Ahem, so here’s the short list…
1) What motivated you to go there?
Ah, funny you ask. The first night I arrived in Cuenca, it was dark, cold, and rainy. I was homesick, tired, and disoriented, and I lamented inwardly, “Why in the name of San Jose are you doing this to yourself??”
The answers to this have been filtering in with passion and force ever since that night, but originally, my motivation was centered around the desire for growth. I mean that on several levels: On the intellectual level, I wanted to improve my Spanish. Although I studied it for years in university, eventually double majoring in it, I never had much of a chance to practice it outside of an academic setting. This had the effect of bestowing me with the ability to discuss (in depth) things like metaphorical language and symbolic allusions in classical Spanish literature, but I had no idea how to say something like, “Where can I catch a bus?” or, “Your hostal gave me fleas…Can I pay half price?” I desperately wanted some practice in a relevant setting.On a more emotional/spiritual level, I really wanted a challenge. I wanted to be aware of a different way of living—one that didn’t include Starbucks or Blackberries or a society that devotes more inspection and analysis to tabloid vomit and celebrity gossip than to their own lives. I wanted to stretch myself and be more independent. I wanted to see if I would sink or swim if I was away from my family, my friends, my language, and my country, and a place where I always know that the next clean public washroom is around the corner…
I just wanted to learn stuff.
2) Physically, what is it like where you live?
I do not live in a hollowed out tree trunk, nor a mud hut, nor do I have to worry about grass-skirted jungle warriors with bones through their noses firing hallucinogenic poison-tipped arrows at me in my sleep. Cuenca is a modern city on the southern part of the Andean ridge in Ecuador, about 7,000 feet above sea level. I live in a modern apartment, in which the only major differences are that hot water only ever comes out of shower heads, never from kitchen or bathroom sinks, and that our stove and shower heater are hooked up to big tanks of gas that we are responsible for hooking up and replacing every six weeks or so. We also don’t have a phone, but that is because we are cheap, and not because we don’t have the option of connecting. Our apartment is small but sufficient; we now have four girls living in our two bedrooms, with one small bathroom and a kitchen-living room open concept combo. Our place is five minutes from downtown, five minutes from a big grocery store/ farmer’s market, and five minutes from school. We are one minute from an emergency hospital, one minute from a big family park, one minute from the beautiful river that bisects the city, and one minute (or less) from many wonderful neighbours within our apartment complex.
3) If you had to choose seven adjectives to describe your TESL experience, what would they be?
Emotional; enriching; volatile; frustrating; empowering; deep; fateful.
4) What is the best thing that has happened in class?
That is a difficult question to answer, because “best”
That is a difficult question to answer, because “best” can be separated into many sub-categories: funniest, most touching, most educational, most interesting, etc… Upon reflection, I guess that means that my teaching experience has been pretty positive.
I think the memory that comes to mind stands out because I laughed so hard. Last semester, I taught a beginner class of eight 9-or-so-year-old little boys who were absolutely nuts but often lots of fun. Each class I would try to incorporate some kind of physical activity that would let them release some of their (interminable) energy. More often than not, these games would get a little crazy and a simple game of “Simon Says” to learn animals (eg. “Simon Says be a duck”) would turn into an explosion of children galloping into walls (“Simon Says be a horse”), climbing their teacher (“Simon Says be a monkey”), or throwing a plastic chair across the room (“Simon Says be a WWF Throwdown Champion”). Anyway, this class was quite boisterous but liked to joke around with me, and for a couple of weeks, one little boy went through a phase of hiding in a cupboard just before I arrived, then jumping out to surprise me just before class started. This became rather routine, so at the beginning of every class, I would say sarcastically, “Now
where could Raul be?”, and the rest of the class would shrug innocently and then giggle behind their hands, at which point Raul would usually burst out of the cupboard. Although this trick startled me the first couple of times, it became so predictable that I barely flinched when Raul would pop out. One day, I got to class, noticed Raul’s empty chair, and lazily spoke my line: “Now where could Raul be?” I rolled my eyes calmly to the cupboard door, expecting the usual, when Raul exploded out of the cupboard, except he wasn’t Raul! He was a hideous little midget gremlin dressed like Raul but with the head of a terrible, rubbery monster! I jumped about four 
feet in the air and hopped around screaming and flapping my hands for another ten seconds or so until the ugly devil-varmint took off his face (a latex Halloween mask) and revealed a hysterical Raul. I too began to laugh until I was bent over and the rest of the class of course was delighted by my prior undignified display of hysteria. Part of me felt I should have wagged my finger at the boy and warned him against pranking a teacher, but the other part could not have stopped laughing long enough to discipline him anyway. That was the last time Raul jumped out of the cupboard. I guess he figured he couldn’t trump that.
