Job: check. Flight: check.

Incredible; incredible how an idea can grow from a vague possibility to become a reality. The move is now staring me in the face* with only three weeks to go. It was only last night, during a moment of pure cliche, that I realised for the very first time what I was doing; that I'm moving away from the UK, from friends, from family and everything I've known.. I felt like a gap year student.

The CELTA course seems like it happened a long time ago now. If I'd got on the course that I initially thought I'd be doing, I would have only just completed the four weeks now and would be looking for a job now. As I managed to get on the summer course, time has been on my side and I have a job sorted, a city to move to and a flight to the other side of the world on the 6th December. The job is with a company called English First (EF), a group of franchised English schools spread around the world and which, as far as I have heard, have a fairly good reputation amongst employees. I will be working with just one other native English teacher in a small school, in the south of Bandung in West Java. Throughout the application process the people at EF have been helpful, responsive and efficient. Given that they will be sorting out my Visa, my work permit and my health insurance as well as other things that I would almost certainly ignore if it was left down to me, I see these as very positive signs for a future employer.

So the job is sorted, Anja and I have a place to stay when we get there. In fact, I saw photographs of her parents' house for the first time last week when we managed to boot up her old computer to drag important files off. The place looks absolutely fantastic. Really though. The setting is perfect greenery in hilly terrain and looks over the plain on which Bandung is situated. There are some photos here: http://www.crabbweb.de/index.htm. The house is just near the area that it looks like we'll be living in anyway and should allow us to find our own place with as little stress as possible.

CELTA course: check

It's been quite a while since I put anything on here and looking back at the last few weeks, I'm not very surprised. Making the leap from working in a primary school as a TA and finishing at 3.30 everyday had made me soft, soft, soft. Even climbing seemingly none-stop in between and weekends away had made me forget how hard life can be.... Ah.

Really though, the CELTA has a fierce reputation as being a very intensive course when compared with other TEFL courses. If I compare it with other periods of stress that I've encountered in my life, it is surely up there alongside the most trying but I think it has been different from, for example my University finals or A-levels. For one thing, no one fails the CELTA, they drop out. Therefore, as long as you keep turning up and standing up in front of students and keep handing in assignments, you will get through it. 

What I have found hard, has been the fact that for weeks 1, 2 and 3 you are constantly learning something and then immediately putting it into practice, weather that be using it in the classroom during TP in the afternoon, or writing about it in one of the 4 assignments. There isn't much time to sit back. It quickly becomes obvious though, that the standard of the work itself isn't too high and to begin with at least, trainees are spoon fed.

With just one lesson to go and all assignments handed in, the experience seems to have been extremely useful; I have learnt so many new skills and an enormous amount of information and would feel comfortable beginning work in a school, teaching English as a foreign language. In that sense, the TEFL is a wonderful course to do, especially for the short time it takes to complete. At the same time, I am conscious that I have a lot to learn. It is a similar feeling to one I got when I passed my driving test: I knew I could drive a car, but I knew also that I needed a lot of practice before I would be able to do it without a lot of conscious effort.

Climb now, work later

Having set with the ball rolling with respect to working and doing research into possible teaching institutions and teaching possibilities, it could be time to begin exploring the climbing potential that Indonesia offers. Despite nearby Thailand and Malasia being well know for their aundance of developped areas, Indonesia appears at first glance to have received relatively little attention, as far as the climbing world is concerned. There are no topos published, as far as I can tell, but with a quick glance on rockclimbing.com  and a trawl through their pages on Indo it's easy to find rudimentary information on the sort of places where climbing has been developped. The picture above is from the site and appeared with a caption explaining that the topo was created in "1988 when the French came" and is described as "where it all began regarding rock climbing in Indonesia". Good stuff. Citah 125 is located at an hour's drive from Bandung which sounds promising, with trad and heaps of sport said to be on offer.

Language teaching, language learning.

In addition to teaching language it will be necessary to get learning at least a few words, in order to get on with daily life comfortably. Having only really holidayed in Europe I have always enjoyed being able to communicate with people in their own language, at least to some degree. To this end I found a lovely site [1] which hopes to teach a very basic amount in one week. We'll see. AC is obviously proficient in Indonesian and from what I'd gleamed from hearing her speak the language, I'd got the rather misguided impression that Indonesian was some sort of Creolized Pigin. It turns out that it is a development of Malay. The reason that I had thought that it was perhaps developed from a Pigin was partly due to the large number of words that I recognized as being of European origin. Also, the grammar, as explained by AC, seemed simple e.g. pluralization through reduplication. The reason for the European flavour of the language turns out to be the influence of Dutch, Portugese, English. The the use of Indonesian as lingua franca in the area for centuries may partly explain the simple grammar, but I think as with many languages, while certain aspects of the grammar are fairly simple, others are difinately not. To this end, any effort to learn anything more than basic Indo will require exactly that; effort.

[1] http://www.seasite.niu.edu/indonesian/percakapan/indonesia7days/indo7days_fs.htm

Work and play

So with the Crab's parents living in Bandung, West Java, that becomes an ideal place to start from and lends a certain amount of flexibility. It is an amazing opportunity, staying with people who have lived exactly what I am to be living will make the experience less alien. Indeed Gary, Anja's father, worked as an English teacher initially, when he first moved over. For myself, having studied foreign languages at Univiersity, the idea of teaching English as a foreign language really does appeal. I have applied to do a CELTA course over the summer holidays and I have already begun working in schools in the UK. This will stop during the summer break, allowing time to do the course. 

I have also begun to look at ESL centres in Bandung. English First is apparently the largest language school so it makes sense to contact them first; or does it? Should I look toward to smaller independent schools or stick with the giants? Certainly they would offer more security but what is better for the local economy? Likewise, I don't want to tie myself down in one place if AC is wanting to move about. It would be important to find a job that allows me to have enough time off to see some of the country and that doesn't hold me in one place for too long. Is it possible, for example, to move to other language schools within the same contract? Inside Indonesia? Within southeast Asia? To do so I would benefit from working for someone like EF.

Moving away from the UK or moving to Indonesia?

With a view to move away at the end of the year, a weblog to document plans, outcomes and realizations seems fitting. In 2010 I hope to be living away from the UK. I am under no illusions as to the originality of this idea. To say that the idea of traveling is popular today is a definite understatement; attempting to save for and set off on dream holidays is a seemingly integral part of the British education system for my generation.  Round the world tickets offer an opportunity to see a maximum number of places in a comparitively short amount of time. Also, with a little thought, a little prior planning and an organization such as Raleigh International or a TEFL qualification, one can easily make have a holiday and conjure up some bonus material for a CV.

Living abroad has been always been synonymous with traveling and exploring, with people setting out , not happy with meerly visiting a place, prefering to make an extended stay. At first glance, my own family and friends seem to be quite settled in the UK.
Looking more closely though, my Great-Grandparents managed to live abroad for most of their lives; they lived in China as missionaries. My Dad managed to work for two years in New Guinea after University. That counts as living abroad rather than travelling, surely? Then there's my partner's parents, a German and an American living in Indonesia and having spent time living in each others' countries. Then there's Anja herself, who was raised in Indonesia and Germany before living in the UK for the last five years.