Today, I got an opportunity to do something I'd never done previously in all of my checkered employment history:
I turned down a job.
The job was at a school in Buncheon, Korea, which is right outside of Seoul. It was a school where, I was told, the kids would range in age from 5 to 13. Definitely not my cup of tea.
Nonetheless, I might have felt forced to take it, had my recruiter for Korea not told me she thinks she could finagle a position more suited to me, one where I'd have more opportunity to work at least with adolescents, if not with adults. But the discussion of this second school--I was told I would have the details of the school very quickly--gave me the opportunity to turn down something I knew wasn't right for me.
I have my doubts about whether Seoul, Moscow, or any other spot outside the dear old U.S. of A. is really right for me right now. Since coming home, I've done a bit of serious looking into graduate programs in ESL/EFL, as well as more general teaching programs. I've unearthed some good programs--at Boston College, at Boston University, at UW-Madison, at NYU.
Oh...and one at an institution a few of you might have heard of, called Jewish Theological Seminary.
Mucking around on JTS's website this afternoon, I found out that JTS has a dual master's program that enables a student to get a master's in Jewish education, combined with a regular master's degree in an academic subject. The program was described as being well-suited to students who sought to teach at Jewish high schools.
This may be right up my alley. And I may finally be in a place where this would be a good and realistic possibiliy.
Five years ago, a freshly minted religion and history double major out of Columbia, I chose not to pursue Jewish studies because I felt I wasn't in a healthy place spiritually. Religion had taken over my life in a way that seemed to shut out nearly everything else. I sensed instictively that something was off kilter and needed to change.
Unfortunately, I had no real plan B. I made a few half-hearted attempts, senior year at Columbia, to get a job from the smattering of things that came through Columbia's career website. Then I got hooked on the idea of becoming a paralegal, in order to "decide" if I really wanted to go to law school. To look for that job, I came back from Kansas and set about a grueling six-month tour through the big law firms of New York, until I found a job that, in the end, made me so miserable that I eventually did things that forced the firm to fire me.
During that hunt, however, I did meet with someone in the Admissions Office at JTS about getting a master's degree. At the time, my thinking was that I wanted the kind of education in Jewish sources I might have gotten had I been able to study at List, JTS's undergraduate school. Initially, I had inquired about the possibility of getting a B.A. from List, now that I had completed my undergraduate degree at Columbia.
I was told that such an arrangement was not possible, but was advised instead to pursue a master's degree in something called Interdisciplinary Studies. At the time, a few things made this path seem undesirable:
1) I was still hung up on getting "real world" experience. I felt I needed the experience of getting and keeping a job, and paying bills, before I committed myself to graduate school. And I had a misguided notion that the "real world" of working in an office would somehow be more exciting.
2) I didn't feel entirely comfortable investing time and money into a degree I didn't think would lead anywhere in particular. What was the point of going even more into debt for something that would leave me just as unemployable as I was already?
3) I still didn't feel ready spiritually for the commitment of study Judaism full-time.
Well, not one of these three problems really seems to apply any more. The "real world" beyond the ivory tower doesn't look so great or so exciting these days. I've made rent and paid my bills. I've gone on job hunts more times than I've cared to, and finally come to realize that my problem was that I was always looking for a job when what I needed to find was a sense of direction. The program I'm looking into seems to lead to a clear and stable, if not particularly lucrative, career path. And after some time "away" from Judaism--a few years of being a Jew who just went through the motions in shul but didn't really do much else, followed by a stint in Taiwan when I was really, really away from Judaism--I think now may be the time to come back.
All of this needs a lot of thought. And a bit more exploration. But as a possibility--whether right now, or after another stint abroad--it's looking pretty good.
29 January 2008
17 January 2008
An Embarassment of Riches
One thing I kept hearing when I took my CELTA course and decided to start teaching ESL/EFL is that there is, literally, a world of opportunities out there, pretty much all the time. But I never really had proof that this was true.
Until today.
