 Teaching
English in Thailand - or being successful anywhere
It's
all about attitude. Period.
Someone on one
of the Lonely Planet discussion groups a while back
asked about teaching English in Asia. She had heard
some bad things.
I wrote a
response and related how my first nine months in ESL had
gone. Let me tell you the story: It is not typical of
first jobs anywhere - but it helps make a point. But .
. . in those first months I lived in eight different
places. Literally from a stairwell closet to a housesit
where I wasn't to touch or use ANYTHING - to a nice
house overlooking the sea - but with no water to flush
the toilet . . .
Also in those
first months, my contract was cancelled by my initial
employer who decided to get out of the English teaching
business (it was a popular Japanese language school).
Following that I was moved from on city to another for a
short-term job where my employer routinely shorted my
wages. All the while my girlfriend (later to be my
wife) was having similar problems and her employer
wasn't paying her at all after the first few months.
What a LOUSY
disaster! And this was back in 1992-3 when people
actually PAID recruiters for placements! Yes - we paid
for those lousy jobs and all those problems!
Aaaaayyyyeeeee!
Was it
all bad? No!
I hope I've not
convinced you to give up on teaching English abroad -
because the good part of the story follows . . .
Well, that
short-term job converted over to a nice college job back
in the original city where I had started. The recruiter
wanted more money to bail me out of the situation THEY
had put me! I paid. What?!
WHY?!
Because they
found me a job with TWENTY Weeks PAID Vacation per year
and a FOUR-DAY work week. And only TWELVE hours of
classes per week. You read that right - Yeah, that is
the BIG TWO OH (20). So - in the midst of all those
troubles I went from ONE WEEK paid vacation to - for
literally the same wages - to almost a half year off
PAID and literally a part-time job.
This story is
the beginning of a long personally and financially
rewarding career in EFL/EFL/TEFL. From 1992 until 2007
when I "retired".
I KNOW
my RIGHTS!
Now . . . in the
midst of all that, I could have demanded my "rights" -
gotten overly assertive as most Westerners do in such
situations, had a fit and quit and gone back to America
- the whole thing a HUGE FAILURE and mistake. "Grumble
grumble, Teaching English S*cks!"
But I didn't. I
had the previous good fortune of two years in Africa as
a Peace Corps Volunteer and had gotten some excellent
cross-cultural training. I waited, watched and let
things play out. If not for those two first bad jobs -
I may have never made the jump to teaching at colleges
and universities with LONG PAID vacations. BTW, my wife
made the same transition and we taught at colleges and
universities in four Asian countries over the next 10-12
years. And we have had a GREAT life with lots of travel
and even financial security. Thank you ESL!
I KNOW
my RIGHTS!
Back to that (my
rights) . . .
You can decide
what path worked best for me in this circumstance. BTW,
also back to the lady on the Lonely Planet discussion
group. In the posting I called those initial months a
POSITIVE experience. Why? Because after all that -
there was truly NOTHING an employer could throw at me
that would shake me up. I would, after that time, just
take a deep breath and see where it all went. And it
almost always went to wonderful places.
The lady on
Lonely Planet said she saw it as a very NEGATIVE
experience.
But . . . but .
. . how could it be negative when it opened the door to
a decade of great jobs, travel, savings and a wonderful
life?
Attitude
I hope you can
see what I am saying here. YOU decide - you really DO
decide what works in your life and what doesn't. And
YOU make it work - or not. I'm not saying to call a pig
a rose. DO be aware of what is going on in your life -
but do choose your battles carefully. Let things play
out a bit before bailing out.
Be patient,
learn a few cultural skills and you will find a WHOLE
NEW WORLD out here, just waiting for you. And while you
are making a success of it all, you will meet and see
others fall by the wayside as they exercise their
"rights" and turn their lives into negative nightmares.
You WILL meet them and they will always be spewing their
negative attitudes and ideas, hoping to poison you as
well. Don't let them do it.
Don't be one of
them. Come on board for a GREAT new life abroad. It
really is possible. But just like with jobs "back
home", you will meet bad bosses, bad companies, bad
situations. And, just like "back home" you can overcome
them with the right attitude.
Come on board.
A life you can't even imagine awaits you.
Nike says, "Just
do it" - and they are so right.
As you cruise
this website you will find other pages that will help
you learn how to deal with cultural issues. Please do
read them and take them to heart.
They can make
all the difference in your new life. I promise.
|
"Twenty
years from now you will be more disappointed
by the things that you didn't do than by the
ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines.
Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the
trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream.
Discover." -- Mark Twain |
|
Raise your hand if you'd like to spend your "working"
time in a Luxury Resort . . . 
