Stephane’s teaching adventure in Costa Rica

Entry 1

Time for a truth bomb: When I was living in Ottawa, working a government job that was painfully boring, living alone, and watching my friends settle down with their partners… let’s just say my brain was running on low fuel. In other words, I was pretty unhappy.

So, in January 2025, when I found out I was losing my job due to budget cuts, instead of panicking, I felt something unexpected. Relief. Hope. I thought, Okay. This might be my moment. I started brainstorming ideas, and two questions kept bouncing around in my head:

1. How can I live in another country while making money, without having much experience in anything useful?

   
   

2. Can I go somewhere Spanish speaking? Preferably Costa Rica, since my dad was born there and I’ve always felt curious about it.

   
   

Then it hit me. I’m good at speaking English (sort of). Maybe I could teach it. The only problem was I had no background or training in education.

Fortunately for me, teaching English as a second language is wildly in demand in many countries. The qualifications for entry? Lower than you’d think. If you’re fluent in English and a decent human, you’re basically good to go. Realizing that was huge.

So I did some research and found a company that helps people like me make the leap. You pay them, they walk you through the process, and before you know it, teaching English in Costa Rica becomes a very real possibility. It almost felt too easy...

After a few weeks of consideration, a handful of emails, and a couple of Zoom calls later, I was booked for the big adventure.

“Come down in July,” they said.

And that’s how a boring government job, a low period in my life and a well-timed layoff turned into a one-way ticket south.

Stay tuned for the unraveling of this chaotic but worthwhile journey.