Yesterday, I sent out a grand total of four applications to different schools or recruiters--three in Russia, one in Korea. Three of these four places have responded already. One just let me know about its online application system and indicated that I would be getting messages through it in the near future. But two, counting the recruiters in Korea, have given more substantive replies.
The second school to give a substantive reply is a school in Moscow that said in its ads that its clients are mainly highly motivated professionals in their early twenties. They want to have a telephone interview with me and asked when. I told them I could be available for a phone interview next Tuesday or Wednesday. I would be very much surprised if this interview didn't result in an offer, given the shortage of qualified ESL/EFL teachers in Russia.
All of this seems striking in comparison with previous job hunts, which involved sending out literally hundreds of letters for months and not getting a single, solitary offer. And, often, not even getting the courtesy of a reply.
I was always told that "companies can't reply to every candidate." Bull. These same companies manage to send out zillions of pieces of junk mail and solicitations every year. A simple form letter saying, "we have no openings at present" is not too much to ask in return for doing what career counselors recommend for job hunting, which is to creating a cover letter from scratch for each company to which one submits a resume, based on real research and showing a knowledge of the company, and addressed to the person at that company who has the authority to hire people in your particular capacity. I don't think that, in exchange for that effort, it's too much to expect an HR department to manage to add your name to a list of other applicants in whom it is not interested and send at least a letter acknowledging receipt of materials.
The other aspect I always hated about conventional job hunting in the U.S. was the constant necessity of pretending you weren't looking to work because you needed the money to live on. I've found out this is not how things are done in Taiwan, or in many other cultures. I guess Americans are hypocritical in this regard; we talk about money much more freely than people in a lot of other places do, but we can't admit the basic fact of life that people work for money.
Until today.
Yesterday, I sent out a grand total of four applications to different schools or recruiters--three in Russia, one in Korea. Three of these four places have responded already. One just let me know about its online application system and indicated that I would be getting messages through it in the near future. But two, counting the recruiters in Korea, have given more substantive replies.
The second school to give a substantive reply is a school in Moscow that said in its ads that its clients are mainly highly motivated professionals in their early twenties. They want to have a telephone interview with me and asked when. I told them I could be available for a phone interview next Tuesday or Wednesday. I would be very much surprised if this interview didn't result in an offer, given the shortage of qualified ESL/EFL teachers in Russia.
All of this seems striking in comparison with previous job hunts, which involved sending out literally hundreds of letters for months and not getting a single, solitary offer. And, often, not even getting the courtesy of a reply.
I was always told that "companies can't reply to every candidate." Bull. These same companies manage to send out zillions of pieces of junk mail and solicitations every year. A simple form letter saying, "we have no openings at present" is not too much to ask in return for doing what career counselors recommend for job hunting, which is to creating a cover letter from scratch for each company to which one submits a resume, based on real research and showing a knowledge of the company, and addressed to the person at that company who has the authority to hire people in your particular capacity. I don't think that, in exchange for that effort, it's too much to expect an HR department to manage to add your name to a list of other applicants in whom it is not interested and send at least a letter acknowledging receipt of materials.
The other aspect I always hated about conventional job hunting in the U.S. was the constant necessity of pretending you weren't looking to work because you needed the money to live on. I've found out this is not how things are done in Taiwan, or in many other cultures. I guess Americans are hypocritical in this regard; we talk about money much more freely than people in a lot of other places do, but we can't admit the basic fact of life that people work for money.
I'm a Seoul Man--Maybe
Today is the first day since being home that I feel I've done anything really productive. And this, despite having also watched upwards of five hours of television.
Last night, my CELTA certificate arrived in the mail. I quickly got it scanned into our home computer, e-mailed it to my laptop, and am therefore able to start putting in applications at schools all over the place.
The first schools I've contacted were some of the larger chains in Russia--Language Link and International House Moscow. But, after having a conversation with a good friend of mine who is exploring job prospects in Korea, I filled out the online application of the recruiter she has used, a concern called--I kid you not--G'Day Korea.
