Job Discussion Forums

scot47 · Joined: 10 Jan 2003 Posts: 15343

Well you get used to it. Some people go back "home" wherever that is and do something else, unrelated to teaching.

I got hooked on being a starnger in a strange land. Now in my late fifties with dependants it is too late to do anything else. And because I need a reasonable income my choice of countries is limited.

There are few jobs back home in the UKofGB&NI, and most of them are seasonal, temporary or part-time.

richard ame · Joined: 16 Jan 2003 Posts: 319 Location: Republic of Turkey

Hi fellow players
I have asked myself this same question on more than one occassion and I keep coming up with the same answer,there is no alternative now for this life and the country of my choice looks to be a permanant one .In the short time I have done this kind of work the rewards I have recieved are than I could have realised back home in the U.K,every time I go back there for a short visit I suffer culture shock I can't wait to get back here I know this is not normal but this is the reality of a life time T.E.F.L worker I dropped the teacher label because I think this game we play is a lot more than what we do in the class room,it offers so much more than whats gone before the challenge is always there ,thats why I stay and I think thats why most of us will too .

scot47 · Joined: 10 Jan 2003 Posts: 15343

Like Richard I cannot handle things back home in the horrors of the (dis)United Kingdom. I will stay with TEFL - either with the nice money, like in the M.E., or with the poverty in other places.

Kent F. Kruhoeffer · Joined: 22 Jan 2003 Posts: 2129 Location: 中国

Howdy scot47:

You raised an interesting point. Wealth vs. Poverty seems to be an underlying reality in EFL.

Funny that the most exciting, personally rewarding and interesting EFL positions for me have always been in the countries where the salaries were the lowest.

With that reality in mind, I've sort of adopted a rotating cycle of poverty-wealth-poverty-wealth ... in which I spend a couple of years, for example, in Japan or Korea and save 10K, then move back to a less developed country (like Russia) ... where the money I saved keeps me happy.

Sort of an EFL roller-coaster, if you get my drift?

For example: I'm now just beginning my third year in Russia and still haven't spent all the money I had saved in Korea 3 years ago. One day when the well runs dry, I'll head back to Japan or Korea ... or maybe even drop in at the scot47 Chateau for some backpacker behaviour modification therapy. Inshallah! Very Happy

Best wishes,
kenT

biffinbridge · Joined: 05 May 2003 Posts: 701 Location: Frank's Wild Years

Well I know someone who digs tunnels and a mate of mine is ex army and knows what he's doing with mercury switches..so as soon as we've got a fail safe plan we're expanding into bank hiests.Bottom line.........do TEFL for a year or maybe two because you are trapped after that.You'll end up in the Middle East with all the other cynics,(like myself).Currently there are well paid jobs in Yemen (unsafe), Guinea (malarial),Libya (dictatorship),Qatar (small town) and Saudi ( aka the land of the free). Catch my drift?

scot47 · Joined: 10 Jan 2003 Posts: 15343

"in the game" maybe being "on the game" would be more profitable ?

(Non-brits may require a reference book to ascertain colloquial meaning here.)

Stephen Jones · Joined: 21 Feb 2003 Posts: 4124

Not at your age Hamish

Capergirl · Posted: Tue May 13, 2003 9:34 pm Post subject:

I'm one of the ones for whom teaching ESL/EFL is a career. I initially took an EFL position in South Korea because I wanted to travel a bit and also to find out if teaching was for me. Very quickly, I discovered my niche, and now I couldn't imagine doing anything else. I am currently teaching ESL in Canada and I'm hoping to head to Europe in the near future.

A good friend of mine often says, "Do what you love and you will never work a day in your life." I absolutely agree. The buck stops here for me. Smile

Wolf · Joined: 10 May 2003 Posts: 1245 Location: Middle Earth

I don't believe it. Capegirl as in Cape Breton girl? Another Bluenoser teaching EFL?! I thought I was the only one! At least, when I told people that I was going to Japan 4 years ago, everyone looked at me as if I told them that I was going to a fairy land. At that time, I was paying off a student loan (those degree things don't come cheap anymore).

Now I've started a correspondance MA in TEFL (yeah, I know "mail order", but I don't have to go back, and I can actually afford it this way). I'll be in EFL as long as I can. Sure, I had to learn how to teach The Hard Way (copyright of the Japanese company whose name means in Spanish "It doesn't go.") But through all the rough times, there has been one constant: I love the work. I love watching my students progress. I love seeing them get that promotion cuz they got a high enough TOEIC score. I'm an addict. Oh, and of course I love having had the opportunity to live in various parts of east Asia. It has kept me going though my darkest days.

PS Capegirl, could you send me some Tim Horton's? Address is

Wolf
The other EFL Bluenoser
Rural China,
Planet Earth (sort of but that's another thread.)

Capergirl · Posted: Sat May 17, 2003 12:19 am Post subject:

Hi Wolf

Yep, Cape Breton girl...that's me! I know how much you must be missing that Tim's coffee...that's the one thing I *always* take with me when I go overseas! Wink

How's life in China treatin' ya? Smile

Shonai Ben · Joined: 15 Feb 2003 Posts: 617

Hey Capergirl:
How's the weather in N.S.?Are you enjoying the Victoria Day weekend?
Cheers. Cool

Capergirl · Posted: Mon May 19, 2003 11:58 am Post subject:

Hi Ben

The weather has been gorgeous all weekend...hitting the 20C mark (finally!) and it's supposed to continue through the week. I actually have a four-day weekend because I have Tuesdays off. Wink

Happy Victoria Day, my Canadian friends! Very Happy