Can Tho

Monday 10th March

We are up bright and early for our meeting at the British Consulate. We arrive a little nervous as we don't know exactly what's going to happen for our documents to be legalised and neither of us have ever visited an embassy before. Our nerves are put to rest though as we speak comfortable English with the lady behind the counter and indulge in some BBC world news, which isn't on the normal TV.

After the necessary stamps and signatures we are off to Can Tho, some three hours down the road on the bumpy back seat of a bus. There are so many bridges over the river and the bus bounces hard over each one waking me from my dozing!

We arrive in a not so comfortable hotel (not even a shower curtain) and start to wonder exactly what we have let ourselves in for. We are both riding a wave of emotions at a time we wanted to be exciting.

Tuesday 11th March

We wake up feeling a little more optimistic and head to the water front with the intention of hiring a boat to take us out on the river. We are starting to feel a bit claustrophobic in the cities and think some time on the water will lift our spirits. Oh boy does it! Immediately we are happier being splashed and swayed by the waves and start to feel more like tourists on holiday than stressed employees.

Our driver takes us to the smaller backwaters people don't usually venture down, and we get a chance to catch a little sun and wave to the locals.

Wednesday 12th March

It's our last day in Can Tho so we decide to test out the water park. It's a bit of a walk but we don't mind. However, when we arrive it's clearly closed (and for longer than lunch). Disappointed we turn to the guide book, which we realise is becoming more out of date every day, and see there is a hotel close by whose pool we might be able to cool off in.

It's a different world inside the resort. Everyone speaks English and the towels are thick and fluffy. We enjoy a relaxing afternoon of reading, swimming and general layaboutness but also realise how far detached resorts are from the real life of a country. I'm glad we have been experiencing the real Vietnam, but wish there was more balance between these two worlds.

We are back to reality just in time to meet our connection for dinner and hear we have a 5am start in the morning, so quickly head back to get packing and glad we let ourselves relax all day. 

Rise and shine!

I've actually used a desk like this!

It’s been a very busy few weeks what with moving house, leaving my job and selling all my possessions to move abroad.

I’d be forgiven from letting a few things slip down my priorities list.

One such thing is the fact that I’m about to start a new career as a teacher.

But, on Tuesday morning Mark and I were lucky enough to be welcomed to the Bournemouth School of English for a morning of observations.

Late last year I decided that observations would be a great way of seeing a real class in action with teachers who didn’t speak the native language of their students. I emailed about 20 different schools in the area (Bournemouth is a popular place for language students) and of the replies, the Bournemouth School of English best suited our needs.

The timing couldn’t have been better. We’d just watched a documentary on the coffee industry in Vietnam that didn’t paint the best picture of the country, so we needed a little boost to get us back on track.

So, suited and booted we made our way to the school. I wasn’t sure what to expect, but we were greeted warmly, given the options of which classes we would each watch and introduced to the staff.

My first observation was a group of intermediates learning about colloquial idioms. These students already had a good knowledge of the language, but it was funny to hear what they thought “When the penny dropped, I went bananas” meant during the warm-up exercise. It reminded me that I really do love our language, and the nuances we hardly ever notice ourselves as native speakers.

My second class was a group of advanced students. Binomials (a new word even for me) was the subject matter; two words that are often found together e.g. fish and chips, death and taxes. It was a much smaller class, but the teacher more than made up for it in personality and reminded me of some of my favourite teachers from school. He had built a great relationship with his students, much like I’d hope to do in Vietnam.

At the end of the morning I left feeling excited again about my new career, which is one half of a massive change we are going through, but has slipped from my mind now the initial training is over.

4 weeks to go!!

How to move abroad as an EFL teacher: Part 2

So you've got your awesome TEFL certificate, what next?

Book your flight, pack your bags and kiss your mama goodbye?

For me, and many other TEFL graduates I'm sure, you will find getting your certificate is just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to starting a new life abroad.

Here, I'm going to give you an overview of the preparation I had to do to move from Bournemouth, UK to the Mekong Delta in Vietnam in two parts* ; preparation for at home, and away. Read Part 1 here.

*These are my own experiences to date. I am in no means an expert.


