Setting Sail

We've been planning this adventure right up to the last second, but now it's time to down tools and enjoy some precious time with our friends and family before finally leaving.

Its our last chance to see some people until we come back to the UK, which could be any number of months away depending on how we find the experience.

I can't begin to tell you how much I am going to miss everyone. I'm lucky enough to see most of my friends and family frequently enough to not often miss people, so I am wondering how I'm going to handle it.

I'm so used to the occasional text and regular Facebook message threads, in jokes and making plans for the weekend, meeting for a drink after work, or a cuppa.

Somehow I don't think the gravity of what we are doing is going to hit me until I'm sat on the plane with all my belongings around me and very little in terms of a plan.

Planning this move abroad has been a massive undertaking; stressful, expensive and time consuming. But now it's actually upon us! We've made it through and now all that's left is to pack up and board the plane.

I don't think I've even been anywhere with so little planned; most of what we have organised is for our work permit and our financial commitments in the UK.

Here is what I do know; we will land in Ho Chi Minh at 7am (midnight GMT) and start wondering until we can check into the hotel at 2pm. It's ok, I've found an amazing blog of the best cafe's in HCM so we'll be set!

Then we wait until our appointment with the British Consulate - hopefully on Monday.

After that its back into the unknown as we move into our new home.

But first some emotional goodbyes before I step out of my comfort zone, my reality, my country. Speak to you in Vietnam!

The benefit of experience

This is the first time I have packed for long term travelling. Even during university I didn't "half move out" like everyone else to live a life between halls and home. This makes knowing what to pack quite difficult, and there are a few questions that have been coming back to me time and time again...

Is sun cream really that expensive in South East Asia?
Will I be able to find feminine hygiene products in Vietnam?
Can Sure Maximum Protection give me what I need from a deodorant?

The list goes on.

Then my friend Anita came to visit, with stories from her recent round the world trip (which included Thailand and the Cook Islands) ripe for the picking.

She echoed what other friends had been saying all along, and I started to realise I'm only asking all these questions because I'm scared. I have no experience whatsoever and It's making me nervous. I have never been away from home for more than a few weeks, and never so far away.

But what even is home? I've sold my belongings, packed up what's left and shoved it in my mum's loft. I'm back in my old room, but it isn't mine anymore. The only home I have is with Mark, and he's coming with me!

Mark is something I do have a lot of experience in! With him I know I am safe. Mark is very protective of me, careful not to flash the cash and cautious. He is also organised, with documents, backups and copies coming out of his ears. Most importantly he is practical, and can make the most of any situation without too much grumbling, which is something I think we are both going to need whilst travelling.

I guess what I'm trying to say is, that even though I won't have the comforts of a home around me, and I have no idea what my realities are about to be, it doesn't matter. I have the best travelling partner I could ever ask for, and we are in it together!

That's all the home I need.

Starting to pack

Each day I am getting a little closer sailing off into the unknown, and I must admit I'm starting to get a little nervous.

On Saturday we started listing our furniture for sale. In 45 minutes we had about 12 responses for one chest of drawers. It was gone in 90 minutes. Our friends were bidding and buying all over the place!

Suddenly, all at once, we had started packing. We had lost an important bit of storage and found ourselves with much of our stuff thrown on the bed and in need of sorting, packing or binning as necessary.

I don't think either of us were expecting the response we got!

But as with any big change, this activity means stress and mess. The living room is slowly being swallowed in cardboard as our precious things are packed away and the essentials are added to the now mountainous pile of things to pack.

I really need to do a trial pack, as I'm afraid I'm going to have wildly overestimated how much capacity 35L translates into.

On the upside, the car passed its MOT with no problems!

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!