Many imagine a life of global travel and adventure. Southwest Wisconsin is the most beautiful place in the world, but it’s nice to check out other corners of the planet just to make sure. Doing so is easier than you think, and I’ll tell you how. A generation ago, this would have been a wild dream, but today it’s available to anyone with a college degree. I’ve even met senior citizens still enjoying an exotic and comfortable international lifestyle in their golden years.
It all starts by getting a little thing called a TEFL certificate (TEFL = Teaching English as a Foreign Language). Depending on the institution, this certificate takes 3-6 months to complete. After you get your teaching certificate, you will have options. Many people prefer Japan or Korea, but I was always more interested in the Middle East. Ten years ago, I left Fennimore, and since then I’ve lived in Saudi Arabia, Abu Dhabi, Spain, Croatia, London, and Istanbul.
It goes all the way back to 9/11. I was 12 years old on that day and until then I only knew magic lamp stories and vague images of people bowing down to pray on rugs with exotic curls of emerald green and gold. But after 9/11, scenes of camels and camouflage in the desert filled the 24 hour news channels, and the AM radio was full of shouting about Islamic extremism and war for oil or freedom (depending on who was shouting). I was fascinated and never accepted the war time propaganda that painted all Arabs or Muslims as fanatics, so I read history and geopolitics and promised myself, “Someday I’ll go and see first hand what it’s like over there.”
With a TEFL certificate and my Bachelor’s degree, I had the opportunity to go work in education, and I saw myself as a cultural ambassador. There was also another, less high minded, reason: the money was great. Arabia pays double what you make if you teach in the United States, accommodations are provided, and it’s tax free – seemed like a no brainer. I’m the only English Major to pay off student loans in the 21st century.
I was nervous how long it would take to get hired, but I found a job within a month. The region is still desperate for native English teachers, and all it takes is a college degree and an American passport to get snapped up. It was refreshing in those post-recession days of the 2010s when most of my graduating class were struggling to find anything in their field that payed a living wage.
There was one problem as I prepared to leave the comfy embrace of my grandma’s kitchen on Blue School Road – I was broke. I got a job at Timothy’s Cafe and saved every penny for my travel expenses. The school paid for my flight tickets and accommodations, but I still needed money for expenses upon arrival.
I had one other thing to do before leaving: interview families to adopt my Siberian Husky, Kanut. 10 years later, that’s still one of the saddest goodbyes of my life. He was my best friend for 5 years, since he was a puppy. We went through a lot together and I wished he could understand where I was going and why. Years after we said our last goodbye, he still comes to visit in my dreams. I hope he understands.
I found a good home for Kanut, saved up $500, bought a second-hand computer, and I was ready. In April 2013, Grandma drove me through the Driftless Area and the Wisconsin River Valley, past my birthplace in Platteville, my uncle’s dairy farm in Dodgeville, and finally to the Madison bus terminal. From there, it was on to Chicago O’hare and then Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. My ancestors had rode west into the sunset, but for me, it was time to go east.
Simeon Brown 