeing movies in other countries. In Thailand they make you stand to the national anthem while pictures of the king and his family flash about on the screen, I would never have witnessed that if I did not teach English!
7. The people! I recently signed into Facebook to show a student an example of viral marketing and they could not believe I had over 250 friends. I explained to her that with Facebook you just add people you barely know, or people who knew years before, it is not an accurate description. However I would say I have 100 people on that list I would honestly count as friends, and 30 whom I would say are the true kind, no matter how much time or space separates us. I dont think this would have been possible if I had not lived in so many different countries and places.
8. Greater cultural understanding. Though far from perfect, I do have a much more open mind then seven years ago, and I always thought that I did actually have an open mind. But little things, like understanding the fear that a uniform can inspire in you has really opened my eyes to the immigrant experience in Canada, or other countries for that matter.
9. It is a great way (forgive me for being cheesy here) to fulfill your dreams. There is no way I would have been able to afford to do the traveling I have done, or the things I have seen, if it was not for teaching English, both in terms of time and money. Taking great breaks between contracts does not hurt your career as an EFL teacher, in fact its often expected and many contracts give you an apartment and a plane ticket, which also helps immensely. Even in Germany where they offer you neither, you are still in a prime location to have Europe at your fingertips. I am flying to Croatia in February for 50 Euros return. That would have been the taxes on my ticket from Canada – if I was lucky!
10. You can learn a new language as well! Most schools offer courses in other languages besides English, and will let you join a class for free or a substantial discount. Though I am hardly proficient in German, it is improving continuously as I am surrounded by German in my everyday life, on the TV, and technically courses, should I ever have the free time to take one. ;-P
11. Other teachers! Like the students you may find that some EFL teachers are, for want of a better word, completely loony. However that situation is found in any and all jobs. But a lot of the time you will find that other teachers are people like you, wanting to travel and experience the world, and they can be your best partners in crime, be it on the hunt for Tostitos in Hiroshima or a cultural backlash bitch at the local Starbucks (and of course your going to have them!).
12. You can do it pretty much anywhere! It doesn’t matter if your doing it to travel, or just because your in love with someone from another country, or who has been transferred there, chances are you can teach English there, even if there is Australia, Canada, or Ireland.
13. You can often work as much or as little as you want. This is especially true for freelancers like myself, where I have to agree to each class/student, or I can say no without any effect if I wish. But in Korea I took my time finding a contract because I didn’t want to start work before 12.
Links to other Thursday Thirteens! (leave your link in comments, I’ll add you here!)
Amy, Dallas Miao, Julia, Mama Archer
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