Around 5:00 this afternoon, I got a telephone call from someone at G'Day Korea. She asked a few simple questions concerning my application--in particular, my stated interest in being someplace where I would work mainly with teenagers and adults. I made clear that I also did not want to go to a brand-new school or a school where I would be the only non-Korean teacher. The woman from G'Day Korea made clear that both my age preferences and my preference not to have a repeat of my experiences with Shane should be feasible.
The best thing she told me, oddly enough, is that Korea's visa process for teachers in more involved than Taiwan's. This means that, before leaving the country, I will have to be interviewed in-person at a Korean consulate. My visa will be completely arranged before I set foot on Korean soil, which means that playing the kind of games I played in Taiwan will be unnecessary.
The salary figures quoted to me are also pretty incredible--$2000-$2200 a month U.S. This is considerably more than I was earning at Shane and, considering that the cost of living is low in Korea, likely to allow for some significant savings. There's a possibility I could come out of a year in Korea with the savings goals I made prior to going to Taiwan completely met.
This is extremely encouraging. Naturally, I will have to have telephone interviews with the specific schools at which G'Day Korea can place me. But I imagine that won't be at all difficult.
On other fronts, I had a conversation today with a woman in the Wichita School District about volunteering as a teacher's aide. I think this would be a good experience for whatever time I am forced to spend Stateside. I've also found a good master's program in teaching at Boston University that looks promising.
What I've found out about master's programs in teaching for ESL/EFL is that they fall into one of two categories. The first category are general teaching programs leading to state certification to which one has to add an ESL component as a kind of extension. The second category are master's programs specifically in ESL/EFL to which one has to add additional coursework in order to gain certification.
I think I prefer the first category as it would give me more flexibility, to teach regular English or even history as well as ESL/EFL. So I am going to look more into those kinds of programs.
But it's nice to feel that the ball is finally rolling in my life.
Last night, my CELTA certificate arrived in the mail. I quickly got it scanned into our home computer, e-mailed it to my laptop, and am therefore able to start putting in applications at schools all over the place.
The first schools I've contacted were some of the larger chains in Russia--Language Link and International House Moscow. But, after having a conversation with a good friend of mine who is exploring job prospects in Korea, I filled out the online application of the recruiter she has used, a concern called--I kid you not--G'Day Korea.
Around 5:00 this afternoon, I got a telephone call from someone at G'Day Korea. She asked a few simple questions concerning my application--in particular, my stated interest in being someplace where I would work mainly with teenagers and adults. I made clear that I also did not want to go to a brand-new school or a school where I would be the only non-Korean teacher. The woman from G'Day Korea made clear that both my age preferences and my preference not to have a repeat of my experiences with Shane should be feasible.
The best thing she told me, oddly enough, is that Korea's visa process for teachers in more involved than Taiwan's. This means that, before leaving the country, I will have to be interviewed in-person at a Korean consulate. My visa will be completely arranged before I set foot on Korean soil, which means that playing the kind of games I played in Taiwan will be unnecessary.
The salary figures quoted to me are also pretty incredible--$2000-$2200 a month U.S. This is considerably more than I was earning at Shane and, considering that the cost of living is low in Korea, likely to allow for some significant savings. There's a possibility I could come out of a year in Korea with the savings goals I made prior to going to Taiwan completely met.
This is extremely encouraging. Naturally, I will have to have telephone interviews with the specific schools at which G'Day Korea can place me. But I imagine that won't be at all difficult.
On other fronts, I had a conversation today with a woman in the Wichita School District about volunteering as a teacher's aide. I think this would be a good experience for whatever time I am forced to spend Stateside. I've also found a good master's program in teaching at Boston University that looks promising.
What I've found out about master's programs in teaching for ESL/EFL is that they fall into one of two categories. The first category are general teaching programs leading to state certification to which one has to add an ESL component as a kind of extension. The second category are master's programs specifically in ESL/EFL to which one has to add additional coursework in order to gain certification.
I think I prefer the first category as it would give me more flexibility, to teach regular English or even history as well as ESL/EFL. So I am going to look more into those kinds of programs.
But it's nice to feel that the ball is finally rolling in my life.
14 January 2008
Limbo
Well, it's official. Toto, I'm not in Taiwan anymore.
