I was recently offered a job in Qingdao, China and will be accepting it enthusiastically! I'll be teaching at the very least 1 math/ESL class, a listening/speaking and/or computing class, and maybe even some AP stats and calculus.
It's a university prep school in which the students study immersion style for one year before heading off to a North American university. Like any school, they are always looking to expand their range of courses, so, if I want to, I can create my own course/materials! Obviously this would help both me and the school, so I am most likely going to pursue this option. From the sounds of it, they also want to start a 2 year program, and want to offer weekend classes for students/adults that want to take them, so there are ample opportunities for extra work if I want it.
If i were to draw up an ideal job for myself, this would be remarkably close to it, so I am so glad that I found it. The way in which I found it was quite random, so I'll share it here.
I was on the bus on my way to wander aimlessly downtown when my phone rang. It was Telus calling to ask me if I wanted to upgrade to an iphone 5 or some other smart phone. I told them that I would likely be out of the country by the time my current contract expires(late February), so getting a new phone, which would require a contract here, would make no sense.
Immediately after I hung up, a young man in sun glasses asked me casually where I will be going. I told him that i wasn't really sure, but I had been applying to a bunch of jobs in Korea and Japan. As it turns out, he was off to China the very next day to teach English in Xi'an. His qualifications were not all that different from mine, so I thought that it couldn't hurt to start looking in China myself.
That night I went to Daves ESL cafe to check out the china job scene and the second Ad was for a job teaching math in a university prep school that teaches math, science, English, and business courses with locations in Qingdao, Dalian, and Xi'an. I met the qualifications, so I figured it couldn't hurt to apply.
Within the hour I got an e-mail asking if I could do an informal interview the next day, so I did. It went really well, and within a few days he sent me a potential instructor questionnaire, which I filled out that day and sent off. He liked the answers, so he scheduled a formal interview for this past Tuesday. That went really well and within a few days I had a formal job offer, together with a contract for me to look over. I am going through this carefully, but so far it looks awesome. I will definitely accept it.
The job will start mid-February, so I still have plenty of time to see my friends before I head home in January and stay until I leave. It'll be good to spend some time at home before I go to a whole new world for an undetermined period of time. I could see myself staying for a while if it's even half as good as it seems.
It's a little nerve racking flying literally half the world away, but all the magic happens outside of your comfort zone, so it's definitely worth a shot. The city looks absolutely amazing, so I am pretty excited about it.
The abundance of excellent tea is a nice bonus as well.
Three cheers for stumbling across a dream job randomly!!
Live long and prosper,
FKA
Sunday, 18 November 2012
Thursday, 25 October 2012
Blowin' in the wind
It seems like forever since I wrote my last post, so it's probably time for an update.
I just finished the second of three courses in the TESL diploma at SMU. I was fully intent on completing all three by the end of the year, but as of about 2 am on Monday, I was virtually assured of a job teaching math and physics at a Christian boarding school in Korea starting in February. The guy who interviewed said my resume was a gold mine and told me to expect a call from the director of the school the next day to discuss the finer points of the contract.
With this in mind, I promptly withdrew from the third course, as it would make little sense to finish a program that would have no real relevance for what I thought I would be doing all too soon. The extra 1325$ would also be quite helpful. The next day came and went, though, and I didn't receive a call, which was a little perplexing, but I didn't think much of it.
The next day my recruiter sent me an e-mail saying that the school changed their mind because "my beliefs were astronomically different from theirs". I thought this strange, since the interviewer seemed to agree with my answers to his "religious" questions, even saying "amen" to most of them.
My recruiters were quite pissed off about this, saying that the schools actions were completely unprofessional, which they were. They were quick to point out, though, that this obviously wouldn't have been a good fit long term if they were so shaken by my tame, neutral answers. What bearing this has on the teaching of math and physics is beyond me, but I suppose it is ultimately their choice if they want to weigh religion so strongly in their choices.
Still, I have confidence in my recruiter. I am willing to go wherever I am needed, so that should certainly help me find a job quite easily. Wherever I end up is where I am supposed to be. I'm happy to go wherever the wind takes me.
