Yogesh Patel Santa Cruz: ESL Countries Yogesh Patel Santa Cruz is someone who has used his career to travel all over the world. Teaching English as a second language is the perfect career choice for anyone who wants to live an eclectic lifestyle, and it sure was the top benefit that the young professional reaped from his position. Below, he shares stories about the countries in which he has taught, and how each helped towards his own development as a professional and culturally rich individual. Japan Japan was Yogesh Patel Santa Cruz’s first ESL teaching contract, and it also perhaps had the biggest impact on his personal life. Not only did he determine that ESL was the right position for him while over there, but Japan is also the country where he met his future wife, Amaya. The two hit it off there before his contract ended, and stayed in touch throughout the rest of his travels before they both decided to live together in New Jersey. Switzerland As a life-long snowboarder, Switzerland has been a country on his “to do” list for a very long time. Upon receiving an offer to teach there, Yogesh Patel Santa Cruz did not hesitate in the slightest. While living the Swiss life he raised his standards of living by quite a bit, and ended up taking up baking as a hobby as he searched for new things to do with all of that chocolate. Korea While teaching in South Korea, Yogesh gained more experience in overall childcare than he did at his other teaching positions. He was an active member of each child’s every school day, which made him a constant influence in their daily lives who also helped them cope with any issues that they may have been dealing with outside of the classroom but had little time to focus on.
Chile The first thing he discovered about teaching in Chile was that he actually needed to know the native tongue. In South America, not knowing any Spanish at all proved to be a nuisance to his work, so he quickly adapted through expanding his lingual abilities. Argentina Argentina was the summation of all of Yogesh’s favorite things. Not only did he get to speak the Spanish language that he had recently fallen in love with, but he also lived in Bariloche, a popular ski destination that also has Swiss influence. So he got to enjoy his turns and hot cocoa; and at the end of his trip, Amaya had come out to visit him.