5) What is your best and worst student? Why?
Oh, the sparkling temptation of naming names…
The best students are the ones who show, in some way, that they take joy in the process of learning the language. I do not especially enjoy teaching students who take more delight in seeing an A+ on their test (and then waving it in their classmates’ noses) than in realizing they can speak about their future goals in the correct tense when two weeks ago they couldn’t. Those students are fairly rare, as many students take English either because their parents are forcing them to or because they need the certificate as a job or education requirement. You can have two students with equally excellent grades, but I guess it’s the difference between achievement and passion. While its possible to have the former without the latter, it’s the latter that makes the difference.
I think the memory that comes to mind stands out because I laughed so hard. Last semester, I taught a beginner class of eight 9-or-so-year-old little boys who were absolutely nuts but often lots of fun. Each class I would try to incorporate some kind of physical activity that would let them release some of their (interminable) energy. More often than not, these games would get a little crazy and a simple game of “Simon Says” to learn animals (eg. “Simon Says be a duck”) would turn into an explosion of children galloping into walls (“Simon Says be a horse”), climbing their teacher (“Simon Says be a monkey”), or throwing a plastic chair across the room (“Simon Says be a WWF Throwdown Champion”). Anyway, this class was quite boisterous but liked to joke around with me, and for a couple of weeks, one little boy went through a phase of hiding in a cupboard just before I arrived, then jumping out to surprise me just before class started. This became rather routine, so at the beginning of every class, I would say sarcastically, “Now
where could Raul be?”, and the rest of the class would shrug innocently and then giggle behind their hands, at which point Raul would usually burst out of the cupboard. Although this trick startled me the first couple of times, it became so predictable that I barely flinched when Raul would pop out. One day, I got to class, noticed Raul’s empty chair, and lazily spoke my line: “Now where could Raul be?” I rolled my eyes calmly to the cupboard door, expecting the usual, when Raul exploded out of the cupboard, except he wasn’t Raul! He was a hideous little midget gremlin dressed like Raul but with the head of a terrible, rubbery monster! I jumped about four 
feet in the air and hopped around screaming and flapping my hands for another ten seconds or so until the ugly devil-varmint took off his face (a latex Halloween mask) and revealed a hysterical Raul. I too began to laugh until I was bent over and the rest of the class of course was delighted by my prior undignified display of hysteria. Part of me felt I should have wagged my finger at the boy and warned him against pranking a teacher, but the other part could not have stopped laughing long enough to discipline him anyway. That was the last time Raul jumped out of the cupboard. I guess he figured he couldn’t trump that.5) What is your best and worst student? Why?
Oh, the sparkling temptation of naming names…
The best students are the ones who show, in some way, that they take joy in the process of learning the language. I do not especially enjoy teaching students who take more delight in seeing an A+ on their test (and then waving it in their classmates’ noses) than in realizing they can speak about their future goals in the correct tense when two weeks ago they couldn’t. Those students are fairly rare, as many students take English either because their parents are forcing them to or because they need the certificate as a job or education requirement. You can have two students with equally excellent grades, but I guess it’s the difference between achievement and passion. While its possible to have the former without the latter, it’s the latter that makes the difference.
As for the worst students? I hate brown-nosers. Why? Because they’re annoying.
6) Do you have any advice for prospective TESL teachers traveling abroad?