In the meantime, I am going to focus on math tutoring and leave my schedule pretty open so that I can be available at basically any time for an interview with a potential employer. Thankfully I have all of my documents ready to go, and, according to the facebook page for my recruiter, a tonne of new jobs magically popped up yesterday, so hopefully one of them will pan out.
Time will tell.
I just finished the second of three courses in the TESL diploma at SMU. I was fully intent on completing all three by the end of the year, but as of about 2 am on Monday, I was virtually assured of a job teaching math and physics at a Christian boarding school in Korea starting in February. The guy who interviewed said my resume was a gold mine and told me to expect a call from the director of the school the next day to discuss the finer points of the contract.
With this in mind, I promptly withdrew from the third course, as it would make little sense to finish a program that would have no real relevance for what I thought I would be doing all too soon. The extra 1325$ would also be quite helpful. The next day came and went, though, and I didn't receive a call, which was a little perplexing, but I didn't think much of it.
The next day my recruiter sent me an e-mail saying that the school changed their mind because "my beliefs were astronomically different from theirs". I thought this strange, since the interviewer seemed to agree with my answers to his "religious" questions, even saying "amen" to most of them.
My recruiters were quite pissed off about this, saying that the schools actions were completely unprofessional, which they were. They were quick to point out, though, that this obviously wouldn't have been a good fit long term if they were so shaken by my tame, neutral answers. What bearing this has on the teaching of math and physics is beyond me, but I suppose it is ultimately their choice if they want to weigh religion so strongly in their choices.
Still, I have confidence in my recruiter. I am willing to go wherever I am needed, so that should certainly help me find a job quite easily. Wherever I end up is where I am supposed to be. I'm happy to go wherever the wind takes me.
In the meantime, I am going to focus on math tutoring and leave my schedule pretty open so that I can be available at basically any time for an interview with a potential employer. Thankfully I have all of my documents ready to go, and, according to the facebook page for my recruiter, a tonne of new jobs magically popped up yesterday, so hopefully one of them will pan out.
Time will tell.
Tuesday, 28 August 2012
Welcome to the jungle
This is a bit overdue, but I am more than a little stoked about the recently launched jungle collection from Davids tea has me swinging from tree to tree in excitement. I am so happy that they have straight guayusa tea now!
I could not pick a favorite of the bunch if I had to. Iced cocoa canela with soy and agave is pretty marvelous, though :) Try it if you haven't already.
The addition of straight guayusa to my tea arsenal has rekindled my alchemical fire. Since the flavor is pretty subtle, it can easily be mixed with any of the fruity herbal teas to kick them up another notch. What's better than midsummer nights dream? Midsummer nights dream + focused energy from guayusa :) Mixing with exotica is also a tasty experiment. Maybe I should mix it with wintergreen woods to fuse the North and South American woodsyness.
Hopefully that gives you some inspiration for your own tea mixes. If you find an excellent mix, I'd love to hear about it in the comments section below! Fun and games for all!
I could not pick a favorite of the bunch if I had to. Iced cocoa canela with soy and agave is pretty marvelous, though :) Try it if you haven't already.
The addition of straight guayusa to my tea arsenal has rekindled my alchemical fire. Since the flavor is pretty subtle, it can easily be mixed with any of the fruity herbal teas to kick them up another notch. What's better than midsummer nights dream? Midsummer nights dream + focused energy from guayusa :) Mixing with exotica is also a tasty experiment. Maybe I should mix it with wintergreen woods to fuse the North and South American woodsyness.
Hopefully that gives you some inspiration for your own tea mixes. If you find an excellent mix, I'd love to hear about it in the comments section below! Fun and games for all!
Wednesday, 15 August 2012
Turn the page
Yesterday was a very sad day for me. The very first person to ever serve me tea at Davids tea made her last tea for me.
Her time as a manager at Davids tea has come to an end and she is now pursuing her dream, working in the fashion industry!
It's a little bittersweet. On the one hand, I am extremely happy that she is off to work in her dream job, but on the other hand I will certainly miss her presence behind the counter. It was amazing to talk tea with someone who was obviously passionate about all things "tea".
I too changed career paths earlier this year and it has brought me a tremendous amount of happiness. Hopefully her new path will lead her to breathtaking new vistas.
