Now in her ninth year as a teacher, Ruth Poulsen, English teacher, began her teaching career in California before moving to Taiwan, where she acted as not only a teacher but also a curriculum coordinator. Mrs. Poulsen describes her decision to become an international teacher as a natural one because she attended an international high school in Jerusalem, which exposed herself to diverse cultures from an early age. Mrs. Poulsen moved to Korea with her husband, Benjamin Poulsen, elementary arts teacher, and her two kids Sofia and Eve, who are in fourth and first grade, respectively.

Mrs. Poulsen does not partake in supervising any clubs at SIS as of now, but she is currently working on her master’s degree for educational leadership. Her teaching philosophy lies in the quote, “Liberating education consists in acts of cognition, not transferals of information.” Mrs. Poulsen sees Seoul in a very positive light, positive to the extent that she wonders why there are not more people wishing to live in Seoul.

“I am loving Seoul so far,” Mrs. Poulsen said. “It is clean and well-organized. I feel like Seoul is like a hidden gem on the world stage; no one in America really desperately wants to visit Seoul, but Seoul is much cooler than many of the locations I have been in. The people are friendly and helpful, so it is easy to get around.”