Job Discussion Forums

[vre]

well?

[ghost]

Ghost is presently in Montreal, Canada, but with regard to his time spent in Turkey last year (total of 6 months, and one Koleji and one Language school) the answer would be: 4. - not really happy.....and you already know the reasons for this poster's frustrations.

Turkey, however, does offer some advantages in ESL teaching, compared with other countries, but it is a matter of luck on where you land, and the "chemistry" established with the students and administrators.

There appear to be more dissatisfied teachers in places like South Korea and China, for example, and Turkey is still a reasonably good deal....especially for Europe. Strange that Turkey, for all the downsides, offers better conditions for ESL teaching than countries like Spain, Portugal and Italy....it does not make sense, and something will have to change before the "profession" really goes down the tubes.

Here in the Province of Quebec, the ESL opportunities are really becoming more scarce, as a new law now makes it not necessary for small Quebec companies to have their francophone staff take English lessons. This means many of the contracts have dried up. Many language schools have gone out of business in Montreal, and ex. ESL teachers are trying to get training in other fields. A sad situation, but inevitable.

Greetings from "La Belle Province."

[yaramaz]

I ticked Pretty Much because, even though I'm at a major cross roads and even though I had a horrifically rough winter and far too much soul searching, I still dont want to be anywhere else right now. Sure my kids are insane and kayseri is choc-a-bloc in headscarves and raincoats and smoking men staring at me like the alien freak I must be, but it's all part of my current life and I accept that. Its not perfect here, far from it, but I like Turkey and am not ready to return to Canada where I tend to feel like even more of an alien than I do here...

[Otterman Ollie]

Like Yaramaz I look at this place with a fair degree of affection ,the thought of living somewhere else does not at this moment in time interest me one jot .
However having said that I am not blind to the downside of living here, I still see a lot of things that I find hard to understand, but, unlike Ghost I didn't quit after a lousy 6 months , I think any place deserves a lot more time than that before you can consider yourself worthy to make sweeping general statements which at best are ill informed and at worst show a total lack of tolerance for another culture . That kind of ignorance from the so-called well educated will drive me away from this country quicker than anything else .

[sweetpea]

Okay, I don't know if I can vote... but for what it's worth, if you asked me last month, I would have said 'totally and completely happy'. Today, however, I am in a funk. I don't want to leave Turkey, but want my friendships to morph into something a bit more substantial. I have wonderful friends in Bursa... I love them all and, I think, they love me, too. But, because they are all so much younger, gay and male, and are friends first and foremost because they have a strong command of the English language, I question the ability for the friendships to continue or, rather, grow. Ugh. I am not happy today. I didn't get much sleep and spent the past hour reading news of the world. Screwed up situation we are in, yeah?

Anyway, I love Turkey. I will likely return next year (the school wants me to return in August) but I don't know if I want to come back to Bursa. I want to be in Izmir or Istanbul (preferrably, Izmir) but, as usual, NO SCHOOLS SEEM TO BE SEARCHING YET!! Why is it that Turkish schools don't look for teachers until the last minute? I want to secure a position BEFORE leaving for summer holiday!!!

Ugh.
I think I need sleep and a boyfriend. Go with that where you will.

[Otterman Ollie]

Hi Sweet pea

There are places here that are looking for staff for the next year as I'm sure FGT will tell you, pm me if you want an address .

[dmb]

I had to tick option 1 as I'm not working at the moment

[ghost]

Quitting after 6 months may seem premature, but why wait when the cards are down, and one can see that there is little chance for a better situation?....that would be a waste of time.

As for being intolerant of other cultures, Mr. Ollie is way off the mark there, because poster has always revelled in living and working with people of other faiths and cultures. This does not mean that poster likes everything he sees.

Sometimes the best decisions are to go with your instincts, and that was the case for ghost in Turkey. Cutting short a negative experience was more productive than continuing in that situation.

Poster is currently living in Ville St. Laurent, a community on the Island of Greater Montreal, and home to people from over 100 nationalities and countries. It is an interesting culture, in which Lebanese, Afghans, Cambodians, Laotians, Algerians, Morrocans, Congolese, Haitians, Latinos (El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras), Irananians, Indians, Pakistanis, Greeks, Italians, Bangladeshis, Chinese, etc....live and work together in reasonable harmony.

The one sore point in the Montreal area (and Quebec in general) is that anglophones are discriminated against when applying for jobs in the Civil Service and Government posts. The employers much prefer to take francophone Quebecers.

[wyldfiregyrl]

Ok so Ive only been here for 8 days