Job Discussion Forums

R · Joined: 07 May 2003 Posts: 277 Location: United Kingdom

Just curious.

johnslat · Posted: Sat May 10, 2003 1:39 pm Post subject: The Name of the Game

Dear R,
Guess Im an " Umm, other ", because although I've been in this EFL game for 23 years now, I'll be out of it ( but not, inshallah, out of the " teaching game " ) in about 57 more days. So, is the " game " EFL only, or EFL/ESL, or teaching in general?
Regards,
John

wix · Joined: 21 Apr 2003 Posts: 250 Location: Earth

I started teaching English because I wanted the chance to work overseas and learn a foreign language. My initial plan was to work for a year, with no real plan beyond that. Well, I have now been working in TEFL for three of the past four years!!! Perhaps it is easy to get into, but difficult to get out of.

Sunpower · Joined: 22 Jan 2003 Posts: 256 Location: Taipei, TAIWAN

Me too.

I promised myself that it would only be a year.

My supervisor at the time laughed and told me that's what a lot of people say!

Also agree - Very easy to get into but a lot more difficult to get out of.

Working on my 5th year in Asia.

Lucy Snow · Joined: 16 Jan 2003 Posts: 218 Location: US

johnslat--it's not nice to gloat when there are those of out here who have at least a decade to go before we're out of it!

scot47 · Joined: 10 Jan 2003 Posts: 15343

I got into this EFL racket in 1968. I thought I would do it for a year or two and then revert to a "normal life", whatever that is. But it turned out that the sentence was life - without parole.

So before you fall for it, think about spending your life as an exile.

Shonai Ben · Joined: 15 Feb 2003 Posts: 617

When I came to Japan I only planned to stay here 1 year.Now it has been 5 years and I don't plan on returning home in the near future.It is very difficult to leave actually.I guess you get used to life in a foreign country and actually when I last went home I couldn't wait to come back to Japan.I felt like a stranger in my home town.It was like reverse culture shock.Anyway I enjoy my life here so why would I return?

Gary B · Joined: 19 Feb 2003 Posts: 35

Wha'z up?
I agree with you 100% Shonai. Every time I come back to the States after a long stint away, I feel like a stranger in my own home town and can't wait to get the hell out of here. I just finished getting my Masters in TESOL so I'll keep at ESL as long as I can make a living overseas from it and I've been doing it for 7 years now. I don't know about you, but friends and family think I'm nuts for wanting to live in a foreign country. You get comments like, "Everyone is risking their lives to come to America, and you want to go "there" and live? Or, "Why would you want to live in another country when you have "everything" here? Don't even mention socialized medicine or education in the States because you'll still be labeled as an extreme leftist liberal. My wife and I now have to decide what corner of the globe to head for to teach EFL, but we're stuck here for a few months after we get back from a 2 month visit in South America.
Chow for Now,
ESL/EFL As A Passport With No Time Limits From Motown Gary B.

Kent F. Kruhoeffer · Joined: 22 Jan 2003 Posts: 2129 Location: 中国

Hello Good People:

Nice topic. Very Happy

I think wix, Sunpower, scot47, Shonai Ben and Gary B have collectively summarized exactly how I feel on this subject, so I can write less this time.

I'm an EFL 'lifer', no doubt about it. The mere thought of returning to a mundane desk job in corporate Anywhere after 14 years of amazing EFL-adventures abroad makes my palms sweat.

The world is my oyster, and EFL is my ticket to the pearl(s). Wink

Regards,
keNt

denise · Joined: 23 Apr 2003 Posts: 3419 Location: finally home-ish

My plan is to make a career out of it. I'm a relative newbie, though. Two years of teaching, then a two-year time out to get an MA, and now back into the EFL world. At some point I'd like to find a nice, cushy job at a university in California (yeah, right...), though--I don't envision myself spending the rest of my life abroad.

d

scot47 · Joined: 10 Jan 2003 Posts: 15343

Are jobs at university cushy ? Not in my experience ! Maybe in California, but isn't that the place that is full of STRANGE people ? You know the ones who dress like hippies and talk about their experiences of alien abduction !

Or is that Nevada ?

johnslat · Posted: Sun May 11, 2003 5:21 pm Post subject: Weird Tales

Dear scot47,
New Mexico - my ( adopted ) home state. Rosewell, NM is the " UFO Capital of the Universe ". Here's a web site that features a story by a dedicated UFOer:

http://www.unsolvedmysteries.com/usm328764.html

They actually have an " International UFO museum and Research Center " there. And Rosewell isn't the only example of weirdness in New Mexico:

http://www.ratrun.com/new_mexico.htm#Weird%20Museums

Yes, these are MY kind of people.

Regards,
John

Lucy Snow · Joined: 16 Jan 2003 Posts: 218 Location: US

Elmwood, WI--near the border of Minnesota, has "UFO Days" every year. Apparently, there have been more UFO sitings there than any other place in the Midwest.

Will. · Joined: 02 May 2003 Posts: 783 Location: London Uk

This will be my eigth year in EFl before that I was in Secondary.
On my TEFL course I was told that the average turnover of EFl teachers was 4 years. I look at the postings of more years than I have and wonder how many people never made it through the first year and why. Where do old EFL teachers go and what happens to those who can't cut the mustard?

thelmadatter · Posted: Mon May 12, 2003 12:47 am Post subject: slightly suprised

Given the way lots of ppl kvetch on these boards - Im surprised so many are in this field for the long haul!