Job Discussion Forums

[ecocks]

LOL! I am working legally.

You don't keep up real well.

[dragonpiwo]

Too much gluwein and egg nog in Berlin. The wursts and Italian chestnuts were pure joy. If you're ever heading that way on your travels, Google Mark Apart Hotel in Lietzenburg Str as you won't get a better room for that price in Berlin. It was huge, warm, modern and had a great balcony. Now I'll sit back and let Delph tell me it was crap and I got ripped off. . For sure, clothes are cheaper there as we did our Xmas shopping. The numerous Christmas markets are/were fantastic and there was a really festive spirit everywhere we went.

So they finally let you in?

[ecocks]

Yet before you said you styed at Ibis. Now you claim this other place while you were buying "cheap clothes".

I had the chestnuts, they were okay and Prague's mulled wines are a far better value.

As for being legal:

NOooooo.

I have my company and can legally work for myself, even accept contracts from others. I just am not a LEGAL RESIDENT. I remain a LEGAL VISITOR who is allowed to work but must do the 90-day visa runs to stay legal. This has no effect on my Schengen zone time-in counter.

As another poster puts it so well, "Welcome to Poland!"

[dragonpiwo]

I have to get another company letter as the one I gave them is now out of date. No doubt the others will be out of date by the time I get the company letter to them and so the circle continues. To jest Polska.

I stayed at the Luton Ibis as I had an early flight and it was 2 mins from the airport. The place in Berlin was excellent and I'll stay there again. I used to use the Motel One chain and in particular the one on An Der Urania. Very reliable and much cheaper than similar hotels in Poznan.

I much prefer the gluwein with amaretto as served in Berlin and for sure the like for like clothes were cheaper in the stores around Alexanderplatz than Poznan.

[sparks]

If you guys like Berlin so much why don't yous just go and make out with it

To jest Polska, Wir haben Warszawa (kein Warschau) .

[dragonpiwo]

My missus really likes Warsaw. I hated working and living there. However, we both agree that Berlin's culinary scene is far superior.

I've trawled through numerous ELT Berlin threads and sadly, it seems TEFL is pretty much a no go there.

Probably too many Americans doing Europe having 'done' Asia.

[ecocks]

More likely Brits screwed up the market with poor quality teaching to the point that they prefer their own people for early levels and then find the Americans when they want to work in the real world.

[dragonpiwo]

While I have many American friends, few of them are TEFL teachers. I don't judge teachers on their nationality, just their ability. I've met many Peace Corps types, Mormons and Youngish Americans from pretty middle class backgrounds 'doing Europe' for their own benefit, rather than their students' to know that you're just being a troll.

Poznan is full of American med students, who couldn't get into US med school. They like to make a big noise too.

As a former investment banker, now working for an oil company, I'd like to point out that you sir do not have a monopoly in what does or doesn't constitute the real world. You're just a retired Johnny-come-lately to this business and Poland. With such arrogance maybe you need some teaching development. Please PM me for my rates.

[ecocks]

[dragonpiwo]

Insecurities? I don't think so.

I'm doing well in life. Good at my job according to regular observations and international exam results, lovely home life, healthy and don't owe anyone a penny. How many on this board even get observed regularly? How many are debt free?

My message that the money in Poland is generally dire, the general level of everything cruddy and the market swamped with low grade independent teachers won't cease.

[delphian-domine]

You get observed regularly?

Fine and well for a newbie teacher, but I can't imagine any serious teacher with a lot of experience wanting to be observed. I've got actually more teaching experience than my boss does, so how could she critically observe me? Of course, we discuss different things, but in general, no-one is going to sit in my class and actually observe a 45 minute lesson - what would be the point?

From a teacher training point of view, observations are pretty useless. The students (and even more so where adults are concerned) will always be on their best behaviour during a formal observation, and the atmosphere is always edgy. What we do in my school is to assist with classes - you get a much better feel for how things are going, and it creates an atmosphere of everyone helping.

International exam results? No wonder you're so bitter and jaded on these forums if you're spending 2/3rds of your life teaching the same old exam preparation courses in a pretty rubbish environment.

By the way, you don't even own property, so I'm not sure how you can boast about being debt free.

[salamiandbacon]

[dragonpiwo]

I think both formal and unannounced observations are extremely useful. Picking up tips from peers is an essential part of developing as a teacher unless of course you think you know it all. Of course, there are different kinds of observation, which have different aims. Some of the very worst teachers I've observed have been the private teaching brigade.

Same old courses? I don't think so unless you think oil and gas, ESP, general and exam prep are always the same, trawling out the same old materials. Perhaps that's what you do. Afterall, teaching the number of hours you teach, I'm sure you don't stray too far from course books.

I am debt free. Get over it. By September I can buy a place for cash, so the Polish mortgage won't even be necessary as little as it would have been. I've also had the odd year off in the past 12 years to go travelling, something which I could never have afforded to do on my 7.5k PLN net per month.

[dragonpiwo]

I'm not going to sit here and tell you Libya is the best place on earth because that would be patently untrue. A quick Google search will show you it's in the top 50 'worst countries' list. All I can say about the place is that it offers a good work life balance for those who want to provide a very good standard of living for their families and save lots. Married status with Qatar Petroleum was a different thing altogether as Qatar is an amazing place and I loved it there. I'm not comparing living in Poland with living in Qatar or Libya. If I were to do so, Poland would come second anyways. People who have never lived in these countries but choose to Google their way around the planet are just off the mark. Libya is dangerous but Qatar, Kuwait and Saudi weren't.

However, unlike those who love to comment on places which they've never lived in or visited, I have lived in Poland for longer than most on this forum. My comments on the cost of a normal family life are spot on My comments on the wages outside Warsaw are correct. My comments on language schools in general there are also pretty spot on. Whenever I make a comparison on the board, Delph and Ecocks seem to interpret it as bragging. Far from it, it's just a factual comparison to say a Gant shirt is cheaper in Berlin than Poznan. It's a factual comparison to say a good bottle of wine in La Sepia, Berlin is cheaper than a cruddy one in Tapas in Poznan and it's just a fact that a good room in Berlin is cheaper than an OK room in Poznan. Such comparisons give people perspective, so they can then weigh up their options and make informed choices.

I live a normal life. Some here seem to take a masochistic delight in living on as little as possible per week. Some delight in the it's cheaper in Biedronka approach to life. Me, my fiancée and my son don't have to live like that and nor would we want to. Yep we try new places out and from time to time get bumped and what? It happens everywhere. Delph misread the 500zl comment as he read it too literally. He likes to be contrary.

The glory days of TEFL Poland are long gone.

[dynow]