Job Discussion Forums

[denise]

Spidey--regarding your post a few pages back---(damn! look what happens without regular internet access!)

I did not mean to equate being a lost soul with being a loser. I just get a bit fed up sometimes with opinions, as expressed in that quote way back on page one, that suggest that there�s something "different" about us EFL teachers. We can�t cope at home, we�re running from/to something, etc. I refuse to believe that. Yeah, I have met a few odd types, disgruntled, pissing and moaning about everything, but I do not think the EFL lifestyle causes that. Attracts it, maybe, but doesn�t cause it.

d

[frigginhippie]

I apologize if someone has already said this, or if I offend anyone by it, I just don't feel like sifting through 5 pages, and I'm a bit down right now:

In my personal experience, I have not met one single foreign employee (EFL or otherwise) in China or Korea that I would categorize as "Normal". I know some may say "What is Normal?" or "How do you define normal?" or "Nobody is normal" but I think without debating it's clear what I mean. Many are here for culture/language/history/broadening horizons - as am I- but I believe all those "normal" reasons help comfort the lost soul. True, some may have husbands/wives/children family here and are quite "normal". But everyone else I've met strikes me as somehow lost or aimlessly searching. You can see it when they walk down the street and avoid your eye contact, or when you meet and do the emotionless "where are you from? how long have you taught?" dance. Not one EFL teacher I have met or am friends with has come to a conclusion differing from "what the ---- am I doing with my life?"
On the plus side (or maybe just neutral side), most of my "normal" friends and acquaintences back "home" feel the same way. It just somehow sounds different from a TEFLers mouth.

Wow. Excessive punctuation.

-fh

[Mchristophermsw]

FrigginHippie,

You have some good points and I think you comment on Lost Souls may have been tooken too hard by some but it did foster great interest in the post.

The truth is most people are walking around like zombies from day to day.
And unfortunately a large number of people do what they do for the money or because they have no other options ( for whatever reason).

I have done vocational counseling, clinical work, social work ect. And trust me it is not only someone in ESL that may appear lost. LOL

It all comes down to finind "home", finding "peace" in what ever form that maybe for the individual. For me, it came in the form of my relationship with GOD and finding peace and joy in him and his word. I could go anywere on the planet and still be content because I have my Jesus. For others, it may some other faith.

But for others, it may be the "right career", a family, a Mercedes Benze, etc. Currently, I found myself working with alot of Drug Users ( as clients) and for them it is drugs ( until they see that they've lost everything).

Remember years ago, the Movies "City Slickers"? One of the teaching points in the movie was finding out what life was all about? What is that one thing?

On the other side of the coin, I have met countless number of people, usually what most would consider poor by Western standards, and they are the happiest people I have ever met. There lives are simple, they have pride in what they do and they have their family. I am always humbled and amazed when I see such continentment and happiness from these people.

Great thought provoking post.

[Sweetsee]

High Hippy,

I'm with you. I was trying to take a mental inventory of acquaintances here in Japan, past and present, and trying to determine how "normal" I find them. I came up with one or two, one who is now my neighbor.

I would venture to say that I have seen normal people around, an indication is someone who can make eye contact, nod or heaven forbid give you the time of day. When that happens it is really uplifting and nine times out of ten they are not TEFLers.

Honestly, line ten people up against a wall and I could identify the TEFLers, no problem. To determine whether or not they were losers I would have to give them the walking past in public test or confront them.

Nice post,
s

[Gregor]

It's sad to see TEFLers doing this to themselves all the flippin' time.
Our counterparts back home do the same things to themselves. There are pros and cons to every job/career/etc. It's easy to get down on yourself if you're not living in a huge mansion with a million dollars in the back, a beautiful wife/husband, and three cars in the garage. It's easy to blame TEFL for that.
But come on, what are the realistic alternatives? Cubicle hell? Teaching in a public school in a country where the population wants you to be underpaid just to be sure you are teaching for the right reasons? Buying the nice house in a suburban area, and having the cars and nice things...but also being so deep in debt that your kids (maybe even grandkids) will inherit that?
Come ON. Our lives are not desperate. You can go home whenever you want to, and take up another career. It's just that it's not going to be as free or rewarding or respected as what we're doing now.
Why not just decide to be happy with a TEFL career, and try to work your way upward in this field? Become a DoS, or an academic manager, or something like that.
I think that the reason TEFLers get down on themselves so much is the same reason that everyone else does - our lives are not movie-perfect. We don't like like Leave It To Beaver. No one ever did. It's a myth. Our lives are no worse than any others, and in many, many ways, they're better. You just have to allow for alternative viewpoints.
That, and stop worrying so bloody much about the future. If you can't take care of yourself NOW, then you're going to be useless to your future self. It may sound backwards, but think of your present happiness first, THEN worry about the future.
And you don't have to actually DO anything to improve your situation right now. Just allow yourself to be cool with the career you have now.

