Job Discussion Forums

resmithjr · Joined: 10 Aug 2006 Posts: 1

Can anyone tell me a bit about Surabaya? What would it be like as a place to live? Are there easily accessible places to visit at the weekends for hiking and cycling? Any other information on teaching and life in general in Indonesia would be welcome - I have a phone interview next week for a job with KELT. Thank you in advance!

TEAM_PAPUA · Joined: 24 May 2004 Posts: 1679 Location: HOLE

If you read through the posts you should find all the information you need. Seems that KELT are getting desperate for teachers as they never used to advertise, they simply poached the teachers from EF - maybe EF SBY are managing to keep their teachers and KELT isn't such a good option anymore?

guruengerish · Joined: 28 Mar 2004 Posts: 424 Location: Australia

papillon · Joined: 02 Feb 2006 Posts: 91

And what did you do this weekend Arief?

'I go to mal.'

KWhitehead · Posted: Fri Aug 25, 2006 3:13 am Post subject:

it has the best food in indo.

Winmarr · Joined: 11 Feb 2005 Posts: 115 Location: Melbourne

bayabule · Joined: 05 Feb 2004 Posts: 82 Location: East Java Indonesia

Hi resmithjr
I hope this is not to late to reply, haven't been on here much recently.
I don't know about cycling but there are some teachers in Surabaya (from all the schools) who go hiking up nearby volcanoes, like Wellirang and Semeru. Apparently East Java is quite good for hiking. Personally I'm far too lazy for any of that but if you want to PM me any specific questions I can ask around for you.
There is also rafting nearby if you're interested in that. Bali and Lombok are accessible on weekends tho you'd need longer than that to do Rinjani (Lombok).
I've lived in Sby for 5 years so please feel free to PM me any questions you have about the city or KELT.
BTW. As long as I've been here KELT has advertised for teachers on tefl.com and maybe other sites, I don't know (for the reasons why they advertise so frequently see my and Alicantik's many posts on that subject - apparently EF Surabaya also have a permanent advert for teachers under EF Bali)
Schools here don't "poach" teachers from other schools. There's an unspoken agreement that they don't take a teacher unless they've already completed their contract at another school. The school advertises and the teacher applies just like everyone else.
Of course there's an advantage to employing people who have already worked and lived here since they already know the area and the students. (yes, sadly, "go to mal" and "sleeping" are their favourite passtimes! They're not the most imaginative bunch of kids. Mind you, I quite enjoy sleeping myself and if I had to do all the stuff they do, I'd probably spend all my free time sleeping too)
There are teachers at KELT who have previously worked at EF Surabaya and Jakarta and IALF Surabaya. There are teachers at IALF who've previously worked at KELT. TBI recently opened and is entirely staffed by ex EF Surabaya teachers, a couple who also worked at KELT after EF.
Teachers move from to school to school for a variety of reasons, and I've only known of KELT teachers going to EF when they've moved to another part of the country.
Conditions at KELT are as good as they've always been and they look after us very well. EF Surabaya has a good reputation too and as far as I'm aware they also look after their teachers very well. Teachers from all the schools socialise together.
Hope your interview went well and we'll be seeing you next term!