So David, a friend of a friend of mine here in Thailand – who has become a great friend to all of us helping us find a place to live and work and navigating us around Chiang Mai – hooked Jeremiah and I up with a job at the YMCA. We were counselors for a weekend-long English World Camp. Thirteen and 14-yr-old Thai kids have an INSANE amount of energy.. and are “awesome!”

Today I was called to my boss’s office. Every possible thought crossed my mind except the actual reason why she called me: to give me my first pay check! First week of work at $83.33!
The next one will be on June 30th.

First pay check!

* * * * * *
GRANDE PREMIERE!

Aujourd’hui ma directrice m’a fait appeler dans son bureau. Toutes les raisons imaginables me sont passées par la tête, toutes sauf une: elle voulait en fait me donner mon premier chèque!
Première semaine de boulot à $83.33! Yeeeeehaaaa!
Prochain chèque le 30 juin.

Lynne and Courtney Circa 2007 - Cirie, Italy

Moving to a different country without a clearly defined plan is definitely the way to go, with one major exception: finding employment. On the job front, doing a little research before you leave can pay off BIG TIME.  It did for team Italy!

As of next week all four of us will be teaching English to Italian children at English immersion summer camps throughout Italy with a non-profit organization called ACLE.

JOB FACTS:

• I found ACLE through a Google search in 2007 and it was my ticket out of my corporate job.
• Lynne and I met in Italy working for this very same program three years ago. Our Jet Set Zero experience will be a reunion of epic proportions.
• Sarah and Perrin are ACLE newbies.  Hazing rituals likely.
• ACLE has an important mission: To prove that the “traditional Italian scholastic system of “chalk and talk” fails to stimulate the emotions and energy that an entertaining atmosphere can provide.
• Instead of  lectures and boring workbook lessons, we’ll be teaching English through songs, theater, art, games, sports and multi-cultural activities.
• ACLE + Italy = one delicious summer.

A lot more on our sweet summer job soon, but for now check out these excellent sites to begin YOUR international job search:

Jobs Abroad
Teach Abroad
National Association of International Educators (NAFSA)
Craigslist (Search Europe/International Jobs)
Dave’s ESL Cafe
Expat-Blog (read success stories and get tips from other expats)

It’s hard to put a finger on my job title these days.  A friend put it best when he called me a “cubicle refugee, travel writer, tv personality and full-time vagabond.”  I’ll take it.

Most of my daytime hours are spent doing what I love: writing travel articles, editing videos and cooking up crazy ideas like a season of Jet Set Zero in ITALY.  I work from my home office or anywhere that has Wi-Fi.  I set my own hours, eat home-cooked lunches and take conference calls in bed.

Where the magic happens

This one's coming with me to Italy

My Starbucks

When I’m not spending long periods on the road, I have no problem picking up part-time work to pay the rent.  A cube refugee’s paycheck just doesn’t cut it sometimes.

Lately, I’ve been working nights at Emporio Restaurant in NYC.  I set my camera loose in the restaurant this week to get some international goodbyes and JS0 shoutouts:

I work alongside artists, singers, actors, expats and other hilarious characters.  It’s like hanging out in a hostel every night… we share travel stories and learn how to say curse words in each others’ languages.

Emporio Om Nom Nom

Courtney and Aussie mate Emily at Emporio

Si Jen, Kris et Serene sont parties, moi je suis toujours à Saigon! J’ai décidé de prolonger mon séjour d’un mois pour travailler et mettre autant d’argent de côté que possible avant … l’Equateur!!!!

There are two ways to look at my job situation. You could say it stinks, because it’s super far from the downtown area where we live. Or, you could say it’s awesome, because you get to see a totally different part of town. I choose the latter.

6.30 AM: Bus #139. I’m the only Westerner on board.

It takes about half an hour by bus to get to where I work, in district 7. So far, I have never been stuck in trafic. I suppose 6.30am is too early for trafic jams.

Daily morning iced coffee.

From behind the bus window, I witness the typical Vietnamese street frenzy: tons of mom-and-pop shops, street vendors, a farmer’s market, welders working on the sidewalk… The bus crosses the river twice and passes several slums.

The further south, the wider the avenues and boulevards. If it weren’t for a few huge apartment complexes spread out over stretches of fallow land, it would be the countryside.

The roads are now so wide that motorcycle trafic never stops despite red trafic lights.

Construction site across the street from where I work.

