Catherine Semerjian is the latest Semerjian sibling to be successfully placed in a teaching position in South Korea by Footprints Recruiting. She is replacing her brother Alex at Shindap Elementary School in Dongbu, Seoul, teaching for the Seoul Metropolitan Office of Education. Her older sister Adrianna started the trend by accepting a job with a private school in Seoul through Footprints in December, 2002. Her older brother Alex started his career in South Korea by teaching in a private school in Seoul through Footprints in 2003, before accepting a job with the Seoul Metropolitan Office of Education through Footprints last year.
Alex is now leaving Korea to take the Via Lingua TESL certification class in Crete (also recommended by Footprints) before teaching businessmen in Russia or the Middle East. When asked about his experience in Korea, Alex said, “Korea is a very interesting place – it has a very unique culture, and was a fun experience and I enjoyed myself.” Little sister Catherine just arrived in Seoul to take over Alex’s old position. The ‘Flying Semerjians’ are the first group of 3 siblings placed by Footprints and have accounted for four placements between them.
Their mother – Catherine, said, “all three came back wiser and smarter and more mature than before they left - this was a great experience for them.” She and her husband also took the opportunity to visit their children in Korea. After their experience in Korea they now host Korean ESL students in their home. Adrianna, the original Footprints applicant, is now teaching ESL in the Toronto area to injured workers.
Adrianna Semerjian
It's hard to summarize a life-altering experience like Korea in a few words. For all the ups and downs that come with living in a foreign country, I don't regret a minute of my time there. I did not return to Canada as the same person. Every day in Korea brought a new awareness, a new sight (and often a new smell). I was also particularly fortunate to have shared the experience with my family members.
Catherine (Jr) Semerjian
It was a tremendous relief to see a familiar face at the airport at nearly four in the morning. My brother is quite tall, so he stands out a fair bit amongst the Koreans. Not only that, it was great to see him after he'd been away for a whole year. During the trip back to the apartment - at that moment his, but soon to become mine - he treated me to some valuable ins and outs as it pertains to this new country I was to call home for the next year.
A lot of people at the school have many fond memories of him, so it will be a tall order to live up to the standards he has established, but I have no doubt that even though we are many miles apart, he will continue to be an invaluable resource during my stay in Korea.
During the brief time we overlapped, he showed me a number of different places, such as the school and a few great restaurants. We also hooked up with a family friend for a wonderful dinner. He also showed me the subway system and how to work my way through it. All this information was greatly appreciated and having a family member around for the first few days certainly helped to ease the transition.
Coming to Korea is something of a family tradition for my brothers and sisters and I just hope I can live up to the legacy that's already been established.
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“Footprints was the first company that I applied with and it will probably be the last, Footprints will be my first choice as a recruiter anywhere I want to teach. They helped me get exactly where I want to be and they always keep in touch wanting to know how you are doing and that makes you feel 100% safe. Mountain hiking here is amazing, the sights are beautiful, on the way up there are many temples to see, or if you prefer to only hike half way up, stop by the waterfall and have yourself a nice Korean meal; there are restaurants everywhere in this country. This is an experience of a life time, and I only hope that there are many other people that will be as lucky as me, and get a chance to experience this wonder of a country. I hope that if you are looking to work overseas that Footprints is your choice for a recruiter...trust me on that, they will get you were you want to go.”
