Job Discussion Forums

[anubistaima]

How was your first month away?

I used to read this website several times a day when I was looking for my first ESL position. I remember many posts about people in the same position I was. I am now in Siberia, working with a large school, in a position I enjoy. I was wondering how many others found their first job in these last few months and their views after being in place for about a month. Anybody wants to share? I�ve read so many horrors stories and, since mine is not one of them, I was wondering if other people also have good things to report after being away for about a month.

You can post here or PM me.
Thanks.

[cmoseley]

it was awesome.

[Meleefracas]

Being an older teacher, my first month away from home was hell on earth. I was in China and the loneliness, and lack of contact with my family back home, almost drove me crazy and I had to constantly fight myself not to hightail it out of there. Each day I 'got through' was crossed off on the back of a notebook. Then gradually I wasn't just 'getting through' the days, but starting to enjoy them. What saved my sanity was the students - how could you not love them and gradually being accepted and included by the other foreign teachers; mostly female only. At that time (two years ago), there was only one other female foreign teacher my age in the area. I wonder if the demographics have changed at all?

[eslHQ]

My first month was great, i think i was running on pure adrenaline and enthusiasm. I hit the wall about 6 months later when I was completely fed up with the new culture and my life abroad. Fortunately at that time I met a good friend and learned a new approach to living abroad. 5 Years later Im still living and teaching overseas.

[GreenDestiny]

[eslHQ]

OK, I'll tell you my story. I hope it's not too long.

After about 3-5 months of living in Korea I had gone from "Wow! How neat!" to "Can you believe they do that?!?!". Nothing made sense nor did I ever try to make sense of anything. Just chalked up to "Everyone's crazy except myself".

During this time I was also hanging around other foreign teachers who didn't have the most positive attitudes to say the least.

So at the 6 month mark, if you had asked me how long I was staying in Korea I could have told you to the day/hour/minute. That's when I took a vacation and met my old university friend in Thailand. He had been in Thailand getting his TEFL in Bangkok during the previous month. When I met him he treated the locals with much respect and was very humble and open to random conversations and stuff like that. He had also learned more Thai in a month than I had learned Korean in half a year. I watched how he interacted with the locals, always listening, always asking questions, always treating everyone with tons of respect. He taught me the cultural faux pas. He mentioned whenever I was doing anything that could be offensive to the Thais.

So then it kind of hit me. He was embracing this culture, trying to learn as much as he could about the people, the language and the country. He didn't spend his time there in a bubble, that a lot of people easily get trapped in, never really seeing the world around them. He jumped in, feet first and was able to understand (at least a little) about Thais, Thailand and himself.

I remember teling myself when I was younger that I would love to be in situations of mental/emotional survival. For some reason that concept appealed to me, i guess it still does. And i realized that I was in that exact situation and losing the game. I was a little embarrassed that I couldn't even mentally overcome an "adverse" condition.

So before I left Thailand i promised myself that when i got back to korea i would crack my korean book and actually study the language. I also decided to try to understand the culture that I had found myself in instead of writing everyone off as nuts.

So that's what I did, just tried to understand as much as I could. and though with learning i found more that confused me, i learned that there is an answer to those questions somewhere and i just haven't found it yet. Since meeting my friend, life abroad has been more rewarding. I hope yours will be just as rewarding.

eric

[GreenDestiny]

Spot on Eric.

Your friend's perspective -- as for your own evolved outlook -- matches my paradigm rather well. I've friends in many countries; and when visiting them, each share their respective culture in unique and honest ways. It's both an honour and a gift for me to carry though life.

When visiting a new (e.g., China) culture, I want to explore and understand it *through* the guidance of the people. My fellow expats and I share the situation of being a foreigner, though all don't share the experience.

Chok Dee,
GreenDestiny

BTW> Your website appears to be rather new...Great start.

[eslHQ]

[Travel Zen]