I returned to my parents' home in Wichita, Kansas, on Monday, very jet lagged but otherwise none the worse for wear. Kansas--or at least our little section of it--is so far proving to be everything I remembered it to be. Which is to say, a typical American mess of curvilinear streets leading nowhere in particular, every house having a basketball net over the garage door and three feet of pointless, useless grass between not the house and the road, but between the road and the sidewalks.
So far, I have resisted the urge to kiss the sidewalk. But after Taiwan, I have become very aware of great a thing sidewalks are in the life of a city--though I can't quite call Wichita a city.
Prior to my decision to leaving Taiwan, I had been scheduled to work the Saturday before my departure. Having to leave the country on such short notice, I told Jay I did not intend to work that Saturday. Jay actually had the temerity to tell me I had to work--that not doing so "put us in a bad spot."
I love the attitudes of management types sometimes. I had just been put in a much worse spot by being, essentially, forced to leave Taiwan on about three days' notice, without pay for either my flight to Taiwan or my flight home. And I had given more notice than the school usually gets when a teacher is ill. And I had no contract.
It's a mystery to me why I'm unable to handle these situations with enough, for lack of a better word, manliness. I fudged and said I needed to see someone before I left who would only be available hours I was scheduled to work. Jay pressed me repeatedly for information about who this person was and why I couldn't see him later in the day. I persistently refused to give any information about how important this meeting was and made clear the person could not see me any other time before I was scheduled to depart Taiwan.
I should have been up front and said, plainly, that Shane had no ability to force me to work the final Saturday I was in the country, as I had no contract with Shane (my contract had been with Eve and Ruby--a point brought up when I requested payment of my flight home) and Shane had just made clear it had no intention of employing me long-term. But instead, I turned into a jellyfish and didn't tell Jay off properly, as I should have.
Ah, well. Water under the bridge and all that.
For the time being, I find myself in a state of limbo. I have not yet put in any applications for other jobs abroad, whether in Taiwan, Russia, Brazil, or anywhere else on G_d's green acre. I have done a bit of looking at positions in Russia and the Ukraine and have seen a few that look promising. But I am waiting to receive my actual CELTA certificate, which I did not get before going to Taiwan, before I start applying.
I will also be doing a bit of looking into the GRE. Tuesday, between bouts of sleep, I managed to call someone at the University of Pennsylvania about its Master's program in TESOL. It sounds promising, and I have been absolutely assured that I do not need to have majored in English to enter the program. The only other possible hitch is that I didn't take any math courses in college and might have to find a couple to take before I can get into a program in Pennsylvania. But presumably, I could be in this program as early as this summer, provided I take my GRE and get my application in by the end of March.
My parents have been amazingly supportive in all of this. My father thinks my best move is to keep right on travelling and seeing the world. And there is something to be said for that. There are so many places I might be interested in seeing and working--though a fair number of them would be difficult to break into, since it's hard for Americans to work in the European Union.
But all of this can start to be worked out next week, when I will have my CELTA and can start putting in applications.
I returned to my parents' home in Wichita, Kansas, on Monday, very jet lagged but otherwise none the worse for wear. Kansas--or at least our little section of it--is so far proving to be everything I remembered it to be. Which is to say, a typical American mess of curvilinear streets leading nowhere in particular, every house having a basketball net over the garage door and three feet of pointless, useless grass between not the house and the road, but between the road and the sidewalks.
So far, I have resisted the urge to kiss the sidewalk. But after Taiwan, I have become very aware of great a thing sidewalks are in the life of a city--though I can't quite call Wichita a city.
Prior to my decision to leaving Taiwan, I had been scheduled to work the Saturday before my departure. Having to leave the country on such short notice, I told Jay I did not intend to work that Saturday. Jay actually had the temerity to tell me I had to work--that not doing so "put us in a bad spot."
I love the attitudes of management types sometimes. I had just been put in a much worse spot by being, essentially, forced to leave Taiwan on about three days' notice, without pay for either my flight to Taiwan or my flight home. And I had given more notice than the school usually gets when a teacher is ill. And I had no contract.
