| View previous topic :: View next topic |
| Author |
Message |
real2104
Joined: 14 Jun 2007
Posts: 120
|
 Posted: Fri May 13, 2011 3:27 am Post subject: teaching in Georgia? |
 |
|
Hey there,
sorry if this is in the wrong section... I couldn't find the Georgia sub-forum so I'm posting here.
I have an American friend aged 23 who's about half way through her college degree and is interested in teaching in Georgia for a year, but she can only find volunteer positions at the moment and is concerned about being placed a rural area...
are there any suggestions for finding a good job in Georgia?
Are there any other countries she would be eligible to teach in outside of Asia?
many thanks  |
|
| Back to top |
|
 |
spiral78
Joined: 05 Apr 2004
Posts: 11534
Location: On a Short Leash
|
| Posted: Fri May 13, 2011 6:34 am Post subject: |
|
|
I've been hearing some pretty serious horror stories over the past couple of years from women teachers who have done a stint in Georgia. It doesn't sound either consistently safe or pleasant. Apparently, the story for males is quite a lot better.
Here is a thread that discusses some of the issues. You might want to put your friend in touch with cks via pm - he/she has been in Georgia for more than a year and has first hand info.
http://forums.eslcafe.com/job/viewtopic.php?t=82778&start=30
As for other non-Asia destinations for an American, she could try the Czech Rep, Poland, Slovakia, Russia, and other Central/Eastern Euro destinations, and Latin America. The job market is tight in all of Europe, so she should expect up-front costs and not to make more than a survival wage. There is more info regarding all of these on the country-specific fora below. |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
real2104
Joined: 14 Jun 2007
Posts: 120
|
| Posted: Fri May 13, 2011 6:44 am Post subject: |
|
|
| wow, I had no idea of the dangers involved...thanks for the helpful reply. |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
spiral78
Joined: 05 Apr 2004
Posts: 11534
Location: On a Short Leash
|
| Posted: Fri May 13, 2011 6:47 am Post subject: |
|
|
| pm sent |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
Sashadroogie
Joined: 17 Apr 2007
Posts: 11061
Location: Moskva, The Workers' Paradise
|
| Posted: Fri May 13, 2011 6:57 am Post subject: |
|
|
| Ah, it is a wild beautiful, boisterous land! Fills the soul! Always on your mind. But definitely not recommended for a young, single woman. |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
1st Sgt Welsh
Joined: 13 Dec 2010
Posts: 946
Location: Bandar Seri Begawan, Brunei
|
|
| Back to top |
|
|
spiral78
Joined: 05 Apr 2004
Posts: 11534
Location: On a Short Leash
|
| Posted: Fri May 13, 2011 9:02 am Post subject: |
|
|
I'm not sure that they should really be advertising Georgia as 'teaching in Europe.' While it's obviously geographically correct, the culture and norms there are far from what most newbies would consider 'European.'
Again, particularly for women, this notion of Georgia as 'European' could be misleading. |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
volgaman
Joined: 02 Jun 2009
Posts: 30
Location: Middle East & North Africa
|
| Posted: Fri May 13, 2011 11:59 am Post subject: |
|
|
| spiral78 wrote: |
I'm not sure that they should really be advertising Georgia as 'teaching in Europe.' While it's obviously geographically correct, the culture and norms there are far from what most newbies would consider 'European.'
Again, particularly for women, this notion of Georgia as 'European' could be misleading. |
Newbies to what exactly? Course it's in Europe.
FFS  |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
cks
Joined: 12 Jul 2005
Posts: 144
|
| Posted: Tue May 17, 2011 10:43 am Post subject: |
|
|
| Sashadroogie wrote: |
| Ah, it is a wild beautiful, boisterous land! Fills the soul! Always on your mind. But definitely not recommended for a young, single woman. |
Haha! It is a great place for men and those in Tbilisi; but for women- a different story. And again- Tbilisi is a different story and so is travelling to this beautiful land. They honestly believe that Georgian men are the best on earth and that the Western single women came to Georgia to find a husband. They seriously believe this! One of my friends found out that one of the village men is her boyfriend because she politely answered an sms (her phone number was given to him by her host family). But cheer up! Any woman looking for a husband with aspirations to become a village housewife, should look no further!
It is also interesting to note that the forum on Footprints obviously does not contain a single negative comment. Thanks to the moderators here for keeping my postings and allowing me to warn women of the potential dangers. Again, not everyone experiences such things, but I know the mentality and people here quite well and have my own handful of experiences as a woman. Be careful! But as for men- join the program! You will love the country and be treated like a king! Just a week ago, my boyfriend was toasted at a party- "may you soon have many sons". Living in a partriarchal society is probably a fantastic experience for men.
