Tehuacán, Puebla Mexico

So for my next adventure I will be heading to Tehuacan in South Mexico!



I am going to be teaching with a school called Help! for 4 months from January 1st to April 30th and then will head to NYC for 10 days to catch up with everyone there!

I found this blog and this one by teachers who did the same program and think that this will be my school and apartment that I will be sharing!
The main reason for choosing Mexico was to learn Spanish.. wish me luck!!

Saturday a group of us went to Oktoberfest in Blumenau it's after Munich, the second-largest "beer celebration" of the world.

The journey was about 2 hours and involved preparing for the festival by drinking.
There was a parade of different clubs like the shooting club and jeep club.We then went to a German Park where they had a hall with different beers and music.

On Saturday we went to Rio Piraí which is a river about 20 minute drive from Joinville. It was kind of strange to have such sort of tropical forest so close.

As it is still spring here, the river wasn't very busy. Apparently during summer it gets really busy.
We just swam and relaxed by the side of the river and it was just nice to be somewhere different!

Gramado

Well I am back... my computer has been out of action and I have actually developed a social life so I have been pretty busy!!

Last weekend as a long weekend so we went to Gramado in Rio Grande do Sol, the next state down. It is a very pretty, European town known for its chocolate and wine!

We went to a few chocolate factories and got lots of free samples!

We went on a wine tour, of which the first stop was a pot and pan outlet store. All theBrazilians seemed very excited to be there and took lots of photos!!

We finally got to a proper vineyard and had a tour of how it was made.

And then for the best part of the day, a wine tasting class!

There was also a wine festival going on where you could buy a glass and then a coupon for 6 tasting.

We also went to Canela and Parque do Caracol to walk down and back up the equivalent of of a set of stairs 40 stories high!

We then spent most of the time sitting in cafes, eating and drink the best hot chocolate ever!! It was hot milk, with cream on top and a bar of chocolate melting in the milk!

Last weekend we headed to Curitiba which is about a 2 hour bus ride from Joinville. We got a taxi from the bus station to the Botanical Gardens to get on the Linha Turismo bus, only to dinf out that the people at the bus station knew nothing and that we could have got the tourist bus from the bus station.

The first stop was Museu Oscar Niemeyer who is a famous Brazilian architect.

We also headed to the Curitibian version of Little Italy which wasn't that great!
The weather was pretty cold, so we didn't use up all our stops on the ticket, so I think we will head back when the weather is warmer.

Besides that things have been pretty quiet, busy at work with extra lessons with the teenagers and I will be preparing students for the Cambridge Young Learners Exam as well.

This is an interview that a local station did at the school.
Look out for the small boy in blue, with curly hair - he was the one who told me to go back to where I belong!!!

well where to start.....
Last week it was my Birthday which also coincided with test/cake day at school.
Basically the kids make cakes, are literally fed spoonfuls of pure sugar - as long as they ask for it in English - then batter, then the bowl is put on the table, the teacher shouts attack and they all go for the bowl..... then they are expected to sit down and do a test!!!!

For my Birthday we went for dinner at the amazing all you can eat buffet place again.

Then a group of us from work headed to the public market for some drinking and dancing to the live band.

This weekend was Declaração de Independência do Brasil so we had a long weekend. We decided to take the 12 hour bus ride to Iguaçu Falls. It was amazing!!

As the falls border Argentina and Brazil, we decided to head over to Argentina for the day to see them from both sides. The views were incredible and the photos and videos do not do it justice!

This Saturday we had a party for Nelson's birthday. On Saturdays it is typical to eat feijao so Marcia had made a huuuuuuge pot of it for the party. There was lots of dancing, lots of beer, lots of caipirinhas and lots of new people! It was lots of fun and great to meet some new lovely people!

Today we went to Estrda Bonit, which is a long round in the countryside, in Joinville. Along the road are lots of different farms that sell homemade cheese, bread, jam etc.

We found another little cafe with an all you can eat home-made buffet. They seem to be everywhere, which is great as it is cheap, but not going to be good for my waist line!!

Today we went to São Francisco do Sul it is about an hour busride from Joinville and was 17 reals return which is about £6.

It is a really cute little port town, we hada really nice lunch on a pier and a wander round the town.

We were going to try and stay in a Pousada (the local definition for guest house) but they were more expensive than we wanted. We were talking to a guy who owned a local night club, but lived in Joinville, who said we could get in free to his club and then just stay at the club for the night! It was a really nice club and we managed to take some photos from the balconies but declined his offer and headed home.

On Saturday Marcia (my boss' sister in law) called and said she would show Monica (my new house mate) and I around Joinville.