It's a mystery to me why I'm unable to handle these situations with enough, for lack of a better word, manliness. I fudged and said I needed to see someone before I left who would only be available hours I was scheduled to work. Jay pressed me repeatedly for information about who this person was and why I couldn't see him later in the day. I persistently refused to give any information about how important this meeting was and made clear the person could not see me any other time before I was scheduled to depart Taiwan.
I should have been up front and said, plainly, that Shane had no ability to force me to work the final Saturday I was in the country, as I had no contract with Shane (my contract had been with Eve and Ruby--a point brought up when I requested payment of my flight home) and Shane had just made clear it had no intention of employing me long-term. But instead, I turned into a jellyfish and didn't tell Jay off properly, as I should have.
Ah, well. Water under the bridge and all that.
For the time being, I find myself in a state of limbo. I have not yet put in any applications for other jobs abroad, whether in Taiwan, Russia, Brazil, or anywhere else on G_d's green acre. I have done a bit of looking at positions in Russia and the Ukraine and have seen a few that look promising. But I am waiting to receive my actual CELTA certificate, which I did not get before going to Taiwan, before I start applying.
I will also be doing a bit of looking into the GRE. Tuesday, between bouts of sleep, I managed to call someone at the University of Pennsylvania about its Master's program in TESOL. It sounds promising, and I have been absolutely assured that I do not need to have majored in English to enter the program. The only other possible hitch is that I didn't take any math courses in college and might have to find a couple to take before I can get into a program in Pennsylvania. But presumably, I could be in this program as early as this summer, provided I take my GRE and get my application in by the end of March.
My parents have been amazingly supportive in all of this. My father thinks my best move is to keep right on travelling and seeing the world. And there is something to be said for that. There are so many places I might be interested in seeing and working--though a fair number of them would be difficult to break into, since it's hard for Americans to work in the European Union.
But all of this can start to be worked out next week, when I will have my CELTA and can start putting in applications.
05 January 2008
Charles in Charge
Well, I may have lost a job, but it looks as though I've picked up a client.
Today, I had lunch with my former student, who goes by the English name of Charles. Charles is just shy of fifty and recently divorced, but he has great plans not only to get his master's degree but to improve his English and, ultimately, to open an English school of his own.
In the course of our conversation, Charles told me that he has now left Shane altogether, because of the replacement Eve and Ruby found for me. Apparently, they found someone quite a bit older than me who has taught longer, but who dropped out of school at sixteen and has little knowledge of formal English grammar. I can only imagine Ruby going up to him constantly and telling him "you must improve immediately or our school will go under, because you are losing us so many students." And I take a certain satisfaction that they are finding life beyond me to be more difficult than they expected.
Charles said he had enjoyed talking with me during my stay here and urged me to stay in touch. I told him my plans about coming back to Taiwan were indefinite. But we have struck a deal whereby I will offer him critique of his writing work over the internet and some conversation practice via Skype. We have not hammered out exactly how much he can or will pay for my services, but he will definitely pay me something, and we can figure out the details later.
This might be another path in ESL/EFL teaching. Distance learning of English is definitely a growing thing. I see ads on Dave's ESL Cafe periodically for people wanted to teach English over the internet. Maybe this is a good way to get a little extra cash and to have a little more flexibility so that I never have to work for a Ruby or an Eve again.
Ah...the wondrous possibilities of life.
Today, I had lunch with my former student, who goes by the English name of Charles. Charles is just shy of fifty and recently divorced, but he has great plans not only to get his master's degree but to improve his English and, ultimately, to open an English school of his own.
In the course of our conversation, Charles told me that he has now left Shane altogether, because of the replacement Eve and Ruby found for me. Apparently, they found someone quite a bit older than me who has taught longer, but who dropped out of school at sixteen and has little knowledge of formal English grammar. I can only imagine Ruby going up to him constantly and telling him "you must improve immediately or our school will go under, because you are losing us so many students." And I take a certain satisfaction that they are finding life beyond me to be more difficult than they expected.