I get off in front of a huge construction site. At the entrance, several motorcycle riders with a yellow icebox on the back seat: iced coffee sellers! That’s where I get my morning coffee, with or without sweetened milk. It depends on the mood.

Huge houses in the neighborhood where I work.

I spend the few minutes that are left strolling among the huge houses-some of which are divided into two apartments- in the neighborhood where I work. Or, I just sit on a bench sipping my iced coffee and listening to the birds twittering. The early morning sun is already bright. Sometimes, there’s a gentle breeze. It’s so quiet, peaceful, refreshing!

7.15 AM: Time to pass the iron gate and get to work.

Birds twittering on my street.

* * * * * *

UNE AUTRE VISION DE HO CHI MINH VILLE

Il y deux façons d’envisager ma situation de travail. Les uns diront que ce n’est pas l’idéal car c’est très loin du centre de Ho Chi Minh Ville, et donc de chez nous. Les autres diront que c’est génial car cela permet de découvrir un autre aspect de la ville. Je fais partie de ces autres.

6h30: Bus numéro 139. Je suis la seule Occidentale à bord.

Il me faut environ une demi-heure de bus pour aller travail, dans le septième arrondissement. Il n’y a jamais de ralentissements, et c’est à peine si le bus marque l’arrêt … à l’arrêt! Six heures trente du matin, c’est sans doute trop tôt pour les bouchons.

A travers ma vitre de bus, j’assiste à la frénésie habituelle des rues vietnamiennes: petits commerçants par centaines, bourdonnement des marchands ambulants, marchés et soudeurs travaillant à même le trottoir. Le bus enjambe la rivière par deux fois et passe à côté de quelques taudis.

Plus on va au sud, plus les avenues et boulevards sont larges. Si ce n’était quelques énormes complexes immobiliers dispersés sur des hectares de terres en jachère, on se croirait à la campagne.

Les routes sont désormais si larges que les motos ne s’arrêtent même plus aux feux rouges.

Je descend au pied d’un immense chantier. ”Riverside residence”. Un quartier résidentiel en devenir. A l’entrée du site, trois Vietnamiens équipés d’une glacière jaune sur le siège arrière de leur moto. Ils distribuent du café glacé aux ouvriers. C’est là que j’achète ma dose de caféine quotidienne, avec ou sans lait condensé. Ca dépend de l’humeur.

Je savoure mes derniers instants de liberté à flâner parmi les énormes maisons du quartier où je travaille- maisons généralement divisées en deux appartements.

Ou bien je m’asseois sur un banc en sirotant mon café et en écoutant les petits oiseaux chanter. Le soleil du matin est déjà fort. Brise matinale parfois. C’est si calme, si apaisant, si rafraîchissant!

7h15: Heure de passer la grille et de se mettre au travail.

I was incredibly nervous for my first day of instruction.  The reason for my anxiety is that I have never taught English before, and there’s not much I hate more that going into something totally unprepared with the chance of me looking like a total idiot.  I have never put together a lesson plan and it’s been a hell of a long time since I’ve had to deal with gerunds, infinitives, present perfect forms, etc., let alone have to explain them to students who are non-Native English speakers.  I looked through the material and had an evening to listen to the audio materials before I stood in front of the students.

I should mention that at this point, I consider myself extremely fortunate to have landed at the Cleverlearn Language Centre.  I have heard horror stories about giant classes (50+), a lack of any kind of discernible curriculum, and the rarity of tools such as textbooks and whiteboard markers (teachers often need to provide these themselves).    At the centre where I work, it is organized, air-conditioned, with small classes, and they provide everything you could need including supplemental tools such as audio recordings and DVD’s. There’s even a teacher’s resource centre with computers, photocopiers, supplies and an administrative staff to assist you.

But back to my first day.  My first class I had to teach is GE5, which is the highest level of English that they offer at the centre.  On the plus side, the students have a good foundation of the language already, but on the down side, the instruction is very technical, which means I really have to do my homework in order to bluff my way through it.  It’s a three hour class, and much to my surprise it flew by.  I even enjoyed myself once I got into the flow of things.  This was not expected – I had previously taught music to kids and hated it, but I think the difference now is that they don’t have instruments to honk at me, and they are adults who are paying to improve their English.  They are there because they want to be.

