Originally drafted in Oct 2020.
What can I say about Radom? It’s a transport hub, half way between Krakow and Warsaw. I recently went there for an interview with a nursery school and what l thought was a near perfect offer – a great wage and a house nearby – turned out to not be enough to convince me to stay.
Read More »In the first part of what will hopefully be many posts exploring the wonderful sights in and around Kraków, today I will take you on a magical mystery tour of the wonder that is Tram 4.
Read More »Almost 2 years ago exactly, I was starting a new life in Hengyang. I’d just finished my ‘training’ – which amounted to being thrown into the deep end and pair managing a class of admittedly wonderful children but without any idea what I was doing – had gotten on a train to go to a place I’d never heard of and then got in a car with strangers (one of whom was my T.A who I will forever owe my life to) to take me to another random city in the middle of nowhere.
I was stressed beyond belief, scared and when I saw my apartment for the first time (it took three days to properly clean the mess the last teacher had left) I wondered whether I’d made a huge mistake. Looking back, I know I didn’t. Don’t get me wrong, I made many mistakes and there are things that I wish I had done differently but moving across the world wasn’t one of them. I don’t think pursuing teaching was either.
Now, I’m here in Poland ready to start all over again and I’m feeling a mess of emotions. Everything is so completely different to how it was when I moved to China. It’s a lot to handle but I think, against my own predictions, I’m coping surprisingly well.
Read More »One of the more bizarre things that I was involved in while working in China was my school’s annual art festival. In a stunning collection of students and teachers forced to feign enjoyment for the arts, old and new, I experienced a truly fascinating snapshot into the pomp and circumstance, and deep rooted expectations of taking part, within Chinese culture (of course, these are just my observations from a Western point of view.)
While I was in Hengyang, one of the things that I missed most about home was the greenery. In England, I’m surrounded by all manner of nature and I wasn’t prepared for how much being away from that would effect me. However, there was one place where I was able to go to get closer to the natural world I craved.
With the New Year coming around and everyone reminiscing over the past year, today I’ll be talking about what I learned during my time in China. It’s actually quite scary to me that it’s exactly 6 months to the day since I left the Mainland for good. Looking back, my time in China has changed me in ways I could never have imagined. I learned so much about myself, about what I am capable of, and as hard as it could be at times it is an experience I know has shaped me and will continue to for many years to come.
A few weekends ago, I trekked back to Changsha to visit my friends and attend an event at the Hunan Library. They run ‘Chinese Corner’s, activities where foreigners are invited to come and experience Chinese culture, art and food for free. Naturally, at the offer of free food and something to do, I decided to go.
An odd name for a museum, I know. But then what I visited a few weekends ago, on a day trip organised by the lovely Joni from HPEAIE, was not really a museum at all. Despite its name, it was more a collection of rooms where people recreate ancient traditional arts and past times and charge a fortune for the pleasure of watching or taking a small piece of that tradition home. Monetising the past in a way that I, and none of my fellow foreign teachers, have ever experienced before.
Last week, I was suffering from a really rather horrid case of the flu. It hurt to swallow, I could barely talk (which is obviously great for an oral English teacher) and to top it all off I ended up with an awesome headache which felt like my skull was being stabbed. All in all, not the most fun way to spend a week.
I am well over half way through my time in China now, a thought which doesn’t fill me with quite as much happiness as I’d have thought. I complain a lot about being here – some of it is justified, other parts probably not so much – but there are days when I do enjoy what I’m doing and when July rolls around I will be sad to leave. I recently wrote about the things I love and hate about Hengyang and today I want to look at some of the more positive things I’ve learned so far from teaching EFL/oral English.
Tales from Around the World 