Sometimes the dreams we have as children fade away. Sometimes, that's okay when those dreams are just fantasies. When those dreams are real passions of ours, though, we shouldn't let them fade. We should chase them until we catch them and delight in the fact that we are living our dream.
On our journeys, other travelers will walk by our side for a time, but when our paths diverge, all we can do is wish them all the best and carry on.
So, to the person who served me my first majestic cup of davids tea, I bid you adieu. Hopefully your journey will go splendidly. Wherever you go, I'm sure you'll get there in style.
Live long and prosper,
FKA
Her time as a manager at Davids tea has come to an end and she is now pursuing her dream, working in the fashion industry!
It's a little bittersweet. On the one hand, I am extremely happy that she is off to work in her dream job, but on the other hand I will certainly miss her presence behind the counter. It was amazing to talk tea with someone who was obviously passionate about all things "tea".
I too changed career paths earlier this year and it has brought me a tremendous amount of happiness. Hopefully her new path will lead her to breathtaking new vistas.
Sometimes the dreams we have as children fade away. Sometimes, that's okay when those dreams are just fantasies. When those dreams are real passions of ours, though, we shouldn't let them fade. We should chase them until we catch them and delight in the fact that we are living our dream.
On our journeys, other travelers will walk by our side for a time, but when our paths diverge, all we can do is wish them all the best and carry on.
So, to the person who served me my first majestic cup of davids tea, I bid you adieu. Hopefully your journey will go splendidly. Wherever you go, I'm sure you'll get there in style.
Live long and prosper,
FKA
Friday, 10 August 2012
TESL teacher training
As of this week I have completed phase one of three of my TESL teacher training at Saint Mary's university in Halifax, NS.
The teacher of teachers was one Paula Cheal.
I came into the course with no expectations of what we were going to learn, which in hindsight was probably the best foundation for actual learning. I have been teaching various mathematical disciplines for some time, but, as I quickly found out, teaching a language is a different cup of tea altogether.
On thing that didn't even cross my mind is that the language you are using to teach the students is the same language that they are attempting to learn. Tragically, this means no linguistics acrobatics for me in the ESL classroom.
Perhaps the most surprising thing for me was the idea of "teacher talking time" versus "student speaking space". I altered the last to keep the alliteration train running :) I won't be able to do that in the class, so this will be my gymnasium!
Basically, in the ESL teaching world, the educational paradigm is flipped on its head. In a traditional classroom, we have an "information fountain", the teacher, from which the thirsty travelers, the students, quench their thirst for enlightenment in their subject of choice. In the ESL classroom, however, we have a wise sage, the teacher, who shows the desert wanderers, the students, where to look without telling them what to see.
This wise sage accepts the wanderers as they are, for he was once a wanderer like them. He knows which roads lead to water, and which roads lead to mirages. He only knows the roads that he has walked down. He just so happens to have walked more roads than they have.
This sage does not condemn mistakes. They teach us where we are stuck. The sage merely suggests different ways to move forward. We all wander in different ways, you know, so you never know which directions will lead other wanderers to water. There will be other wanderers along the way, though, and they may have traveled roads which you have not yet seen.
The sage must speak slowly, clearly, and give the wanderer only enough information to go in the right direction.
I am a man who loves paradigm shifts, so this information was quite valuable indeed! Anything that helps me step through to the next level is awesome in my books.
When you treat every other wanderer as a sage, then the world can be your teacher. Hopefully these courses will help me teach the world :)
Live long and Prospoer,
FKA
The teacher of teachers was one Paula Cheal.
I came into the course with no expectations of what we were going to learn, which in hindsight was probably the best foundation for actual learning. I have been teaching various mathematical disciplines for some time, but, as I quickly found out, teaching a language is a different cup of tea altogether.
On thing that didn't even cross my mind is that the language you are using to teach the students is the same language that they are attempting to learn. Tragically, this means no linguistics acrobatics for me in the ESL classroom.
Perhaps the most surprising thing for me was the idea of "teacher talking time" versus "student speaking space". I altered the last to keep the alliteration train running :) I won't be able to do that in the class, so this will be my gymnasium!
