Job Discussion Forums

[zaneth]

Anybody ever do homestays in exchange for English lessons?

In old Russia there was a tradition of live-in foreign tutors. Some people are reviving it here.

There are a number of references to it in literature (and, NO, I didn't read them in the original, everybody asks me that). I like the story from the period of Napoleans retreat from Russia. Some Russians had caught a French soldier and were in the process of drowning him. A landowner happened by and ask them what they were up to. Oh, nothing, just drowning this Frenchie (paraphrase). Oh, well, then, carry on. The Frenchman called out for help and begged for mercy, pleaded his innocense, his hatred of Napolean, his love of Russia, etc. So the landowner took him home to teach piano. Unfortunately the poor guy didn't know a bit of piano, but neither did his host so he was able to bluff his way through the initial interview and then quietly move into teaching French.

[Lynn]

When I was an exchange student in Japan I did two different homestays. At first I stayed in the school dormitory, but that was super strict. So, I did a homestay and paid about $200 US dollars a month. I was supposed to speak English with the two teens in the house, but I didn't much. It was just too akward for me. My host mom lost her mother, so grandpa had to move in and I was kicked out. (which turned out to be a good thing). My next homestay family didn't expect any English out of me and never spoke to me in English, either. I was expected to pull my load in the household, though. I remember I got scolded for forgetting to clean the tub when it was my turn.

[shmooj]

Here in Seoul there is an ad I see in quite a few places. You stay with a Korean family as a homestay and, in return, you tutor their kids for 1 hour a night. Sounds like a good deal if you are single and want to get on in Korean.

[skinhead]

Before I got to Seoul, one of my Korean friends here in Adelaide set me up to live in her mother's house which was uninhabited due to Omma living and working in another city at the time. It seemed to be all settled that this would be for about a year, I paid full rent and had the house to myself except for when brother came home from his office dormitory on weekends. It was a marvellous arrangement, because it is rare to have a whole house to oneself in Seoul. To my surprise and bewilderment, after only four weeks, Omma quit her job and moved back home and sister returned from study in Hawaii. Omma was thrilled that now she had a 'son' to pamper who could also give free English lessons to sister. It took me about 4 days to find a room in a co-teacher's tiny roach-ridden basement flat with a shower that went cold after two minutes in winter and a noisy neighbour who screamed at her boyfriend at 3am every night.

Why would I flee Shangri-la for a trench like this? Basically, I didn't want to be mothered, I didn't want to have to try and explain every move I made, and I didn't want to have fish, rice and kimchi for breakfast every morning when it was taking me a long time to become familiar with the spiciness of Korean food. Quite apart from that, I needed independence, a cave where I could escape to to get my head together after each looong day in this thrilling new country.

I felt kinda bad about leaving the house after they had so kindly allowed me to use it for the time I did, and she was a lovely lady, but she kept following me around every minute of my free time and walking into the bathroom while I was showering to tidy up and fuss about. You get the picture. I think for a lot of us over 30s, it doesn't seem so attractive when you've become used to the idea of personal space. That's the real problem I have with it. As Lynn said - "awkward".