The big 5 to survive......
How and why did Chrisby come to these 5 points to survive and thrive as an expat teacher?
Acclimatize to the environment
Develop the skill set – be cognizant of this process
Learn to adjust for terrain
Persevere – this leads to mental stamina
Enjoy the day!
Read on....................
Like many who adventure into the world of expat teaching, I found it offered more than just a job and an income so when I decided to leave my first placement I continued to seek my next job overseas. I had completed two years in my first expat placement and left successful in my professional experience.
My second placement was in the Rocky Mountains of the USA and this is important to tell you as it was part of the learning experience. That was August 2001 and this current Northern Hemisphere Winter (2017 – 2018) after I returned for a vacation in the old setting I reflected on what it took to adjust to the second placement.
Firstly, it takes 3 weeks to develop ‘high altitude blood’, so it actually takes a physical adjustment which I had not noticed in my previous placement (although it was there, I had to adjust to semi-tropical like humidity and really struggled with headaches and allergies). Interrupting the 3 weeks of acclimatizing and of the induction to the system and school was an unfortunate event, being the death of my mother-in-law so we hopped a plane to attend the funeral and arrived back in the Rockies at 10pm on the Saturday evening before school started! In expat teaching these events do occur and it is always a dilemma to decide the best approach. I had taken two weeks in my previous placement to go back home due to a family emergency, it is not the decision to go that is challenging, it is the financial repercussions that have to be considered.
By the second placement I had a little back-up money, in the first having spent the back-up money I brought with me on necessities for living. But this is not the only dilemma, ‘do I have the money?’ It is ‘how much money will I lose?’ What sometimes happens (it did to me in two situations) is that I am on leave without pay AND I also have to pay for the substitute teacher either through money or payback time. NOT what would happen if I was back home!
Having made it back in time for the first day of school I spent Sunday 10am – 10pm at work setting up my room which had been relocated from one building to another – therefore the furniture and materials were dumped in the middle of the room and I had to get it and my program in shape ASAP!
At 7:50am on Monday my team leader came in and said, ‘Wow! I was here on Saturday and I thought “I hope she knows we are teaching at 8am Monday morning!”’ At 8am in came the class and the new placement was underway. Other than having to complete my induction expectations after hours (one during a ground blizzard), things in this placement were mostly smooth and I loved the experience. The worst day of the year definitely came on September 11th 2001 when I saw the twin towers falling as I was preparing for my day (Mountains time being 2 hours behind East Coast time). Schools near airports were particularly susceptible and as our school was actually beside an airport, it was a challenging day. The airports closed down and were closed for 2 to 4 weeks. On that day we went into lockdown and there was really no way of knowing what the issues were.
The bonus of my second placement was that it offered MAJOR lifestyle benefits, which is an important consideration when applying for international teaching. My first placement offered less lifestyle options and I created my own when not travelling or exploring the region. The Rocky Mountain region where I was placed had a major ski resort, a beautiful river through the valley and a canyon at the end of the valley, so snow sports, water sports, hiking and camping. Teachers in my district were offered some compensation to participate in activities which was nice too. We did hike in the canyon and I had the white-water rafting experience several times, but the main goal of my recreation was to become a proficient skier. This experience has become a metaphor for the international teaching experience in that it taught me what it takes!
In skiing the instructors tell you that it is the mental game that is important, but when you are at 11 000 feet looking down the mountain and wondering how to get down (safely), it is the physical game you care about. What skills do I need, how do I make the pathways, how do I negotiate other people, how do I keep the physical energy to make that final run? Every little skill has to be consciously considered, there is no fluid movement yet! After taking a lesson on Saturday I would practice on Sunday. I set my goal at 42 days on the mountain and I made 40, so I did progress as practice is the way to improve. Since that first year there has hardly been a year that I haven’t skied, so now I consider myself an intermediate skier.
This Winter in the old habitat I was really aware that it IS a mental game. The conditions of the snow when I learnt to ski was that we were in a drought and I spent my season slipping and sliding on icy surfaces, which occurred again for me in my recent season but had not occurred any other season in between. I think that is what prompted my reflective state!
What I realised is that ‘The mental game’ is all about the perseverance it takes to develop the mental stamina to continue in the field.
What you don’t know at the start is that if you persevere you will develop the mental tenacity and toughness to sustain a long-term ability and interest in the sport. This is also true with a career in education. While I don’t like to be philosophical, I liked this analogy to help me understand what has helped me to persevere in my career, in spite of the many obstacles.
Acclimatize to the environment
Develop the skill set – be cognizant of this process
Learn to adjust for terrain
Persevere – this leads to mental stamina
Enjoy the day!
This is all particularly pertinent to me right now as I am celebrating the 40th anniversary since I started at Teachers College and started my career learning!
Thanks so much Roomie..........
Cheers,
HB