[sigmoid]

Gregor, you rock!

A good post with a positive message. Let's relax and try and have a good time. Life's too absurd to be taken that seriously.

[Gregor]

Thanks, sigmoid.
One more thing - stop worrying so much about how freaky other TEFLers are. They are not your concern.
Anyway, the more freaks are out there, the more valuable non-freaks become. I live in a heavily-freaked area, but as I am now well-known for not being one, I pull in a relatively HUGE salary as a DoS.
Seriously. There's no reason not to use that to your advantage.

[Mchristophermsw]

Gregor,

go boy, your the man

I am with you on this. As you could probably see from my post.
I was sitting having lunch with a ESL chair at my local community college and he loves what he does and if he did not have a family here and responsibilities he said he would be overseas in a minute!

There are so many positive things about our field. People just dont know what they have.....and some won't until, like the old adage says...Until its gone. Heres some positive points to reflect on if anyone needs a "pick me up"

A) They joy from actually teaching students who are eager to learn! ( Its hard to find that in the US in a any public school ( for the most part )

B) Travel....I saw a current study and it reported that most people live, work and die within 20 miles of their home and have never ventured out further in their lifetime.

C) The oppertunity to experience different culture and make cherished friends.

D) Beautiful Women...Nuff siad.

I can go on all the way to Z but I will stop here because my glass is half full.

Gregor thanks for being one of us who looks at the good and the sunshine that breaks through the clouds

[dmb]

go on. Go all the way to to Z. I like being reminded that i made the right decision.

[Sour Grape]

[Mchristophermsw]

Sour Grape,

Yeah, it could be drivel but then agian, they looking at average or mean number.

Globally speaking that could be possible....but then agian like you said, it could be drivel LOL

But the point is more important than than the validity of the study, which simply is the aswome oppertunity to embrace different geography and culture. I would say though that most people are not Transnational just due to the simple fact the most of the worlds wealth is held by a small percentage of the global population.

Anyhow thanks Sour for your comments, may you stay blessed
and Gregor----Keep on Rockin

[donfan]

[Sour Grape]

[Gregor]

MAN!
I'm gonna start a new thread. When it's finished, we should get the mods to LOCK it and make it a STICKY. I just want to list the good things about our career of choice/convenience/whatever.
Mchristophermsw, try to go to Z on this one. Look for it in the next few minutes. it will be called something like "The GOOD about being a TEFLer." Or something. There will be plenty of negative posted, of that I am 100% sure.
Actually, you know what? I'm going to put it on the Newbies forum. Because THOSE people are the ones who need some encouragement.
I'd also be interested if y'all would put in your posts a bit about the whys/hows/ects of your going into this field.
it would be good for recruiting. And I don't mean just MY recruiting. This job is a good one, for a lot of people. It literally saved my life. I didn't previously even know it existed. TEFL could use some good people, world-wide, and people who are now in the state that I was in before I became an ESL teacher could DEFINITELY benefit from knowing that it's an option.

Thanks for all the kind words, everyone, but, dammit, it's not just me. I don't like the fact that people looking into this as a possibility find more negative comments than positive ones. It's the nature of whingers to whinge to everyone and everything, whether or not they listen, and the nature of happy peiople to count their blessings and keep it to themselves. I understand this, and I even understand why. I never even BOTHERED with these forums until I had become a DoS. Because I was just perfectly contented with my position.
NOW, though, I can see the NEED for a few positive voices out there.
So. Newbie forum. What GOOD can come out of TEFL?

[anonymous_alaska]

There's only one problem with the TEFL field. Are there any stats on what happens to the people who stay on from a young age to retirement age. It seems to me the whole field is still relatively young, and there aren't any stats.