TEFL: Preparing for China

For a lot of my adult life, I have flittered about, going from job to job, location to location and never settling down, whether it's my own intentions or otherwise. As I've parroted many times, life for me is about experience; it's about living unconventionally and I certainly don't care for a dead end job and living in perpetual misery as a result. And I'm not going to cave in to societal pressure to procreate with a long term partner in a monogamous relationship and get married (although, perhaps I would for visa purposes). So whether or not I'll continue to flitter about for the rest of my life will remain to be seen. I'm 28 years old and I still want to enjoy myself whilst I'm still young, instead of at a time in life when my health will have deteriorated; when I'm too damn old and it'll be a struggle to wipe my own arse. If people want to settle down and work hard during their youthful years, and want to wait until retirement to truly appreciate life, then each to their own. I don't.

Now I can get off from my soap box and type about something new and exciting - me flittering off to China to teach English. I've read a long time ago that one of the best options to travel is to teach English on the side. Money isn't going to accumulate if one doesn't work for it, and we live in a world where one has to purchase papers to obtain permission to cross over an imaginary line to another country. Oh, to be a bird and be able to migrate without boundaries created by man.

Having done a little stint teaching English in India a few years ago (when I was green and inexperienced), I thought that I may as well give this a shot and so enrolled myself into a 140 hours TEFL course  - 120 hours online and 20 hours in a classroom.  I took my time with it and finally passed and received my certificate in May. It's a relatively easy course and successfully completing it by no means makes me a qualified and professional teacher, but I've acquired knowledge on the methodology of teaching at least. If only I had the same knowledge on the methodology of teaching as well as grammar, as I do now, back in India. I despair at my past ignorance and failings.

Since passing, I started work at the Sealife Centre as a photography and sales assistant, wanting to put some money (it's a necessary evil after all, isn't it?) aside before I start applying for teaching positions. Heading to Asia is a preference of mine and I initially thought that it would be impossible for me to teach in China due to not having a BA, which many (legit) schools require.

Since then, I've done my homework and I've found out that it isn't actually government law that requires an "alien" to have a university degree, rather, it's a guideline established by State Administration for Foreign Expert Affairs (SAFEA) who state that, "The foreign educational expert should hold a minimum of a bachelor's degree and more than two years of experience."

Notice the modal verb "should". It's a word commonly used for advice or recommendations (You should get a haircut, Terry. You should settle down, Terry. You should have another drink, Terry. Only one of those advice I'd follow. Guess which one?) and doesn't necessarily mean that one needs to adhere to it. Surely must  would have been the modal verb used if it was an actual obligation? Besides, the SAFEA guideline is just that: a guideline. It's the employer's discretion whether or not they enforce it. Basically, guidelines are not laws.

Anyway, a friend who attended the same classroom part of the course as me gave my Facebook contact to a recruiter from an agency that specialises in teaching jobs for TEFL/ESL teachers. She contacted me and wanted to put me in contact with a school called First Leap who would have had me working in one of their schools in China on a business visa. Alarm bells went off in my head and the skeptical in me done some research and found out that would have been completely illegal (hence my research into visas in general), so, nach, I declined.

The recruiter then got an assistant Director of Studies (DOS) from English First in Xi'an to email me after I looked over the job description and said I'd be willing to have an interview. I made sure to ask the DOS about the visa and researched English First too and was reassured that it's a legit school. The interview went well and I was offered a position!

In the time that's past, I have been gradually buying things I feel I need or that'll help. It took a while, but I have also now obtained my visa (speaking of visas: since the referendum resulted in brexit, there has been speculation that we, as UK citizens no longer a part of the EU, will have to pay to visit EU countries. No longer would we be able to hop on the plane spontaneously and have a binge drinking weekend in Ibiza or go to part in Prague, nope, we'd have to apply, pay and wait for approval. And what has people's response been? "Oh well, I don't mind having to pay a score," to paraphrase nonchalant brexit voters has been the gist of it. Ha! Do these brexiters really think that EU embassies will only charge us a score to enter? Us to whom they now show resentment towards? Mate, I had to pay £180 [working visa, mind you] for the privilege to enter China and I don't think UK government have done anything to piss them off in recent years, so I can only despair at the potential extortionate prices EU countries will charge after giving them the proverbial middle finger. Then there's the waiting times. The filling out numerous forms. Visas are a fucking ball ache is what I'm getting at here. Let's hope that it's just post brexit scaremongering. Shit, I'm on my soapbox again, aren't I?).

So now I'm just counting down the days, visiting family, having farewell drinks, learning a bit of Mandarin and getting reaquainted with chopsticks. I'll update this blog once I get to China and settle down over there. Let's hope that things pan out better for me this time and it'll be a good year!

What Is The Point?