Part 2: Preparation for Vietnam

Vaccinations. As soon as you know when you are going, get yourself to the nurse to talk about vaccinations. Some courses take a few months, but there are usually options available if everything is happening a bit last minute. The NHS Fit For Travel website is the best 'by country' resource to help you out.

Anti-malarials. I take the ‘better safe than sorry’ approach to anti-malarials. Depending on what your plans are, you may need one or another type of anti-malarial. For Vietnam and travelling around Thailand, Indonesia, Malaysia and Cambodia, we were recommended:

• Doxyxycline (antibiotic, ladies) 
• Mefloquine/Lariam (which has a number of issues) 
• Malarone (which is expensive)
• Chloroquine/Proguanil (bargain at c.£15 for 7 weeks of treatment - which equates to 2 weeks in a high risk area)

Document certification. Be prepared; to get a work permit in Vietnam (to teach English) you may be required to have your certificates and criminal disclosure 'notarized'*. Here's how:

1. Call a local solicitor's office and ask if they can do ‘Document Certification’ and how much they charge per document. Usually this will cost anywhere between £4 and £10 per document. We were able to walk into the office and have the documents signed there and then in about 15 minutes.

2. Once you have a solicitor’s signature on either your original document or a photocopy, you can send your documents to be legalised at the Legalisation Office. The GOV.uk website tells you everything you need to do to pay and send your documents. It costs £30 per document and you also need to pay for outward and return post. The process is quick, but if the solicitor who signed your document doesn't have a signature on file, it may take a few extra days.

*It is worth noting that things are not black and white regarding which indeed, if any documents need legalising before you arrive in Vietnam. We've had a lot of conflicting information, but decided it's harder to get the documents certified once we've left the country, so better safe than sorry.

Police checks. You might have heard of CRB (Criminal Records Bureau) forms, and an employer might ask you for a Police check of CRC (Criminal Record Check), but in the UK, obtaining a criminal disclosure as an individual is now done through Disclosure Scotland, and is called ‘basic disclosure’. It costs £25 and takes about 10 days.

Gadgets. Travelling today is not as simple as throwing a few necessities in a bag and grabbing a guidebook; it takes gadgets. Our tablet will be invaluable whilst we are living in Vietnam as a way to Skype home, find places to stay and source valuable teaching resources. But tablets, iPods and cameras are expensive, so plan what you might need now and get saving/begging/borrowing. Remember, there’s no iTunes app for Android, so load up your iPod with music before you go!

Dress codes at work. Do not be fooled into thinking an English teacher/world traveller can go to work in a sarong right off the beach. Vietnam is at the end of the day a communist country and there are rules that need to be adhered to. You'll likely need smart closed-toe shoes, trousers, shirts and modest dresses.

Flights. It's fun booking a one-way ticket, but long haul to Vietnam is not cheap. Expect to pay upwards of £370 with Vietnam Airways, who are cheap and fly direct to Ho Chi Minh. Check Skyscanner for the best fares and be flexible with your departure date to get the best price.

Visas. If you are going to be working in Vietnam, you should be able to get a letter from your employer, which will grant you a business visa on arrival. It will cost about $45 for 30 days single entry (I think). If you are arriving in Vietnam as a tourist, the best I can suggest is to apply to the Vietnamese Embassy in London. Make sure you know your arrival date and they will be able to put the Visa in your passport before you arrive. The process can be done by post, or in person over 2 days.

The fun bits. Once you've jumped the hoops it's time to start learning about the culture, planning where you'd like to go and practicing some phrases. Here are some of the best blogs and websites specifically on teaching and the Mekong Delta that I’ve found:

Deep in the Mekong Delta by @Honeytrek

Chez Pierre, a teacher living in Can Tho

Can Tho - The Mekong Delta by Mr and Mrs Lemon

Enjoy your adventure!

Chao

Despite the fact I'm moving to Vietnam in a little over a months time, tonight I am taking my first lesson in Italian.

"Italian?!" I hear you cry.

Yes, dear reader.

