welcome to Englishtown everyone!

Almost immediately after Vasae left in mid-August to go back to the States I started looking around for English teaching jobs in Asia. After lots of considering, applying, interviewing and hoping, I got a job with Englishtown in Bali, Indonesia. I worked it out to continue traveling for awhile and then try it out for the month of November before signing any sort of binding contract. 

Like I mentioned before, because its an online school where you basically teach to students through skype, I was a bit apprehensive. My teaching style relies very heavily on personal interaction and connection with the students and playing around... Those are all rather difficult when you are not actually with your students. But I wanted to be optimistic and wanted to give it a try. Also, I was able to be a substitute teacher for the after school English classes next door with Englishtown's partner school, English First.  A new challenge (and living in Bali!) right??

After light training I was thrown into my class and started with my new work schedule. It took awhile to get the swing of things. I'm not a very technical person/ I'm technologically challenged so the fact that my job revolves around computers is pretty funny.  It's multitasking galore at Etown. First and foremost you have to make sure your students can see the slides (just like a power-point presentation), that they can hear you, and that they know how to use their microphone to speak back to you. Sometimes tricky when hello is difficult. Then you conduct class to a group of 2-10 Chinese, Russian, Brazilian, Mexican, Indian, German, Japanese, French, you name it!, students of about the same level. That's gets tricky as well because the students chose their own level :) Throughout class you lead the discussion as all the classes are conversation based while trying your best to type out corrections to individually evaluate each student. Again, this can be tricky when you have 8 Chinese students screaming into their microphone as you get only every other word. The connection normally is good but when it's not and you have beginner students, good luck.

Here is my little set up: cubicle with the class presentation loaded on the computer screen, notepad and pen ready to take notes on each student, headset plugged in and hopefully working, water- I get thirsty, and me laughing at myself, which is an essential component to this job and my life in general.

Class topics are varied in subject material and teach-ability... most motivate pretty interesting discussions and debates. One of my favorite topics was "All about America" when the 1st slide of the class asked: "What are the first 3 things that come to mind when someone says the USA?" The answers that followed were awesome. For example: fast food, fat people, guns, cars, blue jeans, McDonald's, McDonald's, and McDonald's, smart people, etc. My favorite was a nice lady from China that was convinced, and I mean convinced, that we all shoot at each other in the US. One such statement of hers was: "in America everyone has gun and everyone shoot gun. Police know not do nothing and all people verrry scary." I don't even know where to start- amazing.

Other topics include "Cafe Culture" because every beginner student needs to understand the ambiance a Starbucks' latte creates.  "Crazy Things" where my students admitted the craziest things they've ever done.  My out-of-control Chinese students confessed to doing ridiculous things like staying up all night to read the latest Harry Potter book. Then there was "Law Enforcement" class when my Brazilian students talked about selling drugs and drunk driving while the horrified Taiwanese students embarrassingly admitted to running traffic lights and jaywalking.  One of the most riveting topics was "Getting a Job" where we talked about power point presentations, job interviews and our strengths and weaknesses. Excellent subject material for students who are at the appropriate level. Torture for the beginner students who have no idea what is going on:

me: "What is the man doing in picture #1,class? What is he doing?"

Pingtang: "TEACHER, TEACHER, TEACHER ANNA!!! HE IS READ. TEACHER, HE IS READ BOOK! OH NO HMMM, NO TEACHER, MISTAKE. I MISTAKE. HE IS STUDY, YES YES, HE STUDY. HE STUDY, TEACHER. RIGHT?? HE STUDY. TEACHER ANNA? YES?

After gently breaking it to Pingtang that the man in picture #1 was working, we carried on :) 

One of my favorite things about teaching at Etown had to be the students' names.  Just as they can pick their own level, they can pick their own screen-name. While some names made sense and were sweet, others were so wonderfully random that I'll never know how they picked these words as names. I have to give it to the Chinese for coming up with the most creative names. You know its going to be a great class when your class list includes: Robot, Rainbow Lee, Count Dracula Wang, Kitten Lee (a man), Peter Xou (a girl), and my personal favorite, Crocodile.

While I have genuinely enjoyed teaching at Englishtown, I know that it is not the job for me. After working for 5 weeks (the allotted "trial period") I decided to not sign a year long contract and begin looking for the next job, adventure, country, etc. I have nothing bad to say about the school or its methods. Its an amazing system that allows people all over the world to effectively learn English at their own pace and at their own convenience. But, not surprisingly, online teaching wasn't a good fit for me. Many teachers see their job at Etown as a means to an end to living in Bali but that's not the arrangement I'm looking for.

I'll certainly miss the teachers, the students and of course Bali. Even though it wasn't for me I have to say that some of the discussions I participated in in class were wonderful. I can't think of many situations where its possible to immediately delve into cultural issues with an involved audience from all over the world. 

Stay tuned to see what I have cookin' for the next adventure :)