Her family are really big sailors and they have a boat at Joinville Yacht Club so we headed down there for a look around and a coffee.
Every Saturday they have have a band playing Samba or Forra, so we sat and had a few beers there.

After we went to Joinville Tennis Club and had some lunch and caipirinha. It was a really nice day but totally different from my experience in Salvador. Yachts and tennis clubs are not really a big thing in Salvador as it is a much poorer area.

So Saturday was actually quite sunny!
I attempted to try and find downtown and the shopping mall... I didn't. But I did take some photos!

The house!


View from the front garden and 'Big' Supermarket


View down the street.

Today is Father's Day in Brazil, so we went round to my boss' brothers house for a biiiig meal and Moqueca. Between about 9 of us we went through 13 bottles of wine, a huge clay pot of moqueca, another one of paella and 4 different desserts!!

Well I survived my first week!

I had mixed ages from 5/6 upto about 11/12. It all went pretty well but is totally different from Korea. The kids here are very lively, talkative and as a whole lack discipline. It was difficult to get them to sit down and stop talking. However a noisy talkative class is always better than a deathly silent one!

I did have one incident with one of the younger ones. I was playing a game and it was time to finish. But it was the little boy's turn and he did not take to kindly to it being finished before his turn. He proceeded to throw a full on tantrum - proper Super Nanny Style. He then told me he didn't like me, to go back to where I belong and that he was never coming to school again because of me!! All in perfect English, so at least that was good! I ended up leaving him in one room but he followed me, sat next to me and continued to tell me he didn't like me!!

Needless to say I was pretty much dreading the next lesson. He was pretty ok with me. At one point he was losing the game and I could see he was about to throw a tantrum, I managed to calm him a little but then another student set him off and they launched in to a full on fight! This class is pretty difficult, I have to sit them all at opposite ends of the carpet so they can't touch each other, kick each other, bite etc.. Seeing as none of this was aimed at me, I thought it was a pretty successful lesson!

Also, the weather here has been COLD!!! I was told it would be cold and was thinking hmph I am from England. However the state I am in actually had snow!! I have about 3 blankets on my bed and have been wearing my leggings under.

I'm going to have a mosey around Joinville this weekend so hopefully expect some pics!

Being a foreigner

What has really struck me in Joinville is that I don't stand out. I am so used to being in Korea and sticking out like a sort thumb. In some ways it is really annoying constantly being stared at. In other ways it gives you a lot more leeway for getting away with things! People tend not to ask you do surveys or harass you to sign up for credit cards etc.

However Joinville is made up of German, Swiss and Norwegian immigrants, so I don't stick out. In one way this really nice, I don't feel as self concious and I can blend in. But it also means that people do ask you to sign up for credit cards or try and advise you on what iron to buy, or if you want to use your hipermarket card. Then when you dumbly stare at them, they just think you are an ignorant person. Hence why 'Nao fala Portuguese, eu sou inglesa' is the phrase I am using the most at the moment!

There is a great quote at school:

I'm a world citizen
the whole world is my home
I am not a foreigner
no matter where I roam

Showers in Brazil

We have 3 bathrooms here that all have showers. As I appreciate my life I only use one of them.

Brazilian showers are electric.. fine you think.. basically Brazilian showers zap the water with electricity usually in the form of bare wires taped to the shower with insulation tape.

One looks pretty harmless but apparently when you turn on the water you get shocked.
Also you get hot water at the sink I have to plug it in... above the sink....

One seems to work fine and there are no bare wires.

The third looks like this.....

Don't worry Mum and Dad, I sent you the details of my insurance policy!!

Saturday was pretty much spent pottering around, making my room a bit more homely, I went for lunch with my boss.

The garden we have is pretty big, we already have an orange tree, lemon tree, papaya tree, some random berry plant, mint, a straggly tomato plant and other random things we have yet to identify.
We have decided to try and grow a few more things and I have planted some tomatoes, lettuce and peppers... lets see how they go!

Today the heavens opened it pretty much rained and thundered all day. I went to Curtitiba which is also where I flew into. It about an hour and half drive. We went to Jardin Grill which was a huge buffet with lots of really nice food. Oh and lots of waiters running round with swords full of dripping dead flesh that would come and carve it at your table! One was so rare that it was called 'screaming cow'!!!

Well first day teaching tomorrow... wish me luck!!

Queen of packing!

3 pairs of trousers, 1 pair of shorts, 1 pair of cropped trousers, 2 pairs of leggings 25 tops, 2 pairs of pyjamas, 6 dresses, 2 jumpers, 1 cardigan, 2 scarves, 1 rain coat, swimming costume, tankini, bikini, 15 pairs of underwear, 3 bras, 7 pairs of socks, 3 pairs of shoes, first aid kit, toiletries, Portuguese dictionary, grammar book, Portuguese text book, flashcards, alphabet letters, card games, stuffed teacher pencil case, laptop, mini hard drive, phone charger, camera charger, hair dryer, straighteners, jewellery case, sewing kit...