You see, whilst I will have little use for Italian in Vietnam, (though I have been assured there is at least one Italian restaurant in the Mekong Delta) learning Italian is something I have wanted to do ever since I first visited Rome and began my love affair with the country in 2010. And believe it or not, I think now is actually the BEST time for me to start. Here's why:

1. I am about to start a new life an a teacher of English as a foreign language. I have almost no knowledge of Italian beyond the menu in Pizza Express and the phrase "bel far niente" which I learnt reading Eat Pray Love. With this in mind, I think it will be a great experience to be in the shoes of the student right before I become the teacher, refreshing my memory of the complex world of language and learning.

2. My husband and I would love to be able to end our time travelling by spending as long as we can in Italy. When we visited a Tuscan vineyard for a few days in 2012 we managed to squeeze seeing Sienna, San Gimignano and Pisa into one day en route to the airport in our hire car. It was one crazy day, but it gave us a taste of the Italian countryside, and left us hungry for more. With our TEFL qualification and some experience we might even be able to find work as teachers! I bet the Italian language classes will be useful then.

3. Why not? I am in the full swing of operation-pack-up and I will very soon run out of things to do. I've already worked out how many cups of tea I need to drink to get through this pack! Having something new and fun to learn will help me relax. I don't want to be waiting and planning things my entire life and this is one thing I can do now.

So there it is. I'm a British girl, moving to Vietnam, starting to learn Italian. (I am also learning Vietnamese too; Chào actually means hello in Vietnamese; Ciao is the Italian.)

Now, watch this amazing clip from the IT Crowd, which I think pretty accurately shows what I'll be like trying to use my Italian skills!

How to move abroad as an EFL teacher: Part 1

So you've got your awesome TEFL certificate, what next?

Book your flight, pack your bags and kiss your mama goodbye?

For me, and many other TEFL graduates I'm sure, you will find getting your certificate is just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to starting a new life abroad.

Here, I'm going to give you an overview of the preparation I had to do to move from Bournemouth, UK to the Mekong Delta in Vietnam in two parts ; preparation for at home, and away (covered in Part 2).

*These are my own experiences to date. I am in no means an expert.

Part 1: Preparation for at home

Living arrangements. Currently Renting? Get in touch with your landlord as soon as possible to see when your current lease expires. We were lucky enough to be on a 6-month lease, which ends exactly when we need it to. It's always worth asking if you can leave your lease early. If you own your own home you'll need to think about the laws around renting it out or *gulp* if you're going to sell it which is a long and costly process.

Mobile phone contracts. With some forward planning you might be able to join a sim only month-to-month plan like these from Orange, leaving you free to cancel at anytime. If you are in the middle of a contract, it’s often hard to get out of them without paying off the rest of the term. This could be very costly if you've only just signed up for a 24 month deal to nab yourself the latest iPhone.

Debts. The last things you want to leave behind are any debts. They are likely to still need repaying whilst you are away and any issues can be tricky to resolve from the other side of the world. My advice is to start working them down as soon as you can. I worked in the background for 2-3 years to become debt free, but knowing there won’t be any surprises whilst I am away is worth it.

Insurance. A bit of a pain, but the last thing you'd want when you’re miles from home and sick is the added stress of how you're going to pay for it. Get insurance that will cover you for all the activities you might do. Try Explorer Insurance for a quote; for the two of us for 18 months cost circa £500 and included any paid work we did.

Savings. Whilst the cost of living is generally cheaper than at home, you will need savings facilitate your travels. $50 per person per day seems to be a reasonable guide, but it is always worth having back up funds for an emergency flight home. Working as a teacher will obviously make your money go further too!

Downsize. Make a little extra money before you go by selling off any bits you don't need. Gumtree and car boot sales are a great place to sell, and the more you shift the less you have to store. Make sure you are set up at a car boot sale early to be ready for the eager buyers and accept a certain amount at bargaining. Car Boot Junction gives you details of local sales.

Storage. My advice is to make friends with someone who has a large and mostly empty loft. Storage units are expensive (£1000 per year) and hard to manage if you don't know when you will be back. Sell, sell, sell and keep only the essentials and sentimental things you need for your return.