Charles said he had enjoyed talking with me during my stay here and urged me to stay in touch. I told him my plans about coming back to Taiwan were indefinite. But we have struck a deal whereby I will offer him critique of his writing work over the internet and some conversation practice via Skype. We have not hammered out exactly how much he can or will pay for my services, but he will definitely pay me something, and we can figure out the details later.
This might be another path in ESL/EFL teaching. Distance learning of English is definitely a growing thing. I see ads on Dave's ESL Cafe periodically for people wanted to teach English over the internet. Maybe this is a good way to get a little extra cash and to have a little more flexibility so that I never have to work for a Ruby or an Eve again.
Ah...the wondrous possibilities of life.
03 January 2008
The Midwest Side Minyan
Yesterday, the meeting with Jay I'd been dreading since my last observation finally came. And, as suspected, I was told Shane could not offer me full-time position. Too much had been wrong with that lesson, although he did seem to indicate that it had improved in some respects since my last one.
I was faced with the decision of going home or staying here in Taiwan and seeking another EFL job. I have decided on the former--though I have not ruled out the possibility of coming back to Taiwan, if I can come back to a better position and set of circumstances.
Simply put, I lack the resources to wage a real job hunt in Taiwan. I don't have internet in my apartment; my blog posts come to you from the local internet cafe, where I can't produce a resume in Microsoft Word. My laptop (really more of an overly expensive DVD player at this point) can't access Word, because I didn't get it properly registered before I left the States. So for the time being, home it is.
I also feel that, whatever I decide to do about my future, going home to recharge for a while would be best. I want to spend some time seriously looking into master's in TESOL programs, with the aim of eventually getting certified to teach in American public schools. Long term, I think that's a better fit than teaching bushiban in Asia. At the very least, I will use my time at home productively to gather information about different TESOL programs and about taking the GRE.
But there is a strong possibility I will be back in the Far East soon. I met with Mitch Gordon, the recruiter who got me the job at Shane, today. He said there was very little available at the moment that he knew of, but expected there would be more in February--I expect after Chinese New Year. He could probably easily fit me into a slot at Kojen, one of Shane's competitors.
Then there's always the possibility of opting for Russia, Brazil, or some other spot on the globe where I could teach. The possibilites really are endless in ESL/EFL. Someone I spoke to at the school where I did cover work today strongly recommended I apply for the JET program, which brings native English speakers to work as classroom assistants in Japanese schools. He told me that, with a CELTA, I would be a shoo-in, and that Japan was really a great place to learn teaching.
Oddly, I find myself philoosophical about this course of events. Despite all the problems, I think Taiwan has been a valuable experience for me. I've gotten a better sense of what it must be like to be an immigrant to the United States--not speaking a word of the language, not being able to give directions to a cab driver or get across clearly to a store clerk what you're looking for--or, worse, not being able to communicate with a doctor.
I got a bit of the last experience yesterday, when I ended up going on a wild goose chase all over Taipei trying to obtain some Paxil. I suffer from clinical depression, and Paxil is the only thing I've taken that I know works for it. First, Jay from Head Office took me to a local pharmacy, which didn't have it. In Taiwan, this apparently is often your first recourse in trying to get medicine, as a lot of things that are prescription-only back home can be dispensed by a pharmacist in Taiwan. The pharmacist sent me on to one hospital, which sent me on to another, where I waited over an hour and a half for what I thought was a set appointment much earlier.
The doctor, luckily, did speak English. But the English of most of the hospital staff I encountered was very bad. It took a lot of repetition to get through what it was I was trying to find. And then a bit of pushing to get the doctor's staff to understand that I needed to run to a class--amazingly, they just assumed I was an English teacher, because what else would a white man be doing in Taiwan?
I say that I understand what immigrants in the United States go through after this, but in many ways, I've had it easy compared to what, say, a Chinese person coming to Los Angeles must experience. Here in Taiwan, all of the bus and road signage is in both Chinese and English. Many people have had at least some English in high school or bushiban, though their speech is somewhat broken. And people are generally friendly towards foreigners who come to teach the language of international business.
