Job Discussion Forums

[avolkiteshvara]

to use Dave's ESL boards. The whole idea behind going abroad is to be immersed in a new culture. But a lot of people send a lot of time on these boards communicating with native English speakers. If going abroad is so great.....why the need to come here?

I am not making a judgement either way. I just want to stir up a little discussion and get people's thoughts.

[denise]

For me, part of it is because I like to hear other people's experiences, just to see if I might want to work in their country or in a similar program. And get advice about living and working conditions. When you've got a specific question and don't know exactly who in your school/community to ask, you can rest assured that there's probably someone on the forum who's got an answer. And part of it is because I really love this job and want to encourage others to give it a try.

And part of it is just plain ol' addiction!

d

[tedkarma]

I agree with Denise.

But . . . particularly on this board - I feel some obligation to help people who are thinking about making the move overseas.

So many people have helped me find jobs, make good choices, figure where to go next - on Dave's!

[Jizzo T. Clown]

I enjoy the culture here at Dave's. Lots of knowledgeable people (even though they sometimes get an attitude, myself included!).

This is just another resource that any *professional* would do well to use.


And I'm addicted...

(from a former and maybe-future ex-pat)

[Gordon]

Some of us may work in pretty isolated locales and this might be the only or best chance to speak to other teachers who are in similar situations.

If we want to move to a new country, what better place to ask questions and learn? I think over time, it can get addictive too, so not completely healthy.

[sidjameson]

the ironic thing is that the longer you teach the less you need to prepare. But also the lnger you teach the more likely you are to get work that doesnt require too many teaching hours. The result? A Lot of free time. What of the real benefits over not choosing a "real" career.

[sidjameson]

the ironic thing is that the longer you teach the less you need to prepare. But also the lnger you teach the more likely you are to get work that doesnt require too many teaching hours. The result? A Lot of free time. One of the real benefits over not choosing a "real" career.

[Girl Scout]

It's a chance to chat with people about different topics. If you talk with your students, you always seem to answer the same question or discuss the same topics. If you talk to your co-works you are sharing the same experience. Again the conversations lack diversity. Here people are having different experiences and live in different areas of the world. Most threads on the board are nonrepetetive. I find it a break from the routine.

[QatarChic]

Agree with what others have said. Several people have given me lots of advice/useful info and I like to do the same. Its also nice to chat with people who are in the same field of work as myself and see what TEFL life is like in other parts of the world.........

[Kent F. Kruhoeffer]

For me, Dave's is something like a surrogate, mobile family.


In fact I've met roughly 10 members and 1 moderator

up close & in person over the past five or six years.


Without exception, they have been very decent, well-read people;

the kind you'd take home to meet mom, if ya know what I mean?


It's nice to be able to share 'war stories' & learn from each other

as we move around from one corner of the globe to another.



The forum allows us to do just that; to stay in touch.



M�nchen, Constanţa, Istanbul, Tokyo, Chon-Ju, Manila ...

from a very chilly New Year's Eve spent on Red Square at -28C




to the chaotic traffic and tropical heat of downtown Bangkok



Dave's is always a welcome calm in the storm.







Cheers !













Thailand teaching and travel resources available here :::: The Master Index Thailand ::::

[ls650]

[avolkiteshvara]

I get the whole networking with other teachers and meeting intelligent people aspect.

I just wonder if this is ever like crutch that Expats use when they get "home sick".

I guess what I was trying to bring up.........it seems like there is a threshold at which Expats, either at a conscious or subconscious level, yearn for the familiar, their home. It seems ironic to purposely thrust your self into a new culture only to go pubs, online boards, and other places to talk with other English speakers. I don't think I am exempt from this either. It seems the non-ethnocentric, adventurous image I have of myself, and possibly others, isn't quite what we thought it is.

[Guy Courchesne]

I come for the witty banter, but I keep coming back for the Dave's airmiles bonus.

[wildchild]

I used to think that it was crazy that one would blast the heater all winter long and then when spring finally comes and the first day that it gets hot (and that is what we have been waiting for all winter) we blast the air conditioner.

Perhaps we need an escape or variation. In a cold environment, you may want to be hot sometimes. But yes, sometimes we may go overboard. I remember once at a restaurant, they blasted the a/c so much that my food got cold before I could finish. Yeah that was kind of crazy: it's like 108 F outside, so one wears as little clothes as possible, yet when you enter a retaurant, you begin to freeze! So yes, we need an escape from the heat sometimes, just not too much cause the food will get cold.

[Gregor]