Jobs. There are a few options when it comes to your jobs. Depending on your current situation you might want to quit, take a sabbatical, or arrange remote working if you plan on only teaching part-time. Think about your options carefully and unless you are happy to leave your job, speak to your employer soon. They'll appreciate your honestly and you never know what kinds of arrangements you might be able to come to.

Cash. Think hard about how you are going to access your funds whilst you are away. Through my research I've found that accessing cash using my regular debit card will be expensive and I want to eat into as little of my savings as I can. I recommend a cash card of sorts e.g. this one from STA Travel. You can easily top it up online through the modern wonder of internet banking for no fee. Once you know where you will be teaching, you might also want to open an account with a local branch. HSBC are a truly global bank with a website (mostly) in English wherever you are.

Changing your address. You aren't only going travelling, you're probably moving house too. Don't forget everything that goes with it. Cancelling utilities, subscriptions, TV licences and registrations. One advantage you have is the pleasure of the perfect excuse. "Forget the sales pitch, I'm leaving the country!"

Check out Part 2!

We have a heading!

After months of training, early morning interviews, and a little negotiating, we finally know where we are starting our adventure...

The Mekong Delta, Vietnam!

Yes, as of March 2014 - 10 weeks time - we will be living an working in the south of this beautiful country in either Can Tho or Vinh Long. 

We've been planning our travels for a long time now, so its exciting to finally have a start point and date, and even better one that's not even very far away. 

Let the countdown begin!

I'm a teacher!

A little over 4 months after I started my TEFL course*, I've qualified. I am a teacher.

At least that's what I got to put on the sign up form on the job site I just signed up for. How exciting!

The course was a wonderful experience, and I can't wait to find a job and start planning the next steps of our adventure.

My CV is written, I've got all my certificates and a list of jobs to apply for. Lets get going!

To celebrate, here is the picture I snapped Mark when my certificate came through...

*My TEFL course was 140 Hours long and provided by i-to-i TEFL. Find out more about the TEFL course I did on the i-to-i website.

The realist adjusts the sails

A few weeks ago, I finished the last of my online TEFL course. I've got all my certificates for  the core content, and grammar, plus specialist modules in teaching young learners, business English, large classes and one to one lessons.

I haven't been this excited about a qualification since I claimed my degree exactly 3 years ago. This is truly the catalyst that will put all my dreams of living abroad into action.

With only the weekend classes of the course left, we will soon be able to start applying for jobs and planning our wish list of places to see whilst we are travelling.

What's more, the idea is catching on! All around us our family and friends are talking about 'making the most of the time we have together' and the coming events we are going miss.

Each time this brings a tear to me eye and a pang of guilt to my heart, but as soon as I'm back in my office on a Monday morning I remember why this change is so important.

Our families and friends will still be here when we get back and if anything we are seeing more of everyone and making a bigger effort because pretty soon, we will be gone.

So hears to changing the sails, and being the change I want to be. The light at the end of the tunnel is getting a little bigger every day!

Children are the future... teach them well.

Its been a few weeks since I last posted, but it hasn't been for nothing.

I've been working hard on my TEFL course and now have 2 certificates under my belt. I have officially passed the 20 hr Grammar and 10 hr Teaching Young Learners modules.

I suppose technically I have finished the 60hr TEFL module, as I only have the final quiz on finding work to complete, but I have real (ok, pdf) certificates of the other modules now. Proof that the hard work is paying off and we are getting somewhere.

Now, all I have left is Business English, Large Classes and One to One, and only 17 days to do it. Oh and the weekend course on 2nd and 3rd November (my birthday weekend!).

Guess I'll have to bring doughnuts. Speak to you in 17 days!

God save the Queen

I'm very nervous as I sit sipping (OK, gulping) a Smokin Aces Lynchburg Lemonade, and hit refresh on my email.

I always knew this part of the course would be a challenge, but the extra hour I have to wait to get my result is killing me.

How does Mark do it? He had his result in less than 20 minutes and we pressed submit at the same time!

This part is so important; it's the last major test in the core material of our TEFL course. We need to prepare a full lesson plan and describe a cultural awareness activity.

The reality of the exercise is a quiet and studious night in on Friday to draft our lesson on hobbies, followed by refinements and YouTube scouring on Saturday.