Basically, in the ESL teaching world, the educational paradigm is flipped on its head. In a traditional classroom, we have an "information fountain", the teacher, from which the thirsty travelers, the students, quench their thirst for enlightenment in their subject of choice. In the ESL classroom, however, we have a wise sage, the teacher, who shows the desert wanderers, the students, where to look without telling them what to see.
This wise sage accepts the wanderers as they are, for he was once a wanderer like them. He knows which roads lead to water, and which roads lead to mirages. He only knows the roads that he has walked down. He just so happens to have walked more roads than they have.
This sage does not condemn mistakes. They teach us where we are stuck. The sage merely suggests different ways to move forward. We all wander in different ways, you know, so you never know which directions will lead other wanderers to water. There will be other wanderers along the way, though, and they may have traveled roads which you have not yet seen.
The sage must speak slowly, clearly, and give the wanderer only enough information to go in the right direction.
I am a man who loves paradigm shifts, so this information was quite valuable indeed! Anything that helps me step through to the next level is awesome in my books.
When you treat every other wanderer as a sage, then the world can be your teacher. Hopefully these courses will help me teach the world :)
Live long and Prospoer,
FKA
Monday, 2 July 2012
Te(a)met Nosce
If you love tea, randomness, and having these two combine to gather deep insights into your psyche, then this blog post is for you!
The test is simple:
1. Open up this random number generator in two separate tabs, and the shop teas section of the Davids tea website in another.
2. In this first random number generator tab, you want to generate 10 random integer between 1 and 8, in 1 column.
3. Write these numbers down in order. 1=black tea, 2=green tea, 3=white tea, 4=oolong, 5=rooibos, 6=pu'erh, 7=mate, 8=herbal
Note: There are, in order, 42, 34, 18, 15, 20, 8, 5, and 46 distinct teas in the above categories.
4. For each number listed in 3, you'll want to generate 1 random number to attached to it. Ex. If your first number is 3, you'd generate a random number between 1 and 18, say 13, and write that as 3-13.
5. Go to the Davids tea website and look up your list of 10 teas. Ex. If you had 3-13, you'd go to the white teas section and look up the 13th tea in alphabetical order, which is Pom Power.
6. Assign this list of 10 teas, in order to the following 10 things:
1.How you see yourself.
2.How others see you.
3.Your best friend.
4.Your ideal Partner.
5.Your life purpose.
6.Your greatest strength.
7.Ideal career.
8.Your true self.
9. Your inspiration.
10. Your life in a tea.
7.Look up the descriptions for each tea and learn and enormous amount about yourself, or have a laugh.
8. Invite your friends to do the same and compare results, or drink the teas :)
Pro tips:
1.If you have, say, three 1s in your list, then you could save time by generating 3 random numbers between 1 and 42 and attaching these numbers in order.
2.Write down your favorite things about the teas and what the taste/smell reminds you of.
3.Do the same for the tea names.
4.If you know about symbolism, you can go to town with the information you get in 2 and 3 and catch a glimpse of your psyche.
Enjoy!
FKA
The test is simple:
1. Open up this random number generator in two separate tabs, and the shop teas section of the Davids tea website in another.
2. In this first random number generator tab, you want to generate 10 random integer between 1 and 8, in 1 column.
3. Write these numbers down in order. 1=black tea, 2=green tea, 3=white tea, 4=oolong, 5=rooibos, 6=pu'erh, 7=mate, 8=herbal
Note: There are, in order, 42, 34, 18, 15, 20, 8, 5, and 46 distinct teas in the above categories.
4. For each number listed in 3, you'll want to generate 1 random number to attached to it. Ex. If your first number is 3, you'd generate a random number between 1 and 18, say 13, and write that as 3-13.
5. Go to the Davids tea website and look up your list of 10 teas. Ex. If you had 3-13, you'd go to the white teas section and look up the 13th tea in alphabetical order, which is Pom Power.
6. Assign this list of 10 teas, in order to the following 10 things:
1.How you see yourself.
2.How others see you.
3.Your best friend.
4.Your ideal Partner.
5.Your life purpose.
6.Your greatest strength.
7.Ideal career.
8.Your true self.
9. Your inspiration.
10. Your life in a tea.
7.Look up the descriptions for each tea and learn and enormous amount about yourself, or have a laugh.
