6 Things I Will Not Miss in China

Tomorrow I’ll be leaving China. It has been a truly incredible experience and I’ve learnt much about the culture and history. However, there are some things that I can safely say I will not miss from this country. 1. Pollution Pollution in China is bad. Not everywhere and not all the time. Spring has brought with it cleaner air, as well as humidity and rain. Still, the day before Christmas eve, the PM2.5 level reached over 400. This basically means the air is “hazardous” to breathe. Of course, not every day was like that but, in the winter months, I would …

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The challenges and joys of teaching drama in China

When applying for teaching jobs in China, the most relevant experience I had was as a youth theatre drama teacher. Due to this background, the teaching agency I ended up working for in China placed me at an arts school, and the job offer I was given was English and drama. Fine by me. I love drama and think it can be used in many ways to teach English. When I arrived at the school, I was told that I would teach drama club every Friday for an hour. Great. However, it wasn’t until I started that I found out …

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Teaching in Hangzhou, China

I wake up feeling groggy at 6am as my alarm goes off. Sometimes, if my hair doesn’t need a wash, I give myself the luxury of staying in bed until 6.30. I leave Mitch in bed asleep and feel envious. I enjoy a hot shower to wake me up and put on some ‘teacher’ clothes. A lot of the Chinese teachers dress casually, in jeans for example, but I can’t bring myself to do that. I check that I have everything in my backpack, eat a banana for some energy before my cycle to work. My school is split between …

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Rollercoaster Ride Starting Life In China

For those of you who don’t know, Mitch and I got ourselves teaching jobs in Hangzhou, China. It’s in the East, not far from Shanghai. We found jobs through a teaching agency who sorted us with school, accommodation, and a visa. So far, there have been highs and lows, but it’s all a new adventure in life and I remind myself I’m very lucky to be here. We felt nervous and excited. For me, it was three big changes all at once: moving in with Mitch, starting a new job AND moving to a new country/continent. Madness eh? Our flights over …

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Angloville in Poland: Teaching, Learning, Friendship & Vodka

As you may have previously read, Mitch and I did some voluntary teaching in Hungary through the Angloville programme. We signed up for one more of these teaching programmes in Poland, but somehow ended up doing three, and a weekend style programme. It worked out well for us though because we were running very low on money and Angloville provides you with accommodation and food for the week, all we have to pay for is alcohol (and it’s not exactly expensive in Poland). You can read all about the programme here from my post about it when we did it in …

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Angloville: More than just teaching English.

Our dedline for getting to Budapest by March 23rd was due to our first bit of ‘work’ as we were travelling; a week-long English immersion programme called Angloville. Before we started travelling, a friend of ours said that if we get to Poland we should definitely do it. It’s a great opportunity to teach English and for travellers like us we get free food and accommodation for the week in a lovely location, all in exchange for doing something natural to us – talking.

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