Placement Department Manager and Public School Coordinator - Footprints Alumni
I started at Footprints in February of 2007, and am currently the manager of the Placement Department.
Well, where to begin. I was born in Halifax, grew up in the 'burbs of Toronto (Brampton), spent summers in beautiful Charlevoix, Quebec, and then off to Lakehead University in Thunder Bay, Ontario.
While earning my degrees in Outdoor Recreation and Geography at Lakehead in northern Ontario I took a year off to follow a dream of hiking the whole Appalachian Trail- all 2167 miles (3500~km) from the state of Georgia to Maine in 2000, then back to school to finish up my degrees.Other passions of mine- photography and travel were growing stronger and after graduation I was looking to follow those and found myself in touch with Footprints.
I went to Ulsan, South Korea to teach through Footprints back in 2002, and stayed for two and a half years! During my time in Korea I was able to travel to Mongolia, Thailand, China and Japan. My time in Korea was filled making lots of life-long friends, gallivanting across the countryside on scooters with our scooter gang; the Hells Ajummas, playing ultimate Frisbee, working on an ex-pat newspaper- the Ulsan Pear, and countless other adventures. I had a fantastic time experiencing the culture, food, customs and geography of the whole country- the big cities and the small towns. At the end of my second contract I decided to leave Korea and spent three months in India traveling with my girlfriend Erin. You can see photos of my travels and adventures at my website www.daveharvey.ca.
After a few months in Canada it was time for us to return to Asia, this time Japan. Erin and I taught for a year in Utsunomiya in Tochigi prefecture, just north of Tokyo. We bought a car and proceeded to explore our surroundings from the other side of the road (the right side of the road?!). We were able to see the temples and shrines of Nikko, the forests and waterfalls of Hokkaido, the big cities of Tokyo, Osaka, Nagoya, and the treasure of Kyoto. Being a bit of a car-junky I was enamored with the cars and racing scene of Japan and jumped at the chance to take in all the racing action I could find- drifting, rally, Indy, Le Mans and motorbikes etc. Japan was a fantastic experience, the towering skyscrapers, the speeding trains, the ancient shrines, the fish markets and sumo wrestling, the lists go on forever.
In December 2006 Erin and I returned to Canada and I am here at Footprints in Vancouver helping others to experience the world through teaching. I first started at Footprints placing teachings in private language schools (hagwons) in South Korea and currently place teachers in the public schools in South Korea. Remember, I'm not just an employee, I was also a teacher!
Add this page to your favorite Social Bookmarking websites
| < Prev | Next > |
|---|
“I recently returned from my first year in Korea. I spent it in Jeonju where the foreign community is very close and open to all new people. Footprints made the journey so easy, especially their step-by-step guide to getting all paper work done properly the first time! I was placed with/chose a decent school where the teachers and students were great. I occasionally had troubles, but it was not Footprints fault, but a cultural difference and I had to learn to change my thinking to better negotiate my needs. No journey is a walk in the park, but Footprints made the difficult and stressful parts more bearable. I am glad I went with them, and if or when I go back, I would like to be represented by Footprints!”