8. Invite your friends to do the same and compare results, or drink the teas :)
Pro tips:
1.If you have, say, three 1s in your list, then you could save time by generating 3 random numbers between 1 and 42 and attaching these numbers in order.
2.Write down your favorite things about the teas and what the taste/smell reminds you of.
3.Do the same for the tea names.
4.If you know about symbolism, you can go to town with the information you get in 2 and 3 and catch a glimpse of your psyche.
Enjoy!
FKA
Thursday, 7 June 2012
Letting it all go
It's been a week now since my brother departed for the US to marry the girl of his dreams that he met on youtube. I've had the apartment to myself and I cancelled my cable before he left, so I've had plenty of time for reflection.
He had the courage to let it all go. He quit his job and sold all of his worldly possessions, even his most cherished ones, so that he would have enough money to travel there and have some spending money while they spend time getting to know each other in person.
He knew full well that things could fall to pieces when he got there. They could meet in person and realize that the way they wanted each other to be and the way that they portrayed themselves to each other was different from their true nature. He could get held up in customs and not make it there, making it all for naught.
None of this mattered to him, however. He believed in their love so strongly that he was able to risk everything to make it work.
This makes sense until attachments get in the way and cloud our judgement, of course. There was many a time when he was trying to sell something, but was unwilling to sell it for less than his idea of what it was worth. Thankfully he let them go in the end.
Of course, worldly possessions have only abstract value and are ultimately impermanent, so it only makes sense to give them up if it means that you can meet your true love, or start a new life for yourself, or take a yoga teacher training program, or whatever it is that you believe will make you a better person and make you happy at last.
Even if we let all those things go, though, there's the pesky ego to deal with. It's not enough to let go of your worldly possessions when our ideas about the way we should be, or what we should do cause us further suffering. We can let that go as well.
Accepting reality, messy as it is, without judgement, is a tough pill to swallow. Sadly, it's the only suffering pill on the market.
Maybe we'll never do dwi pada sirsasana, or win a gold medal at the over-achiever olympics, but we can certainly live in the moment, work with what we have, and turn that into enough.
Peace comes from within. Do not seek it without.
We're glorious as we are. We sometimes muddy ourselves with our own projections, though.
As any alchemist will tell you, only imperfect things can be brought to perfection; perfect things can only be corrupted. Thankfully we can always polish ourselves back to perfection by removing the projections.
Wax on wax off,
FKA
He had the courage to let it all go. He quit his job and sold all of his worldly possessions, even his most cherished ones, so that he would have enough money to travel there and have some spending money while they spend time getting to know each other in person.
He knew full well that things could fall to pieces when he got there. They could meet in person and realize that the way they wanted each other to be and the way that they portrayed themselves to each other was different from their true nature. He could get held up in customs and not make it there, making it all for naught.
None of this mattered to him, however. He believed in their love so strongly that he was able to risk everything to make it work.
This makes sense until attachments get in the way and cloud our judgement, of course. There was many a time when he was trying to sell something, but was unwilling to sell it for less than his idea of what it was worth. Thankfully he let them go in the end.
Of course, worldly possessions have only abstract value and are ultimately impermanent, so it only makes sense to give them up if it means that you can meet your true love, or start a new life for yourself, or take a yoga teacher training program, or whatever it is that you believe will make you a better person and make you happy at last.
Even if we let all those things go, though, there's the pesky ego to deal with. It's not enough to let go of your worldly possessions when our ideas about the way we should be, or what we should do cause us further suffering. We can let that go as well.
Accepting reality, messy as it is, without judgement, is a tough pill to swallow. Sadly, it's the only suffering pill on the market.
Maybe we'll never do dwi pada sirsasana, or win a gold medal at the over-achiever olympics, but we can certainly live in the moment, work with what we have, and turn that into enough.
Peace comes from within. Do not seek it without.
We're glorious as we are. We sometimes muddy ourselves with our own projections, though.
As any alchemist will tell you, only imperfect things can be brought to perfection; perfect things can only be corrupted. Thankfully we can always polish ourselves back to perfection by removing the projections.
Wax on wax off,
FKA
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