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Zero Hero
Joined: 20 Mar 2005
Posts: 944
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 Posted: Sat May 28, 2005 4:42 pm Post subject: |
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| 31 wrote: |
| the other is a loser job that any native speaker can get, has no prestige and where you are despised in your own country. |
Speak for yourself.
As for 'Norman Bethune', I would simply love to know what exactly he thinks he has to write that anyone else would ever want to read. In his own mind at least he is an accomplished eccentric writer who chooses to lounge around in tea houses.
Even if such author-oriented fantasies were true, I would hate to be one of his students if he is often up till 4.30am drinking tea.
Last edited by Zero Hero on Sat May 28, 2005 6:07 pm; edited 1 time in total |
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31
Joined: 21 Jan 2005
Posts: 1797
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| Posted: Sat May 28, 2005 6:03 pm Post subject: Bitter tefler |
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''In short, all because you are right at the bottom the TEFL pile does not mean that everyone is.''
That is `bottom of the pile.`
''As for 'Norman Bethune', he is obviously living in cuckoo land''
That is 'cloud`cuckoo land. |
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noonlite
Joined: 05 Feb 2003
Posts: 17
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| Posted: Sat May 28, 2005 9:44 pm Post subject: |
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I would say to ditto to Glenski and Atlas. Having lived for two years in Japan I can say that they do have a luxury of coffee shops with great atmosphere that is conductive to writing.
As atlas says, if you really are a writer, it won't much matter where you are at. Writers will write.
I'm hit with ideas constantly and have taken to carrying around a digital voice recorder so that I can capture my ideas at any time as soon as they come to me. |
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merlin
Joined: 10 May 2004
Posts: 582
Location: Somewhere between Camelot and NeverNeverLand
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| Posted: Mon May 30, 2005 6:32 am Post subject: |
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Ahh, I see. Teachers in Japan think "Japanese Coffeeshop" whenever someone says "Coffee shop". It would appear that the experience of a Japanese Coffee shop is so powerful that its association with the phase "coffee shop" overwhelms any images of any other type of coffee shop anywhere in the world (or Asia following the OP)
My image of coffee shops is somewhat different, as I've never set foot in Japan. It's generated first from starbucks, or perhaps the "University" coffee shops frequented by English lit and Polisci majors, which serve good coffee and contain a small library of one or two books on such bizzare and far-out topics that NO ONE bothered to nick. Then there's the Korean coffee shop - kitsch incarnate. Then there are the "Segafredo" coffee shops here in Czech - not very comfortable for more than 20 minutes for me.
So back to the OP - what are some other places that inspire? |
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Sheep-Goats
Joined: 16 Apr 2004
Posts: 527
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| Posted: Mon May 30, 2005 8:37 am Post subject: Re: for writers |
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| jezebel wrote: |
Are there certain environments in Asia that you find inspire your writing more than others? Did you choose to teach english in a particular locale because you thought it would be good for your writing? (eg, urban Seoul to people-watch, or Cambodia for some beautiful shrines to inspire deeper meaning to what you write, or Japan to provide backdrop for your modern samurai tale?) |
I find the concrete steets and apartment complexes of Taipei, Tokyo, Bangkok, Penang and whatever other city I've visited in the region to be equally non-assitive in any kind of inspirational way.
Teaching EFL and writing seriously isn't easy. Vacations can be scanty, there's sometimes crap to do during your writing time (grading tests, writing comments on 150 one paragraph statements about The Sea or whatever), and your collegues won't give you much resepect for what you're doing. Like teaching and writing anywhere, I suppose.
For what it's worth, it seems to me that most writers do a good job writing about places they've been once they're back home and have thought about what they've seen. |
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31
Joined: 21 Jan 2005
Posts: 1797
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| Posted: Mon May 30, 2005 12:03 pm Post subject: |
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| noonlite wrote: |
I'm hit with ideas constantly and have taken to carrying around a digital voice recorder so that I can capture my ideas at any time as soon as they come to me. |
You remind me of Ian in Eastenders. He used to carry around a notebook entitled ''Ian`s Ideas.'' |
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noonlite
Joined: 05 Feb 2003
Posts: 17
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| Posted: Thu Jun 09, 2005 7:27 am Post subject: |
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You should dee some of the looks I get when I walk in public places while talking into my recorder  . |
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Ben Round de Bloc
Joined: 16 Jan 2003
Posts: 1946
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| Posted: Thu Jun 09, 2005 3:20 pm Post subject: Talking into a recorder |
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| noonlite wrote: |
| You should dee some of the looks I get when I walk in public places while talking into my recorder . |
If you don't want to attract attention while talking into a recorder in public in the city where I live, all you need to do is disguise it as a cell/mobile phone! To make it look more realistic, express yourself by waving your arms around as if you're having a lively conversation with someone and talk really loudly. It's so common that nobody will pay any attention to you here. |
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Aramas
Joined: 13 Feb 2004
Posts: 874
Location: Slightly left of Centre
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| Posted: Sat Jun 11, 2005 6:07 am Post subject: Re: TEFL Charlatans |
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| 31 wrote: |
Well said Merlin.
This job is full of wannabe writers, poets, film directors etc. Oh I am really a writer.... Why can`t TEFL attract people who actually want to teach. So many places are full of fantasists who have to brown nose the boss to try and get out of the classroom. Going into tefl in order to write a book that nobody would ever read and then saying its the same as being in a trading post or classifying new species, sad. |
Well it's a good thing you're not bitter  |
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