Get Your TEFL Hustle On

The First day

As the plane touched down, it was hard to believe that only a few weeks earlier, I had been sitting at home, surfing the internet and not really doing anything. That night, I had had a terrible fight with my parents who had asked me what I was going to do now that I had graduated from University some months ago and hadn't really done much since then. As they were yelling at me, I thought- "Fine, I don't need this", and I went to my room. After a few hours of doing nothing while surfing the internet, I saw a strange ad that said - Teach English Abroad- Click here for more info. So, I clicked. 

When I was growing up, I had always been told, "Study hard, get good grades, go to college and then get a good job". I had followed that maxim to the T, but after graduating, the "get a good job" part just hadn't happened. It wasn't because I had done anything wrong, it was just a combination of factors- a slowing economy, older people not retiring, a lack of jobs in my field and huge number of potential candidates. In fact, it wasn't just me, all of my friends also had found themselves in a similar situation. Sure, one or two had been able to find jobs doing what they loved and were actually using their degrees, but most hadn't. A few others had been able to move to the big city with hopes of finding something promising, but had ended up selling cell phones or even worse, becoming a barista. Not that anything was wrong with that, but it certainly wasn't "living the dream" and when it was all said and done, at the end of the day, the money wasn't there, although their Instagram accounts didn't reflect that. Credit cards, I guess, or maybe their parents were still supporting them. Sometimes it is hard to tell. That's why that ad to teach English abroad seemed so interesting - not only did the money seem ok or even better than what I had been getting, but I would be able to see the world and to live in an exotic location. It really seemed to be the answer to a lot of my problems- so I clicked on a few ads and sent my resume in. By this time though, it was already around 3am and I was pretty tired, so I fell asleep.

I had to wake up early the next day, or earlier than usual, I should say, and since I had been up late last night, I was still in a daze. Stumbling around,  I tried to to make some coffee while finding something to eat and I barely made it out the door on time. After a hard day of running around, getting my errands done while trying to meet up with a few friends I hadn't seen in awhile, I finally made it home. Sitting on the couch watching Netflix, I noticed a notification on my phone. Curious, I picked up and read what was there - a hiring manager had noticed my resume and wanted to arrange a Skype interview! Wow, I thought, this is really happening!

The next few days were a little rushed. After arranging a "get to know you interview" via Skype, which by the way, requires a little googling to understand time differences (what does +3 GMT mean anyways?), I put a lot of time into researching the differences between  TESOL and CELTA and what teaching English was really all about.  I had never thought about teaching English, but I grew up speaking it and through the process of becoming certified, they would teach me how to teach it. I was excited! 

After having a video interview with the hiring manager, that I aced BTW, we then discussed the hiring terms, such as paid round-trip tickets (that's right - they were paying for my ticket to travel the world!), free living accommodations, working hours (30 clock hours a week!), paid vacation, free medical care and my salary (very nice!). I was so excited that not only immediately told my parents, but posted to Facebook as well. A lot of my friends were supportive, just like my parents, but they kept asking, just like my parents, "Aren't you afraid? You don't speak the language - how will talk to people? and Are you sure this is legit?" I think it was mostly because they were jealous and were very happy sitting around, doing the same old things, day after day. Or maybe they were just little bit afraid of change and were more comfortable watching TV and living life through Instagram than actually getting out there and doing it. 

After that? Well, I made a check-list of things I needed. Since I already had my passport, that wasn't a problem, but other things were- such as where to buy travel adapters, what clothing would I need,  would my bank cards work there and of course, what is the best phrase book to buy? (thanks Amazon!) And that, pretty  much was that. A few days later, sitting on the plane getting ready to take off, I realized that the next chapter of my life had just begun!

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