Recently, my train of thoughts seem to be heading towards Nihilism station and I am at a conflict whether I should step off and stay there. The pessimist in me keeps asking me what's the point? Why keep advocating what you deem to be positive change? You realise that your are but one of hundreds of thousands unheard voices, right? I'm somewhat inclined to agree with my pessimist self, although “unheard voice” might not be entirely accurate; we're heard all right, it's just that our voices are callously shrugged off and ignored.

Indeed, what is the point then? The countless debates, discussions and arguments I have been in either conclude in ad hominem attacks or we arrive at an impasse – neither of us convincing one another that our political beliefs or ideologies are the “right” ones. There is no right or wrong or global truth; we all just like to project our ideals onto a baseless world and shout over one another until we are blue in the face. Many hours just wasted, albeit stimulating I suppose. But I don't go into debates just for the sheer pleasure, you know. 

So what is the point? Almost every day there are terrible conflicts happening and caring, compassionate people march in their thousands in protest just for a brief mention in parliament, before Prime Sinister et al decide that their plan of action is the best solution for resolving such conflicts. And so bombs are dropped in retaliation, homes are destroyed, communities are torn asunder and innocent lives are extinguished. Ah well, that's collateral damage for you, isn't it? Except when such barbarism happens on English soil, then it's called “Terrorism”.

Utterly pointless, isn't it? I am but one of many “loony lefties” opposing the rising right wing rhetoric of “Muslims and refugees are bad” (to paraphrase) that seems to be sweeping this island at the moment. “Britain is for the British so put us first!” they vacuously shout holding banners, flags and crosses. “This is a christian country!” Is it? Do pagans ring a bell? Druids? Surely Britain is a secular country nowadays? Or it should very well be. No matter how many umpteenth times one exposes the right wing group's bigotry, hypocrisies, racism etc, it just goes over their heads as it's all deep rooted in their personality. So accusations are flung that either of us are being brainwashed by leftwing/rightwing media propaganda and that is it. We get on with our lives despising one another.

Is there any point? There are far more compassionate and motivated people than I, and they are just another voice that gets drowned out by all of the self-congratulatory governments and their wealthy friends. Not long ago, I squatted with some anarchists on a farm who just want to live outside the system that's imposed upon us all since our birth. Despite their peaceful and compassionate way of living, the system - who manifested itself into a local wealthy man – seeks to force them out of the unused and technically unowned land for business purposes. I lasted a week with these brilliant individuals while they, as far as I'm concerned, are still fighting the man so they can live out their anarchistic lives. Money will probably prevail though.

Pointlessly wasting time, aren't I? Determination is never enough for me. I was determined to be educated; to seek enlightenment; to take up humanitarian causes, but my determination whittled away when I was pushed out of the door being told I wasn't good enough. Determination and compassion isn't enough. For all of my talk of travel, I spend most of my days in my room when I'm not working some drudgery job. There are many bona fide nomads and vagabonds out there, travelling the earth on pittance while I lack the courage to do so. And if I do travel for the rest of my life, what will it be for? What is the point of experiencing when once we're dead, our experiences and recollections die with us? My memory may live on with family, but only for a few generations will my stories be told before I will be forgotten, just as my great, great, great grandparents are. Nothing of what I do will be immortalised because I, like most, will not do anything significant and noteworthy in my short time on this planet.

Being born on this planet was pointless, wasn't it? Oh, Earth is beautiful for sure, but it has been ravaged by humanity and has been divided between us all because of the concept of borders and countries. The planet has been imposed arbitrarily invisible lines dotted across its surface and are kept there by jingoism, patriotism and nationalism. Such concepts have led and still do lead to war because a government claims a bit of soil as their and their people's own. Not only do borders cause tension, but so does difference of ideologies and religious beliefs. Advancements in technology also means more dangerous technology and there's been fear of nuclear war for some time now. With current tensions as they are, we could very well see armageddon in the future. And you know what? Good. That's what humanity needs. I will stand looking out towards the horizon, a mushroom cloud and with my arms open wide, embrace the shock wave that will come my way. We are the fucking cancer of Earth...

Pointlessly rabbling on now, aren't I? We are over 7 billion people on this planet; 7 billion individual thoughts; 7 billion opinions. I can't change diddly squat for as long as there is an "us and them" mentality. What right do I have to change people's minds and to call for drastic changes when the majority seem content with how things are, anyway? That's right, for all of people's vilification of the devastating wars that happen, they will soon condone disgraceful actions if it fits in with their world view. Humanity is one contradictory mess and we are seemingly OK with that. A part of me wants to resign to the fact that I shall make no difference and any determination to do so is futile. Well, it has been so far.

What does any of it matter anyway? All of what we do; our existence is but a flicker in a day of the live of a star.