Global Village Language Center

So I've been in Taiwan for just over a month now and everything's okay. I'm still adjusting but it's easier to cope with the culture shock now than it was when I first arrived. It's ironic that I get culture shock here and not in England. Ah well, c'est la vie - or just c'est ma vie for that matter. :)

It is getting a bit easier to speak Chinese 24/7 but it takes conscious effort to not automatically reply in English. At least most of my friends (all from elementary school!) know enough English that I can comfortably speak Chinglish with them. And speaking of English, that brings me to my main point: I've got a job! Yes, yes, I finally sorted myself out and landed myself a job. It only took so bloody long because I was initailly set on getting a proper pr/marketing communications job but after a couple of interviews, it became clear that my written chinese just isn't up to scratch. My other option was to get a job teaching English. I spent a lot of time debating with myself whether or not to really stay and stick this out, knowing full well that I should stay because it will be beneficial to me in the end (or so I hope).

Anyway, I have joined the ranks of my teacher friends and am now an official English teacher/tutor at Global Village Language Center - what is the world coming to now that I've become a teacher?!?! I wonder about the same thing myself. It's a one-year commitment and I'm looking to start next week. It's a whole different kind of challenge for me so I shouldn't get bored and plus, the pay's good (almost double that of my peers'), the hours are pretty flexible, my supervisor sounds cool and I'm positive that most of the students are older, so no little kids for me. Phew, I don't want to have to deal with children.

I sat in on a couple of lessons on Monday to get a feel of how the classes are taught and all I have to say is easy peasy! It's so informal (one teacher was wearing shorts and a t-shirt) and very conversational-like. All the students I met were older than me, middle-age or so; whether that's a good thing or a bad thing remains to be seen. The main thing I gotta remember is to slow down my speech or all I'll get is a roomful of blank stares. The classes are fairly small, too; the ones i saw ranged from 6 or 7 to a dozen or so students. All in all, it's not too shabby and I'm rather looking forward to it.

So am I missing the UK? Is the Pope Catholic? Do you even need to ask?? I'm even missing the States, now that i'm here (I never did when I was in the UK). But aaaaanyway, we shan't discuss that unless someone's got some bright ideas on how to relocate myself back onto british soil (I'm thinking long-term here!)...

I often find myself thinking why couldn't I have been less complicated and just be content with just staying in one place, or picked somewhere that was easier to relocate to. But then again, if I were simpler, I wouldn't be me then would I. Oh well.