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So this is what I signed up for. TESOL.
Teachers of English to Speakers of Other Languages.
Mmm...sounds nifty.
I've always wanted to teach English in a foreign country, (specifically India,) so getting TESOL certified was the natural progression of things.Thankfully, I'm not a complete freshie. I mean, my previous experience teaching English in China proooobably wont save my butt in Spain, but I'm hoping that some skills will carry over.
It was the summer of 2012 when I taught English to the employees of a 5-star hotel in China. The woman who normally taught English had the perfect fool-proof plan to get them to learn...she told me to pretend that I didn't know Chinese, and to just keep speaking English to the staff as if it's the only thing I spoke. If you've ever had people talk about you and assume you don't understand what they're saying, then you know how funny it can be. And it was working! I managed to look as clueless as possible when they would speak Chinese (stifling my chuckles whenever I had the chance.) And all was going according to plan, until....something happened.
It's been three weeks since I've been back from China but I haven't found the will to write this till now. The week I returned, I felt like I left a part of myself there. In a way, I felt homesick. In the very short month that I was there, I had adopted a little of the Chinese mentality.
Because of connections that my family had, I was fortunate for my experiences. My dad is one of the sponsors of a foundation that gives children in poverty the opportunity to go to high school
and/or university. The foundation is mainly
funded by an Australian gentleman named John, or "Uncle John." We were invited to their graduation and it was one of the nicest graduations I've witnessed. One of the male graduates made a speech and became very emotional. It was so touching to see. After the ceremony, we went outside where I met an Indian woman who teaches English. She moved
to Hong Kong from India after she got married because her husband had work
there. Then after her fourth child she said she wanted to get an education.
"And at my age!!" she said to me. She went to Britain to get an
education in Arts. Now she teaches English. So wonderful. Afterwards we
were invited to the village community centre for dinner. The village
really is third world. It is so different but feels familiar at the same
time. The people are so kind. We stayed in the village for a while but it was
getting late and my dad and I couldn't stay any longer to wait
for the students to arrive because we had to rush to Guangzhou. My dad
and I got into the car and drove by slowly and I rolled down the window
to say good bye. A whole bunch of young children were
outside saying "Bye bye je je (sister)!!" I was so, so touched. There was so much love that I can't help but hope to return someday.
Coming back home with so many memories of making new friends and seeing family I haven't seen for over a decade is really is amazing, yet sometimes I find myself staring off into the distance and wondering if it ever even happened.
