By Kang Hyun-kyung
Staff Reporter
Despite being in the minority, there certainly does exist such a species as nomads, who consider jobs instruments to finance their explorations of other cultures.
Nam Wan-wook, 32, who teaches English conversation to aspirant working holidaymakers at a private institute in Seoul, is one of the nomads who wishes to work six months a year and embark on adventures among other cultures the rest of the time in her future.
Nam likes traveling off the beaten track, and, therefore, exploring other cultures is much more than having fun or a getaway to her.
Her 20s were filled with three events: attending college for four years, living in Australia, New Zealand and Canada for one year each on working holidays and preparing for her overseas adventure between the two.
``The work and travel program, especially that in Australia in 1999, was an experience of a lifetime,'' she told The Korea Times.
``I met really wonderful friends out there who shared their wisdom with me,'' Nam recalled.
In retrospect, her Australian friend Jason was one of them, greatly influencing her future career choice. He gave her tips about how she should spend the money that she saved for nine months down under on a working holiday.
``I believe the money you spend when you are in your 20s is all investment. When you spend money on drinking, you will have a broad human network. When you spend money on studying, you will have a bright future. When you spend money on traveling, you will have a wider view,'' her Australian friend was quoted as saying.
Nam accepted Jason's second and third tips. She earned the certificates of Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages (TESOL) and Certificate in English Language Teaching to Adults (CELTA) while she was a working holidaymaker in Australia and New Zealand, respectively.
And there is no doubt that the two certificates paved the way for her career after the work and travel program.
After exploring a variety of jobs in the aforementioned countries, Nam is now teaching English, serving as a mentor for future working holidaymakers as well as a travel writer, who recently had a book published titled ``Working Holiday English.''
``I wanted to share my experience with working holidays in the three countries and thought one of the ways to help was to publish a book that can offer hands-on tips,'' she said.
``As far as my personal experience goes, there are two different schools of thought on working holiday programs. Some complain, while others really like it and say that they had really good experiences,'' Nam said.
According to her, the major difference between the two different groups was that the latter are more prepared for the program in terms of English proficiency than the former.
To make the experience memorable, the importance of being prepared for the program cannot be overemphasized, she added.