An immigrant to the States, on the other hand, may have a much harder time finding anything in his or her native language. It's far easier to get lost if you can't read street signs. Medical personnel and McDonald's employees alike are unlikely to speak your language--in Taiwan, doctors have to learn English to keep up with medical journals. American doctors are under no similar pressure to learn any other language.
More to the point, immigrants to the States have to face a bewildering hostility to people who don't speak English or speak English less than perfectly. Many Americans treat it as almost a personal affront when someone they encounter either doesn't speak English or speaks it haltingly.
I can't understand where this hostility comes from. I can understand that Americans may not be as conversant in other languages as people in other country are in English. After all, people come to the United States from everywhere. You can't possibly learn every language that someone from another country might speak, because there are just too many. But Americans, unlike Taiwanese, pride themselves on being a nation of immigrants.
Even as I have gained a deeper appreciation of this aspect of being an immigrant in the United States, I have also gained a perspective on my own country that I could never have gotten back home. My friend Jacky, with his admiration of all things American, has made me see a lot of my own country's ways in a less cynical light. For instance, I used to think Americans were slothful compared to, say, the Japanese or the Taiwanese. But I've come to see that the frantic way many Taiwanese feel compelled to live--a life where the unhappiness of overpressured schoolchildren is starting to be seen as a serious social problem--doesn't really make many people very happy. Perhaps it really is better that Americans are able to step back and chill a little more.
I've also gotten a new perspective on my native language. Many of the quirks of English that we native speakers find charming cause endless problems for EFL students. For instance, I always considered it a great strength of English that it had so many synonyms and near synonyms--that a woman who sells herself for money could be a courtesan, a prostitute, a call girl, or a streetwalker, depending on the circumstances. But do we really need so many words for the same thing? Is it really important to distinguish prostitution at, say, the French court from prostitution in the backseat of a Ford Bronco?
Similarly, I've come to realize how few of the niceties of "good English" have anything to do with communication of meaning or ideas. I may still wince at "tomorrow I shopping", but do I ever doubt what a speaker means when he says this? Do we really need several different ways of making requests with relatively little difference in meaning or level of politeness? Admittedly, some of this distinction is eroding; even many EFL teachers no longer bother trying to teach the difference between May I go to the movies, Can I go to the movies, and Could I go to the movies, unless they are teaching specifically for the TOEFL, which tests it.
So in a couple of days, I get on a plane, very early in the morning, and return to America. But I go back a changed and, in some ways, a more experienced and a wiser person.
I was faced with the decision of going home or staying here in Taiwan and seeking another EFL job. I have decided on the former--though I have not ruled out the possibility of coming back to Taiwan, if I can come back to a better position and set of circumstances.
Simply put, I lack the resources to wage a real job hunt in Taiwan. I don't have internet in my apartment; my blog posts come to you from the local internet cafe, where I can't produce a resume in Microsoft Word. My laptop (really more of an overly expensive DVD player at this point) can't access Word, because I didn't get it properly registered before I left the States. So for the time being, home it is.
I also feel that, whatever I decide to do about my future, going home to recharge for a while would be best. I want to spend some time seriously looking into master's in TESOL programs, with the aim of eventually getting certified to teach in American public schools. Long term, I think that's a better fit than teaching bushiban in Asia. At the very least, I will use my time at home productively to gather information about different TESOL programs and about taking the GRE.
But there is a strong possibility I will be back in the Far East soon. I met with Mitch Gordon, the recruiter who got me the job at Shane, today. He said there was very little available at the moment that he knew of, but expected there would be more in February--I expect after Chinese New Year. He could probably easily fit me into a slot at Kojen, one of Shane's competitors.
Then there's always the possibility of opting for Russia, Brazil, or some other spot on the globe where I could teach. The possibilites really are endless in ESL/EFL. Someone I spoke to at the school where I did cover work today strongly recommended I apply for the JET program, which brings native English speakers to work as classroom assistants in Japanese schools. He told me that, with a CELTA, I would be a shoo-in, and that Japan was really a great place to learn teaching.
