My first place that I lived in Asia was Taiwan
ผมสอน เป็นครั้งแรกที่ ไต้หวัน
ผมสอน เป็นครั้งแรกที่ ไต้หวัน
which I chose because I had a buddy who lived there already. He said he couldn't set me up with a job because he didn't like the school he taught at. But, I didn't care about that. He set me up with a place to live, and I knew finding a job out there would be butter because I had heard that teaching jobs in Asia were aplenty. Also, I was very open to taking the risk.
So, I bought a one way ticket from Toronto, Canada, and headed out. I was grateful to get out of there to be perfectly honest. There was nothing I really wanted there and was tired of the scene, to say it simply. I also needed to pay back my student loan, and I didn't want it to take a long time and end up with me having to pay a lot of interest to the bank. So, the job in Taiwan would be just perfect. It would pay decently, and I would not be in Canada.
When I arrived in Taiwan, my buddy Jonas and his girlfriend Jen were really helpful and set me up with an apartment in the same building as theirs but one floor down. The location wasn't in Taiwan's capital, Taipei, but in the county just south of it, in a town called Jongli, which is in the same county as their international airport. I settled into my new place, nicely. I felt freedom. It was great!
There was a bar in that same building, on the 2nd floor, and I lived on the 4th floor. Good place for a bar! I started frequenting the bar, and, not long after, I met a Canadian guy there named Mikey, who was from Vancouver. We became fast friends, and he told me that he could probably get me a job at the kindergarten that he worked at. He got my number and said something like, "I'll call you soon when a position opens up, and then you gotta come right away." It wasn't long after that he called me, maybe a few days later. I went right away! When I arrived, he was there with his beaming smile and introduced me to my new boss. Within a few days from that time, I was given 3 different classes in this kindergarten; one class ages 3-4 years old; second class ages 4-5 years old; and the third class ages 5-6 years old.
Man, I felt lucky to get that job so fast, but it wasn't easy at all. How do you teach? It seems easy, just get the students to know something that they didn't know before. So, there I was standing up in front of the class looking out at about 15 - 20 kids waiting for me to start. I had a teaching book for each class but, literally, zero experience and training. I started doing some research on how to teach, mostly by just asking other foreigners. But still, it was just trial and error for me. One trial was being like a drill sergeant and just getting the students to repeat after me, haha. To make a long story short, I worked there for about 5 months, tried numerous different styles, unsuccessfully, and the boss and I really didn't get a long because I was tense and inexperienced. I quit. It was time to move on!
Brian Eric Cohen
www.cohenbrian.wix.com/speakenglishcafe
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