Strick tries to blend in as a teacher while she stands out in South Korea and Thailand.
As an American with blonde hair, Bailey Strick (WC ’13) is used to standing out in a crowd while she teaches in South Korea and Thailand.
“It was definitely something I had to get used to,” Strick said with a laugh. “Something I learned in a psychology class was that most people aren’t actually paying attention to you as much as you’d think. That was not the case in Korea. The stares were initially intimidating, but I adjusted to them over time. Some people were curious, and sometimes uncomfortable, but it became a part of life. It really forced me to confront my social anxiety head-on.”
Since graduating from Indiana Wesleyan University with a bachelor’s degree in illustration, Strick has spent most of her time teaching in Southeast Asia. After spending four years teaching in the public school system in Cheonan, South Korea, Strick recently relocated to the island of Ko Samui in Thailand where she is a first grade “home room” teacher, meaning she teaches English, Math, Science, and Humanities at an international school.
Growing up, Strick, who attended Worthington Christian from eighth to 12th grade, said she never envisioned living in a foreign country. When she was in high school, her family’s six-hour exodus to Lake Norris, Tenn., seemed like a long trip.
“While it’s a long drive to Lake Norris, it’s not the same as going overseas,” said Strick, who also went on Worthington Christian’s mission trip to the Dominican Republic during her senior year. “But those trips were nothing like when I went to Spain to visit a friend who was teaching English abroad.
“I had been tinkering with the idea (of living in a foreign country) for a while, but spending two weeks traveling lit a fire in me. The independence of that trip set it apart. I returned from that trip knowing I needed to experience living in a different country.”
After she returned home from Spain, Strick read a friend’s Facebook post saying she was moving to South Korea to teach English. That set the wheels in motion.
“I couldn’t believe someone I knew was actually doing that,” she said. “I immediately hit her up for information, and she gave me the email address of a recruiter. Fast forward six months, and I was going to Korea.”
According to goabroad.com, there is a demand for American teachers in South Korea because of the country’s emphasis on learning English. The website said South Korea “offers one of the highest English teaching salaries in the world, averaging around $2,000 per month.”
“English has been regarded as the international language of travel and business,” Strick said. “English is a must for countries that want to prepare their youth for international travel.
“(To prepare for the trip) I had been studying Korean as a hobby before I moved there to become conversational naturally. I hired a tutor during my second year, which greatly helped. Thai has not worked out that way, but I plan to find a tutor next year.”
During her stint in South Korea, Strick taught English to fourth, fifth, and sixth graders, teaching four to five classes daily from 8:40 a.m. to 4:40 p.m. Each day, she focused on a single grade level. For example, on Mondays, she taught four different groups of sixth-grade students: 6-1, 6-2, and 6-3 groups before taking a break for lunch, and then she finished out the day with the 6-4 group.
In Thailand, Strick faces a different challenge, teaching four different subjects to her first-year students.
“The Korean setup was great because I only had to prepare one lesson per day and teach it to four different groups of children,” she said.
“It’s definitely a lot more work being a home room teacher in Thailand, but the connection you build by working with the same students daily is incomparable.”
The educational system’s setup isn’t the only difference between the two countries. South Korea’s climate is similar to Ohio’s in that it has four distinct seasons. According to Strick, Thailand has “levels of hot and humid all year round.” The most significant difference is how the two cultures handle work schedules.
“Korea has a ‘balli, balli’ attitude, which means ‘hurry, hurry,’” she said. “It has a feeling of urgency that applies to everything. Plans change suddenly, and everyone is expected to drop what they have been doing and get things done as quickly as possible. Thailand has a ‘sabai, sabai’ outlook, which sports a more relaxed energy. Things will get done in their own time. Both lend to a feeling of chaos when it comes to planning.”
One of Strick’s favorite experiences during her South Korean tenure was preparing students for a school assembly.
“Our English department was tasked with preparing a performance for our culture festival. We prepared a skit and choreography to the song ‘Friend Like Me’ (from Disney’s Aladdin),” she said. “For weeks, we would have dance practice before school with a group of 15 students. Performing in front of the school was so much fun, and the roars of applause as we thanked the audience in Korean were unforgettable.”
Because of the cost of airline tickets and the travel time involved, Strick rarely gets a chance to return home for a visit, but she wouldn’t change anything for this experience.
“America is a huge country with a lot of diversity, so it’s easy to see why people may not see the value in traveling abroad,” she said. “Living (outside the United States) has allowed me to grow exponentially. It allowed me to challenge social norms and decide what I truly believe. Experiencing different cultures, foods, and ways of life is food for your soul.”