the many job/school options

Well as I have previously posted, I am in the midst of a dilemma involving my future. I have made two choices that I will not waver from:

1- I want to stay in Korea. The missus, money and lifestyle are far better than what I could reasonably expect in Canada. While I would like to return one day for final postgrad work, I am making enough here that doing a doctorate in Australia, Singapore or Hong Kong will increasingly become reasonable options if the Canadian winters don't appeal to me by then :)

2- I am not happy to simply work at an academy and collect a paycheque anymore. I am getting too old to stagnate careerwise. School and/or a better job are a must.

With that in mind I am currently putting together several options that will all be a step in the right direction.

1) move to Seoul at attend university and complete an MA in a field that is relevant to what I want to do when I'm 40. It's a decent programme but it's fairly intensive. Cons include a move to expensive Seoul and massive money stress (or work at an academy and massive time stress). It's probably the best option long term, but I also like the idea of being able to travel and have a social life and at the end of the day, as my uncle John once said, "I don't want to be the richest man in the graveyard".

2) As mentioned before, Drew and Barry work at Keimyung University. Drew was hired with esentially the exact same degree and experience as I have partially because she plans to do her MA in TOEFL there. I talked to her for a while yesterday and it seems that it's hardly a sure thing, but if her co-worker decides to leave she will put in a good word for me. Working a uni job in Daegu and attending a two year MA programme in a field that pays me very well seems a solid idea.

3) I have also set up an interview for a public school position. These are great daytime jobs and, while the pay is less, the vacation time is plentiful. It would also give me time to do TOEFL courses online and even get an MA that way (and it's a one-year programme, so that's a bonus). While distance ed. is not seen as being as good as a degree done in a traditional way, (and with good cause I think) as a tool to get a better job to give me the time to do a full MA/PhD over a 5-6 year period while making good money it's a good option. I can do this distance ed programme while working public schools or academies, but just for resume reasons I want public schools (most uni's will look at public school teaching as experience but see academies as just babysitting and cheque collecting).


Anyway, what I do know is that all this won't start til September, and I have Taipei, Vancouver and a possible Beijing before that. It also means I have a bit of time (though not a lot) to get it all done.