Oddly, I find myself philoosophical about this course of events. Despite all the problems, I think Taiwan has been a valuable experience for me. I've gotten a better sense of what it must be like to be an immigrant to the United States--not speaking a word of the language, not being able to give directions to a cab driver or get across clearly to a store clerk what you're looking for--or, worse, not being able to communicate with a doctor.
I got a bit of the last experience yesterday, when I ended up going on a wild goose chase all over Taipei trying to obtain some Paxil. I suffer from clinical depression, and Paxil is the only thing I've taken that I know works for it. First, Jay from Head Office took me to a local pharmacy, which didn't have it. In Taiwan, this apparently is often your first recourse in trying to get medicine, as a lot of things that are prescription-only back home can be dispensed by a pharmacist in Taiwan. The pharmacist sent me on to one hospital, which sent me on to another, where I waited over an hour and a half for what I thought was a set appointment much earlier.
The doctor, luckily, did speak English. But the English of most of the hospital staff I encountered was very bad. It took a lot of repetition to get through what it was I was trying to find. And then a bit of pushing to get the doctor's staff to understand that I needed to run to a class--amazingly, they just assumed I was an English teacher, because what else would a white man be doing in Taiwan?
I say that I understand what immigrants in the United States go through after this, but in many ways, I've had it easy compared to what, say, a Chinese person coming to Los Angeles must experience. Here in Taiwan, all of the bus and road signage is in both Chinese and English. Many people have had at least some English in high school or bushiban, though their speech is somewhat broken. And people are generally friendly towards foreigners who come to teach the language of international business.
An immigrant to the States, on the other hand, may have a much harder time finding anything in his or her native language. It's far easier to get lost if you can't read street signs. Medical personnel and McDonald's employees alike are unlikely to speak your language--in Taiwan, doctors have to learn English to keep up with medical journals. American doctors are under no similar pressure to learn any other language.
More to the point, immigrants to the States have to face a bewildering hostility to people who don't speak English or speak English less than perfectly. Many Americans treat it as almost a personal affront when someone they encounter either doesn't speak English or speaks it haltingly.
I can't understand where this hostility comes from. I can understand that Americans may not be as conversant in other languages as people in other country are in English. After all, people come to the United States from everywhere. You can't possibly learn every language that someone from another country might speak, because there are just too many. But Americans, unlike Taiwanese, pride themselves on being a nation of immigrants.
Even as I have gained a deeper appreciation of this aspect of being an immigrant in the United States, I have also gained a perspective on my own country that I could never have gotten back home. My friend Jacky, with his admiration of all things American, has made me see a lot of my own country's ways in a less cynical light. For instance, I used to think Americans were slothful compared to, say, the Japanese or the Taiwanese. But I've come to see that the frantic way many Taiwanese feel compelled to live--a life where the unhappiness of overpressured schoolchildren is starting to be seen as a serious social problem--doesn't really make many people very happy. Perhaps it really is better that Americans are able to step back and chill a little more.
I've also gotten a new perspective on my native language. Many of the quirks of English that we native speakers find charming cause endless problems for EFL students. For instance, I always considered it a great strength of English that it had so many synonyms and near synonyms--that a woman who sells herself for money could be a courtesan, a prostitute, a call girl, or a streetwalker, depending on the circumstances. But do we really need so many words for the same thing? Is it really important to distinguish prostitution at, say, the French court from prostitution in the backseat of a Ford Bronco?
Similarly, I've come to realize how few of the niceties of "good English" have anything to do with communication of meaning or ideas. I may still wince at "tomorrow I shopping", but do I ever doubt what a speaker means when he says this? Do we really need several different ways of making requests with relatively little difference in meaning or level of politeness? Admittedly, some of this distinction is eroding; even many EFL teachers no longer bother trying to teach the difference between May I go to the movies, Can I go to the movies, and Could I go to the movies, unless they are teaching specifically for the TOEFL, which tests it.
So in a couple of days, I get on a plane, very early in the morning, and return to America. But I go back a changed and, in some ways, a more experienced and a wiser person.
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