They´re a strange bunch of people, TEFL Teachers. Adopting a lifestyle which, to many, is incomprehensible, and finding the alternatives impossible. The job matches the personality so perfectly... it´s difficult to say which came first. Was this social misfit simply lucky to fall into a profession which suited their character so well? Or did they grow into their job and eventually find themselves incapable of working in any other sector?
Instability of contracts is often an issue, particularly in Portugal and Spain. But the TEFL teachers were breaking into cold sweats at having to sign a 9-month contract. What if we don´t like it? What if we want to leave? The sign of security is insecurity, the backpack being the ultimate symbol of liberation and independence. If it all goes wrong, you stuff all your clothes and Hemingway novels into the backpack and go. Leave. Walk off into the sunset...
No-one ever came here on purpose. TEFL teachers are required to have graduated from university, but no subject is specified. And no-one studies TEFL at uni. There are linguists, mathematicians, qualified lawyers, literature graduates, fine artists, actors and musicians. There are philosophers, communication experts, International Business specialists and computer programmers. And here we all are, teaching our mother tongue to the masses, and wondering how we ever got into this. Few jobs can be done by so many. Yet it is not the job itself that is the challenge, it is the uprooting and change, foreign language, food and culture, finding a house when you don´t even know how to ask for a coffee, wiping the slate clean and reinventing yourself every 12 months.
No-one knows how they ended up here. At the end of the day you simply have to put your finger on the map and say "there". You try working in an office and get claustrophobic. You try teaching in a primary school and hate the admin. You try working in a bank and hate the suit-wearing corporate culture. TEFL is... different. Because it´s not a real job. "What do you want to be when you grow up?" the teachers ask each other playfully. We´re only half-joking.
Many are teachers for a year, enjoy themselves, have a laugh and return to "the real world". The problem is when this period is extended, it stops being a holiday, and the lines of "the real world" start to blur. Home feels as surreal as away, being surrounded by your native language is depressing (Oh my God! People really just talk about TV!) and you have no idea what your family and friends are talking about (music, TV, politics, sudoku), and they don´t understand why. Culture shock is expected and "part of the Experience". Reverse culture shock is disorienting, unexpected, and somehow wrong.
The idea of packing the backpack and moving to Indonesia or Mexico is easier to deal with than the idea of returning "home". For everyone back home, this action is "brave". For anyone with the snail-like habit of carrying their life on their backs, this action is cowardly, evading once again the return to one´s own country. We don´t want to grow up. "Next year", you mumble, "next year I´ll go back. Maybe..." And the Dungeons and Dragons-style game continues, you´re heading home, you´re on the path. The only obstacle is your own lack of willpower. You know you´ll make it back some day, you think you will, but not yet, no, not just yet...
Wednesday 19 March 2008
Sunday 9 March 2008
Meaningful Vacationeering ADVENTURE!
Many frustrating hours have been spent recently raking through website after website offering "Authentic and Worthwhile Experiences!!!" in Brazil, Ecuador and Colombia.
Following a fascinating, educational and somewhat life-changing spell volunteering with a very small Foundation based in the Ecuadorian Coastal Rainforest last summer, I decided that I would indeed like to do something as inspiring during my long summer holiday this year.
The whole research experience has, frankly, left a hideously bitter taste in my mouth. The "Vacationeering" industry is growing at a such a rate that the number of potential volunteers now appears to exceed the number of placements. Gap-year students and those taking a career-break are expected to pay vast sums of money (between 1000-3000 euros) for a two to four week stay with a host family or in puropse-built accommodation in a developing country, while they carry out this voluntary work. Where this money goes, in many cases, is about as clear as mud: "includes programme fee, accommodation, airport transfers, guidance, support, volunteer manual, Certificate of Participation at the end of the placement..."
"Not included: food, snacks, transport to, from or around the country, insurance, equipment..."
Hmmm. Given that 1000 euros is probably a decent annual salary in some of these countries, it seems rather a lot to be spending on a bed for the night. Airport transfers would probably set you back about a fiver in a taxi, and what on earth is the programme fee? The "registration fee" is also to be paid separately, another 200-300 dollars, to cover "administration and processing of the application."