Gosh... I'm good!

Next Adventure....

So finally finished the CELTA course much to the relief of all the trainees on the course.
We don't officially find out the results off Cambridge for about 6 weeks and by that time I will be well out of the country and on my way toooooo.............. Brazil!

Finally after 5 years of declaring my love for the country and wishing to be back there I am finally going!!! I am going to a completely different area than Salvador so am not expecting it to be exactly the same but still realllly excited! I will be living with 2 guys and a girl from the US and teaching teenagers (eek!). I fly out next Wednesday and there may be the possibility of trip to Peru to see a friend.. but who knows. As always my life is subject to change depending on what cheap flights I can get!

I also have all my uni girlfriends coming to stay, we have not been together for about 3/4 years and a few are missing this time round. But with the introduction of grown up life, husbands and babies, you can't have everything!

3 weeks in....

3 weeks, 6 observed lessons, 3 assignments and about 20 students later.... I am nearly there!
The work isn't difficult but there is LOT of it.

For an hour lesson plan, you have to do the lesson plan, white board plan, student interaction, timing, language focus sheet, vocab analysis handouts etc. You then have a million things to remember to do while teaching the lesson, such as making sure you elicit, concept check, error correction, drilling and actually teach and stick to your lesson plan and deal with any random questions that the students decide to throw at you.

Then after you have to fill out a self evaluation form, then have feedback from the other trainees in the room. Then sort out all of this in your CELTA portfolio.

Typically you have 2/3 lessons a week, so you have to do this 2/3 times a week!! You also have about one assignment a week to do on top of this. They are normally about 1,000 words. The ones I have done are:

• interviewing and analysing a students language skills
• one basically creating a lesson plan based around authentic material
• one focusing on language function
• analysing your own strengths and weaknesses as a teacher

In the mornings we have input lessons about things like methodology, lesson planing, authentic material etc and then there are the teaching practices in the afternoon. You are expected to implement everything you were taught the day before and the day before that.. and that.. and that.. etc in your lesson the following day.

I am learning a lot but there is soooo much to take in. I am at the stage where I want it all just to be over!! It is a course that you just have to slog through and know you will get there in the end.
If teaching English is a career path you want to do and you have no qualifications, I really would do the CELTA right away. Online TELFs are generally not accepted as they do not have any observed teaching time.

2 lessons, 1 assignment and one week left.....

Well.... I survived my first week on the CELTA course..... just!! It is pretty intensive and long days. Typically in the morning we have an input session and learn about lesson planning, phonetics, concept questions etc. Then in the afternoon we teach. There was no grace period. I started on Monday and on Tuesday I was teaching. It's tough. Even though I have lots of experience, when you have a room full of students, 6 other trainees and an assessor watching you, making sure you include everything you learnt the day before in you lesson I tend to turn in to a quivering teacher like mess!!! Some of the feedback I have received is that I am not aggressive enough and come across as very nervous. Anyone who knows me knows this is not me!!! Yet I am petrified when I know I have to teach. This week I did 2 30 minute lessons and 1 60 minute lesson. I thought they all went pretty badly but apparently I am improving and can't be that bad as one of the students asked why I wasn't teaching a lesson that day!

I worked on my lesson plan and assignment for 8 hours yesterday and had a well earned break and went out in Huddersfield - the first time in about a year and half! Yet I still saw people I knew. I definitely feel like I have regressed to be a student again, moving back to my old house from when I was a student and having lots of studying to do!

Three more weeks, 5 more observed lessons and 3 more assignments to go!!!

So I have been sort of back in the UK for 3 weeks now.

It was strange to come back and be able to understand everything, order food and know exactly what was coming, be able to get on buses and trains and know it was the right train.

It also felt like Korea didn't really happen, that is was some sort of dream or hazy memory. Everything here is pretty much the same, I am in the same situation I was a year ago, jobless and back with my parents, so nothing had changed.

After a week in the UK, I went over to Denmark for a long weekend to see a friend I met while volunteering in Ghana. It was so good to see her after nearly a year and half and Copenhagen is beautiful but expensive city.

Last weekend I headed to Stevenage to see an old uni friend, Cambridge to see an old Helsby friend and London to see an old NY colleague. Then back to Helsby for a few days and today I move up to Huddersfield for a month to do a Certificate in English Language Teaching to Adults.

It is a super intensive course that requires me to do observed teaching, assignments, lessons plans and all kinds of hard work! Most jobs in Europe require a CELTA and I think it will be good to get some proper official training!

So I am going to be M.I.A for the next month!!