Jetting Educated

When I was a child I used to love looking through Guinness World Record books. My Dad would often get them as a stocking filler at Christmas, as I loved looking at all the amazing examples of nature; like the worlds tallest man, pointless achievements; balancing eggs on top of each other,  or random trivia; Jackie Chan has A LOT of pop hits in China. I specifically remember a song title of his: "Big Happy Face" and thinking it was pretty silly. I also clearly recall a picture of a tiny box-room in Tokyo, which was the worlds smallest hotel room. For a period of time, I imagined that everyone in Japan lived in little capsules instead of houses... but then again I was probably on eight when I decided this. Towels? Yes please Ugly brown pyjamas? Ok... I guess. Now I do know that not every Japanese person lives in such little spaces. In fact, I did took the opportunity to stay in a capsule hotel in Tokyo on a recent trip to the land of the rising Sun. I wanted to know ...

Setting: Near the city of Guangzhou, Southern China. Role: Teacher of English and Music/Movement to pre-school children Elapsed time: Day 114 in China... If I said to you ‘’I work abroad as an English teacher’’, you might imagine me in front of a semicircle of adults, encouraging them to repeat new words- or with a classful of high school kids who can’t sit still in their seats. That’s probably what I would have pictured too. That is, before I accepted a job to become a pre-school teacher in China. When I arrived in Autumn, these pretty lanterns the students had made were adorning the playground One slight problem with accepting this job was that I didn’t have knowledge of how to teach English to 2-5-year-olds. I was honest during my Skype interview: ''I’ve taught teenagers and I’ve looked after younger children in France''. And that experience along with my CELTA qualification and summer school work was enough to get me the jo...

I moved to Budapest two weeks ago today and I am still loving it! Last time I wrote, I talked money and my first impression was that Budapest is a strong contender when it comes to offering excellent value for money. Well, I could speak for beer at least, as that had been my main experience of spending until that point. Since then I've continued to have wonderful, wallet-friendly times, whose crowning glory on Saturday was a tasty meal at a restaurant (including wine) for £2.69. But as my friend Sam would say, money should not be discussed. What I have been dissertating at length is  language , because the reason I'm in Hungary is that I'm training to become an English teacher. Specifically a teacher to 'non-native speakers' or as I'm sure Nigel Farage (adj: meaning xenophobic) would say, 'the foreigns'. What a funny language! N.B not so funny when you've trying to teach it... But let's not talk English, even though it is intere...