The first thing that crossed my mind while writing this review was Oh, I just do it for the peace of mind. Because I had professionals who, step-by-step guided me through pre-arrival procedures, was a tremendous advantage. Doing it without any guidance or only assistance from one or two people, seems unbearable to me.
This was the case because TEIK and their staff helped to make all the processes much more manageable than they would have been otherwise. I mean just looking for foreign vacancies and then searching for and sending all the necessary documents for the job is hard. But with their assistance and very informative manuals, I found it to be a task I can handle without difficulty.
However, it did not stop when I reached Korea. The in country networing dinner/orientation turned out to be invaluable for countess reasons. The networking dinner was a nice way to begin the stay in this country as it relieved many of my fears and self consciousness associated with relocating to a different country and meeting other new teachers. Not only this, but the dinner also provided me opportunities of discussing lesson planning as well as teaching with other new teachers. The greatest thing however, were other people and activities which I had after meeting them at the networking dinner hosted by TEIK. It felt great to be around such a large group of people with similar interests and to learn about them. I even now stay in contact with the majority of them and make a point to visit them when possible.
Finally, I loved that I could keep in contact with Brad and get invited to a 2nd networing dinner in the Spring of next year. It made me feel safe having a number of professional contacts that I could independently contact in case the need arose. The program from TEIK is like you get placed with someone who will be your contact whenever you need and the great news is, they have to reply and they always do.
If you are targeting any teaching abroad program, this program is definitely worth the expense, and will put you at ease regarding any concerns you have about your prospective new place and any challenges you might have.
Mary Heart