Job Discussion Forums

[basiltherat]

With it being so easy to keep in touch with people via email, I am wondering whether you guys / girls try to stay in touch with previous employers.
For example, I try to send greetings - at least - at various festive times of the year; Christmas, Ied etc and I always get a reply.
One in particular keeps asking me when I might be returning and I think that's kinda cool.
Do any of you guys make an effort or is it just me ?
best
Basil

[denise]

I tend to keep in touch with a couple of friends & colleagues from each place that I've taught in, some more regularly than others. It's nice to see how people have branched out over the years. When I move on to a new job, I like to send postcards back to my previous school. Sometimes they generate responses and sometimes they don't.

d

[ls650]

I still hear once every few months from one of the other teachers I worked with in Indo back in 2003-04. Of the teachers who have come and gone here at this school in Mexico over the last three years, I still hear occasionally from two or three.

Generally, though, this is not a career for people wanting lasting friendships with co-workers.

[naturegirl321]

[hlamb]

[sheeba]

I used to feel that I was losing contact and feelings for people back in the UK but to be honest it's no different from when I was in the UK working . People are just boring . Even in China . Everyone I speak to becomes boring for long stints of conversation . You just have to accept that and make the best of those moments of laughter you do get. I talk briefly about China (nobody really asks me) and I don't care . I like just talking about simple stuff with old friends - like premiership football , music and I like using local accents again rather than having to adjust my speech for confused Americans, Chinese or whoever . People in the UK are sound . I can't wait to se them again.

[phis]

Sheeba, have you ever wondered if people are thinking the same about you and your conversation?

[denise]

I have managed to hang onto some childhood/high school friends and friends from my life before TEFL. Not many, but I prefer quality over quantity. Yeah, our lives have taken different turns, but we still manage to find things to talk about. I have one friend in particular who I see maybe every few years (family and friends are spread out up and down the west coast, so even when I go back I don't get to see them all) and email every few months. We're still close, though. We of course reminisce about the past and talk about mutual acquaintances, but not too much. We have plenty of current topics to discuss. Our lives are very different, but we both have financial situations, relationships, etc., and we can also discuss current events in the world. Just because I have spent much of the past eight years living outside the US while he has stayed, bought a house, etc., our friendship has not faded.

d

[yaramaz]

I'm in touch with quite a few pre-tefl friends from home. Just because I happen to have spent most of the last decade and a bit abroad (not just teaching) doesn't mean that my life is any more exciting than theirs or that we can't possibly relate to each other- one friend is living up by the arctic circle in the Yukon in an Inuit town doing legal aid work; another is finishing her PhD in ethnomusicology; another has gone back to school at 38 to finish her uncompleted BA and has started a whole new life path in rehabilitation and care. They are really interesting people and I'm amazed by how we've all branched out in such odd and different ways from one small, rural island off the west coast of Canada. Getting married (or not), having kids (or not), settling down (or not) hasn't really affected the fact that these are smart, cool people.

[sheeba]

To phis - on whether I've wondered if people think I am boring -

Yeah of course . I bore the pants off them, especially if I start talking about my experience abroad (I've stopped doing that now ) I don't know what makes people who have been abroad think they are some kind of exotic cultured interesting specimen . We're all inherently boring generally and have our own boring agendas . That's why wherever we are in the world we always get sloshed . It makes it a bit more exciting doesn't it? Some of my best friends are really boring and they'll say the same about me . What's new - we're still good mates . One thing I have noticed is Brits don't like to talk about their experiences much . It's more of a tacit understanding . Man that's cool . Let's just sit in front of the footy , drink 10 pints and say sweet effall. Perhaps some of you guys ( I find Americans especially) like to have something to say - like you need to talk and show everyone how interesting and humourous you can be . Not having a go at Americans ( I have some good mates who are American) but why can't people just accept they are - well - just boring!!

[basiltherat]

Whenever I go back to the UK and meet relatives or friends, I make a point of asking lots of questions about THEIR lives while I've been away. Although, I might find their answers particularly dull, strangely, they in turn tend to find that asking you questions about YOUR life while you've been away seems more forthcoming. While they might think you're unelaborated answers are likewise dull, at least it keeps conversation going.

best
basil

PS Actually my initial post was about whether you keep in touch with previous employers. Never mind, though. This thread is also cool.

[Jetgirly]

I keep in touch with my co-workers but my friendly gestures towards my former admin have been ignored. I thought we left on good terms, so I'm surprised.

[MikeySaid]

[sheeba]

Hey Mikey . It dos not bother me . Beer or no beer (actually I think I'd prefer no beer) I'm happy to talk to meiguorens . I don't think we look down on Americans . I think deep down generally the ones I've met are nice people but perhaps trying a little too hard sometimes to prove something. I dunno . You guys are probably different depending on where you're from in America . I know some guys from the South (seem very nationalistic)who are a lot different from the Northern Americans I've met .

[denise]