To try to be slightly fair- many of the women with fake wedding rings and fake husbands have been doing OK. The older women who I have spoken to, also love it here. However, watching your host mother get beaten by the husband is probably not a comfortable experience. And again- men are doing fine. Many of the participants are also moving out of their host families and getting flats together and enjoying the experience more, but then again- paying out of their pockets to live here. |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
Sadebugo
Joined: 10 May 2003
Posts: 524
|
| Posted: Thu May 19, 2011 4:15 am Post subject: |
|
|
| cks wrote: |
| Sashadroogie wrote: |
| Ah, it is a wild beautiful, boisterous land! Fills the soul! Always on your mind. But definitely not recommended for a young, single woman. |
Haha! It is a great place for men and those in Tbilisi; but for women- a different story. And again- Tbilisi is a different story and so is travelling to this beautiful land. They honestly believe that Georgian men are the best on earth and that the Western single women came to Georgia to find a husband. They seriously believe this! One of my friends found out that one of the village men is her boyfriend because she politely answered an sms (her phone number was given to him by her host family). But cheer up! Any woman looking for a husband with aspirations to become a village housewife, should look no further!
It is also interesting to note that the forum on Footprints obviously does not contain a single negative comment. Thanks to the moderators here for keeping my postings and allowing me to warn women of the potential dangers. Again, not everyone experiences such things, but I know the mentality and people here quite well and have my own handful of experiences as a woman. Be careful! But as for men- join the program! You will love the country and be treated like a king! Just a week ago, my boyfriend was toasted at a party- "may you soon have many sons". Living in a partriarchal society is probably a fantastic experience for men.
To try to be slightly fair- many of the women with fake wedding rings and fake husbands have been doing OK. The older women who I have spoken to, also love it here. However, watching your host mother get beaten by the husband is probably not a comfortable experience. And again- men are doing fine. Many of the participants are also moving out of their host families and getting flats together and enjoying the experience more, but then again- paying out of their pockets to live here. |
CKS,
You never did play matchmaker for me with some of the eligible village women near where you live:)
Sadebugo |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
cks
Joined: 12 Jul 2005
Posts: 144
|
| Posted: Tue May 24, 2011 11:47 am Post subject: |
|
|
| When will you realize that you really do not want to do such a thing!!! Maybe if you re-open your facebook account I can try to help you with this venture if you stubbornly want to do this. But I am moving to Tbilisi!!!!! Away from my medieval town (pop of 50,000 but everything outside of Tbilisi is a shock). Come visit us, I am probably stuck here for another year or two due to my partner's promotion. |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
Sadebugo
Joined: 10 May 2003
Posts: 524
|
| Posted: Wed May 25, 2011 10:35 am Post subject: |
|
|
| cks wrote: |
| When will you realize that you really do not want to do such a thing!!! Maybe if you re-open your facebook account I can try to help you with this venture if you stubbornly want to do this. But I am moving to Tbilisi!!!!! Away from my medieval town (pop of 50,000 but everything outside of Tbilisi is a shock). Come visit us, I am probably stuck here for another year or two due to my partner's promotion. |
cks,
You are the luckiest person in the world to spend so much time in Georgia! No doubt, I would have been married by now had I lived where you did. I still think of throwing it all away to move to some Georgian village and experience wedded bliss. What say you?
Oh! I can't seem to use the FB account so I just gave up. Russ |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
Steinmann
Joined: 17 Mar 2009
Posts: 255
Location: In the frozen north
|
| Posted: Thu May 26, 2011 10:58 pm Post subject: |
|
|
Ah, Georgia. The land of cotton. Southern belles, catfish fries, watermelon wine, and nothing but Dixieland delight.
Y'all makin' me homesick. |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
Steinmann
Joined: 17 Mar 2009
Posts: 255
Location: In the frozen north
|
| Posted: Thu May 26, 2011 10:59 pm Post subject: |
|
|
Oh, wait....
I don't think y'all were taking about Dixie.
My bad. |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
cks
Joined: 12 Jul 2005
Posts: 144
|
| Posted: Tue May 31, 2011 11:40 am Post subject: |
|
|
Russ, I am not the luckiest person. I am doing my countdown and so is everyone I know who is doing the Footprints Teach in Georgia program. Their facebook status' are always saying things like, "Get me out of here", "only 30 more days to go", ect.. You had a completely different experience. You did not have to live in a host family, you lived in Tbilisi, you experienced it short-term, and you experienced all of this as a MAN.
I however, have been groped by strangers, kissed on the lips by neighbors, cheated out of money millions of times, taken advantage of multiple times, called vulgar things by the men, made to feel cheap because I am western, and the list goes on and on. My friend was groped in the park by two men at 8:15 am and I can PM you the horrid things that they said to her. She is American but understands Georgian and has been translating the comments that we get on a daily basis while we walk down the street. I am terrified to walk alone in daylight and want to buy pepper spray. My self-esteem is low nowadays and I actually feel cheap by the psychological or mental abuse that is in the atmosphere here. Thank God I do not know their language or what they are saying to me. And I would say that Georgians are trying to get me in their car with them quite often as well. Sometimes they wave and honk at me, and I wave back mistaking them for someone I know, and then they try to get me in the car. I also know of 3 cases of the girls getting sexually molested (or the attempt) by their host fathers.
Stay in a city, town, or village that is not Tbilisi for more than 3 months and tell me your views later! |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
|
FAQ
Search
Memberlist
Usergroups
Register
Profile
Log in to check your private messages
Log in