But the sickest operations have the flashiest websites. "Help in an orphanage for three days, then experience the trek of a lifetime!!!" they roar. "Have a worthwhile adventure!!!" glitters across the screen. "Perfect for someone who wants a meaningful holiday near one of the most beautiful beaches in the world!!!" - cue photo of blond girl cradling a black child under a palm tree. These are inevitably the ones with the most prohibitive "programme fees", and the ones with a non-existent selection process. "No Spanish necessary!!!" "No experience needed" "Anyone can help!".
Do these organisations work in cold countries? In little known cities, far from the beach or the rain forest? Do they tackle the less glamorous problems of AIDS victims, the elderly, those maimed during conflict or by land mines? Hm. It would seem not. Instead, bear-tracking, tree-planting and street kids are the preferred options.
Shuffling and sorting through the online maze, I post a few well-placed questions and am pushed in the direction of tinier, un-Googleable operations. They don´t advertise volunteer placements. Websites are informative, not flashy. One or two catch my eye. I write emails, listing my qualifications and experience, they write back requesting my CV. There is no programme fee because there is no programme. One slum-based children´s shelter says that funding has dried up, and the project can no longer functions. "But please come, the kids are still around, we can organise it..."
No-one is interested in these places because they don´t offer "meaningful adverntures". The websites may be in Spanish or Portuguese, alienating another portion of would-be volunteers. There is no accommodation, no airport transfers, no "manual". Thay do not promise you "the trip of the lifetime". But I bet that for anyone bold enough to reach out and rise to the challenge, that is what they would get.
Following a fascinating, educational and somewhat life-changing spell volunteering with a very small Foundation based in the Ecuadorian Coastal Rainforest last summer, I decided that I would indeed like to do something as inspiring during my long summer holiday this year.
The whole research experience has, frankly, left a hideously bitter taste in my mouth. The "Vacationeering" industry is growing at a such a rate that the number of potential volunteers now appears to exceed the number of placements. Gap-year students and those taking a career-break are expected to pay vast sums of money (between 1000-3000 euros) for a two to four week stay with a host family or in puropse-built accommodation in a developing country, while they carry out this voluntary work. Where this money goes, in many cases, is about as clear as mud: "includes programme fee, accommodation, airport transfers, guidance, support, volunteer manual, Certificate of Participation at the end of the placement..."
"Not included: food, snacks, transport to, from or around the country, insurance, equipment..."
Hmmm. Given that 1000 euros is probably a decent annual salary in some of these countries, it seems rather a lot to be spending on a bed for the night. Airport transfers would probably set you back about a fiver in a taxi, and what on earth is the programme fee? The "registration fee" is also to be paid separately, another 200-300 dollars, to cover "administration and processing of the application."
But the sickest operations have the flashiest websites. "Help in an orphanage for three days, then experience the trek of a lifetime!!!" they roar. "Have a worthwhile adventure!!!" glitters across the screen. "Perfect for someone who wants a meaningful holiday near one of the most beautiful beaches in the world!!!" - cue photo of blond girl cradling a black child under a palm tree. These are inevitably the ones with the most prohibitive "programme fees", and the ones with a non-existent selection process. "No Spanish necessary!!!" "No experience needed" "Anyone can help!".
Do these organisations work in cold countries? In little known cities, far from the beach or the rain forest? Do they tackle the less glamorous problems of AIDS victims, the elderly, those maimed during conflict or by land mines? Hm. It would seem not. Instead, bear-tracking, tree-planting and street kids are the preferred options.
Shuffling and sorting through the online maze, I post a few well-placed questions and am pushed in the direction of tinier, un-Googleable operations. They don´t advertise volunteer placements. Websites are informative, not flashy. One or two catch my eye. I write emails, listing my qualifications and experience, they write back requesting my CV. There is no programme fee because there is no programme. One slum-based children´s shelter says that funding has dried up, and the project can no longer functions. "But please come, the kids are still around, we can organise it..."
No-one is interested in these places because they don´t offer "meaningful adverntures". The websites may be in Spanish or Portuguese, alienating another portion of would-be volunteers. There is no accommodation, no airport transfers, no "manual". Thay do not promise you "the trip of the lifetime". But I bet that for anyone bold enough to reach out and rise to the challenge, that is what they would get.
Thursday 6 March 2008
O céu de Lisboa
The sky in Lisbon today was the colour that children use when they paint skies. A shade of Blue which can´t be described with words. Mmmmmm...
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