We look at everything from Love Actually to Monty Python to find the perfect clip to represent English culture, but it's a search for James Bond that brings up a truly brilliant clip from the opening ceremony of the London 2012 Olympics.

It had it all; traditions, Union Jack's, pets, sharp suits, formality and even a dash of English eccentricity in the form of the Queen parachuting into the games.

Rule Britannia!

I passed.

Y-O-U-R means 'your'!

We are one week into our TEFL course and have been working hard to re-learn the grammatical structures which govern the English language. These are rules we apply everyday without realising, but are very difficult to articulate, and differentiate. 

Someone commented that it must be simple to teach a language you already speak. Well, I can assure you that it is not as simple as it sounds. Can you remember the difference between the present simple and the present perfect tense?  Were we even taught that at school? I'm not so sure. I can only compare revising grammar to learning your own language again from scratch, just with a wider range of vocabulary!

This really hit me when it took me 3 attempts to pass an assignment on how to teach a class the use of 'going to' to show future plans. I passed eventually, but this showed me how difficult it is to learn the grammatical structures of a new language, let alone teach it. This will be a challenge, but I'm glad that my frustration with the task was based on not understanding the concept, and not over failing the task. If anything that proves the course and career change means more than a way out, I want to do it well!

I can't wait to get on with the rest of the course, and get some much needed revision done! 

Where's my highlighter! 

The students and me

Language students have been a part of my life for as long as I can remember. As a child, each summer we would go pick up one or two students from "Stewart". He was an Englishman who, as far as I could tell, had moved to Spain and now brought Spanish teenagers back for 2 weeks each summer to learn English.

(Stewart used to joke about whisking me and my mother off to live in Spain whilst my parents were divorcing. Looking back, I'm sure he flirted with all the mothers on our lane, but the dream never really left me!)

So one summer evening, I'd wait with my mum at Baiter (back when it was just fields) to see who would be coming to stay with us. The itinerary would be put on the side of the boiler and they would become part of the family.

Each student fascinated me! They came from a different country, looked a bit different, spoke a lot differently and were always way cooler than me! Up to the age of 14 or 15 we had students come to stay with us; Pascale from Basel in Switzerland even stayed more than a year! She wasn't just any regular student, she became family.

One year I had an au pair. Her name was Marta. She was from Barcelona. She had a peace sign belt buckle!!

So this has to be where is all began right? This longing to travel, to be the cool outsider who is exotic and mysterious... well, as exotic as a pasty white British girl can be!

I want to live in a new place, not just pass through, but work, live, be there.

Today I am putting the wheels into motion to stop talking about it and do it.

Today, I start my TEFL training!

Somewhere, beyond the sea...

I feel a little bit at war with myself. I mean, who decides in their first year of marriage to sell everything they own, leave their job and head off to anywhere that will have me to make a new life as an English teacher.

Shouldn't I be moving up the career ladder, buying a house and having a baby (though I’m not sure its possible to do all at once)? All around me, friends are building up their careers, their homes and their families and I am doing the exact opposite.

The reality is, this is the first time in my life that I've even been able to contemplate an idea that’s been growing in me for a long time. First their was uni, then making a home, and an engagement. 3 patient years later, I've for once got no deadlines I’m restricted by, and the moment feels right to try something new.

That said, I find I have to keep reminding myself that it’s the right thing to do. House prices ARE ridiculous and children CAN wait!

What’s most difficult for me, is the knowledge that the move is temporary. My husband and I know that the UK is where we want to be eventually, although ending up happily in Italy or Spain would also be agreeable! At the end of the teaching jobs and the travelling, we will be homeless, without any belongings apart from the ones on our backs and a few boxes at my mums. We will need to start all over again!

I guess you never can know if the decisions we make are right or wrong, we can’t know what the course of our lives would have been and watched it in tandem like in Sliding Doors. What I can be sure of though is that like in Sliding Doors, I am confident the world will get me where I need to be for the right things to happen.

We're going to travel the world, live somewhere different, and do something different. We'll be updating you with the amazing journey and the reasons we are doing it along the way.

So off we go, into the unknown. Weigh the anchor and hold on tight!