My main problem with the teaching is that because I haven’t done this before, I don’t have the experience to know the activities that break up the instruction.  I have been playing them songs and giving them a sheet of incomplete lyrics for them to fill in as they listen.  I have them play charades with new vocabulary words.  Anyone can lead a student through a textbook, but I am trying to make it fun and exciting for them (time will tell whether or not I succeed).  Sadly, I’ve heard of many teachers who could care less whether or not the students actually learn anything, but I simply cannot take that approach, no matter how brief my time here will be.

Eleanor Roosevelt once said, “Do one thing every day that scares you”.  Well, I’m doing just that.  I started with one class, the GE5 level, and immediately  after my first class I was given two more classes of differing levels.  Which means I’ll be trying to keep my cool more often than I’m used to.  But if my first day was any indication, it looks like I’m going to love it.

I was pretty nervous about my demo class today, to be perfectly honest.  I had been given the outline of a lesson plan and no real instructions.  I was to teach (read: bluff) for 45 minutes.  It actually went really fast, I managed to get a few laughs out of my pupils and I didn’t break down in tears at any point.  Strangely, despite my expectations to the contrary, I began to enjoy it.

Afterwards, I spoke with the manager, who gave me some constructive criticism and then offered me a position with the language centre.  This is fantastic because in the initial interview it was suggested that I would be deployed to different public schools and potentially teaching children, which I was not stoked on.  In the language centre, I will receive an income of US$14/hour (net), have access to the centre’s teacher resource centre, and will be primarily teaching adults.  I can choose the amount that I work and the environment is friendly and professional.

So not only have I never taught, but I’ve never been employed in a foreign country.  Things should be very interesting.  Plus, being the first one of the group employed satisfies my competitive streak as well.  I’m still waiting to hear back about the web editor position but this will take the pressure off for now…and should provide many great stories along the way.

I am confident that job hunting will be the most unpleasant part of the whole Jet Set Zero experience for me.  I don’t mind working, but it takes a lot of time and effort to network and apply for positions in a city you are unfamiliar with.  I started my job search by googling language schools in Saigon and sending my resume off indiscriminately.  I spoke with someone who teaches at the university and she told me that although it’s fairly easy to get a teaching job, there is a current oversupply of teachers. Crap. I got in touch with a couple people who are doing local ESL work and they suggested a nearby language centre and gave me a contact name.  This turned out to be an awesome tip as the contact person they know is in charge of deploying teachers for many different schools throughout Saigon, not just the actual language centre (which is good because without TEFL or specific ESL certification I’m not actually qualified to work there).  I was very excited to get a response asking me to come in for an interview.

So I went in this morning to meet Bich, the centre’s HR person, wearing one of my two nice outfits.  It’s strange after working in HR for so long to be on the other side of the table.  I didn’t have to say too much as she spent most of the interview explaining how the schedules and classes operate.  Apparently she liked the way I listened to her because she invited me to do a demo class on Tuesday where I will teach a mock lesson to some of the staff to test my teaching skills.

The only problem with this is that I have no idea what I’m doing.  I’ve never taught before and don’t speak more than a couple words of Vietnamese.  She gave me a sample lesson to use as a guide and I’m supposed to teach for 45 minutes.  So it should be very interesting to see how it goes.  My master plan is to get the job (obviously) and then use my clout to get the other Jet Set members jobs as well.  Wouldn’t that be nice!

I also put up a post on the Saigon group for Couchsurfing which was titled “I NEED A JOB!!!!”  I got a response from someone in Saigon who is looking for an individual to do some web-editing work, and I am currently waiting to hear back about that.  And, like the English teaching, I will have to fake my way through that as well.

Other than that, the other alternative to find teaching work is to walk through the districts and physically go to the schools, flash my white skin and drop off resumes.   I’m really hoping that it doesn’t come to that.

So I will follow up on the site next week in regards to the job search situation!  Vietnam is cheap but my money will not last forever…

Istanbul, Work and Home

We live in Beşiktaş, Istanbul, a quiet but central neighborhood near the Bosphorus strait; my job however is located in what feels like the other side of Turkey. It’s an area called Avcılar (pronounced Avjilar), and while it’s technically around the midpoint of the European side of Istanbul, it’s none the less a long trip. Every day it takes four buses, 6 Turkish Lira, and about two hours for me to make the round trip commute, which is why I’m really not very happy about showing up today and being told that the boss forgot to tell me he’s on holiday! Now I get to hop back on the bus and spend another hour playing Lemon-aid Tycoon on my cellphone. *sigh*  At this rate, you’d better watch out Jen, my lemon-aid empire is set to de-throne you as our resident lemon-aid tycoon!