China...My Final Decision

My name is Katarina H. Allen and this blog is for all my family and friends who wanted to see my adventures as they unfold and all my photographs that I will be taking.  Hopefully this blog can give you some insight into another world and might help you make your own decisions on what to do with your life when people disagree or it becomes more difficult than expected.

As my undergraduate career was coming to an end I knew I had to find a job, but no one would have guessed where I had my heart set on going.  The economy has been so bad within the United States recently that I knew I wouldn't be able to find a decent job within the time period I had set, which was a lot earlier than most of my class had applied.  So one day an email struck my eye, "Do you want to teach in Japan?" My mind said yes, then my heart said yes and the decision was made.  I felt this was the correct life choice for me.  I was still young, I never studied abroad or traveled out of the country, and had no job, this was definitely the right time to do this type of work.  I applied to over ten different teaching programs that were located overseas of which the main countries were Japan, Korea and China.

The program that responded to me quickly was The LanguageCorps, but I knew I still had some questions and further digging to do in order to make sure this wasn't a hoax.  After many hours and days researching this program I decided to go ahead with the interview process.  I have always had a good gut feeling when something is wrong and I always have many back-up plans A-Z honestly, which most people would say I'm pessimistic, but in reality I really do plan for anything and everything.

So after all my interviews were complete I decided this program, which would help me get a teaching job in China, would be the best for me.  I would travel to Cambodia in August and receive hands-on TESOL training, which most of the other programs did not provide, and work with the local orphanages, get a trip to Angkor Wat, and get lessons on teaching English from Pannasastra University of Cambodia.

I got hired by the Aston Educational Group in Xianyang, China where I would be teaching Chinese students English 23 hours a week for one year with a renewable contract, with 14 days of vacation time, and I get to teach ages 4-18 which is what I had ultimately wanted.  True the application process was long and I had to wait for my diploma in order to start applying for Visa paperwork in China, but if you're willing to follow your dreams, it doesn't seem like much.

When I told my fiance of my decision to teach in another country it wasn't easy, but luckily he supported my dreams and my need to be employed instead of a couch potato.  I'm independent and I like being that way, but my family were the ones to react the most.
I've been a floater for the past four years going from place to place only because my college shut down during holiday breaks.
I'm not afraid to leave my family and friends, I'm not afraid to be put in hard situations that cause me to think quickly.  Life will ultimately throw those things my way anyway, why not just meet it head on?

CAT in Chinese is MAO (rhymes with cow) and this is probably what all the kids will call me in China.