Teaching in Transition

So, aside from everything else, there are some options that we're considering at the moment.

At this point, our lives feel so transitory. This is liberating and a little frightening, though each day we've felt more at ease in this context.

Our first paycheck is tommorrow, and though it won't be much, it'll keep us afloat in the meantime. In the following few weeks, we should be able to settle down a little bit more, as we'll have enough money for a deposit on an apartment, and will no longer be living in this hostel.

Aside from that, though, the question is: What do we want to concentrate our energies on? English teaching is enjoyable, but is it enough to sustain us? Teaching in this style of cram school, where the focus is on the student as a consumer that needs to be "satisfied with a product," is markedly different to any actual education system, we feel. The students consistently need to feel as though they're "getting their money's worth", as ultimately, it's an extra-curricular activity for them. For this very reason, there are no tests, no certifications, no real rules in the class and not much actual authority in the hands of the teachers. It's our job to make these students (clients?) feel as though their English has improved, whether or not this is the case. It's interesting, to say the least, but we can see how it won't be enough for us to be "service providers" full-time.

Teaching, rather, "tutoring" in this way, is immediately "rewarding" in that you can see how some students warm to the opportunity to speak to a native speaker. Gaining their trust, allowing them to feel as though they can make mistakes, is "rewarding" in that sense; but, on the other hand, I'm not sure if a number of "little satisfying moments" actually add up to an honest sense of job satisfaction. By which I mean, we derive so much joy from reading about the state of the world, polarization and globalization, all that boring stuff :) - but that's what we love, and the sense of satisfaction that we derive from that just doesn't compare. Learning Chinese is also in that bracket. We're really really looking forward to having a steady paycheck so that we can pay for lessons during the mornings, and teach in the evenings.

We can see how being good for the "business of supply and demand" will enable us to have other options at hand. But we can also see how you could become so involved with it, that other goals like learning Chinese and taichi and more about Taiwanese local culture could just fade away. Ultimately, we have to stay true to the people that we are and hopefully, this transitory period will allow us to do that. As the lovely George Smith told us... We just have do all we can to "just be happy."