Yes. Deep breath. Here we go:
a) Get your visa stuff done wayyy in advance. There are almost ALWAYS unexpected setbacks.
b) Pack lightly, ideally with extra room leftover so as to bring souvenirs back.
c) If you are particular about bath products or cosmetics, buy those at home and pack them (in sealed Ziploc bags…altitude pressure does terrible things to shampoo bottles!).
d) Repeat after me: “Multipurpose things are my new religion.”
e) Laptops are very useful. At the very least, bring a memory stick.
f) Before you accept a job offer, cross reference with other teachers who have worked the same position, and search the internet for any comments/warnings about the institution (http://www.eslcafe.com/ is a good place to start). If it seems shady, it probably is.
g) Bring a journal. Use it.
h) Bring vitamins and a mini first aid kit.
i) Get your innoculations done a few weeks before your departure date. They can leave you feeling a bit off for a couple weeks after, especially if you're getting a bunch done at once.
j) The richer the country, the better the pay, the safer you will likely be, the more sheltered your experience, and the less you will have to stretch yourself. It’s a trade-off.
k) Research your location options and once you’ve decided, research the weather, the politics, the diet, and the religion of the region. However, also expect that there are some things that you will only learn once you get there, so that said…
l)…The more open and relaxed your expectations are, the better your experience will be.
7) If you had to do it again, would you do anything different?
Nope. Maybe I would bring less makeup, and more underwear. That’s it.
8) Would you recommend your own 23-year-old daughter get lost in the jungle?
Oh, c’mon Dad. I obviously would not tell my child to get lost in the jungle.
I would, however, hope I would accept my child’s adventurousness and bravery. I would likely encourage him or her to bring a compass, some bugspray, a calling card, and oh, maybe one of those large, impermeable bubble membranes to live in so that nothing could scathe my precious pumpkin. Zing! Just kidding. I would probably worry a LOT, but the reality is, whether it’s constructed out of concrete or carnivorous Venus fly traps, it’s always a jungle out there…
9) What is the biggest revelation you have gained from living in a different country and culture?
The biggest revelation that I’ve had is that everything you can see is different from what you may be used to, but everything you can’t see is consistent and true across oceans and cultures.
My eyes have experienced shock and delight from visual differences in terms of plant forms, architecture, topography, skin colour, insects, clothing, and foods, but my heart had to experience no such readjustment. Emotionally speaking, the human experience is pretty much universal. In Ecuador, just like in Canada, teenage girls still gossip and giggle in groups, and teenage boys still wear too much gel in their hair. Ten-year-olds still go through that “know-it-all-I’m-cooler-than-thou” phase, and little kids still have a hard time letting go of their mum’s hands on the first day of class. Men and women still wrench their hearts trying to get over past relationships, and they are just as scared of getting hurt in new ones. And still, people here fall in love again, too. City people like to get away to the country for a break, and country people still have the rosier cheeks.
I suppose before I came here, I naively (or ignorantly) thought that people would be more different. Perhaps I thought they would not love as deeply, or experience fear in the same way. Maybe their laugh would sound foreign. But, in these ways, our Southern neighbours are intimately familiar, and I think this is true across the world.
We are all motivated by love, and stifled by doubt. We all try to find the balance between peace and excitement. We all appreciate a good cry, but a good laugh even better. We all take turns feeling small, and feeling big. But most of all, we are all relieved when we discover someone, or perhaps a whole nation, is just like us.
6) Do you have any advice for prospective TESL teachers traveling abroad?
Yes. Deep breath. Here we go:
a) Get your visa stuff done wayyy in advance. There are almost ALWAYS unexpected setbacks.
b) Pack lightly, ideally with extra room leftover so as to bring souvenirs back.
c) If you are particular about bath products or cosmetics, buy those at home and pack them (in sealed Ziploc bags…altitude pressure does terrible things to shampoo bottles!).
d) Repeat after me: “Multipurpose things are my new religion.”
e) Laptops are very useful. At the very least, bring a memory stick.
f) Before you accept a job offer, cross reference with other teachers who have worked the same position, and search the internet for any comments/warnings about the institution (http://www.eslcafe.com/ is a good place to start). If it seems shady, it probably is.
g) Bring a journal. Use it.
h) Bring vitamins and a mini first aid kit.
i) Get your innoculations done a few weeks before your departure date. They can leave you feeling a bit off for a couple weeks after, especially if you're getting a bunch done at once.
j) The richer the country, the better the pay, the safer you will likely be, the more sheltered your experience, and the less you will have to stretch yourself. It’s a trade-off.
k) Research your location options and once you’ve decided, research the weather, the politics, the diet, and the religion of the region. However, also expect that there are some things that you will only learn once you get there, so that said…
l)…The more open and relaxed your expectations are, the better your experience will be.
7) If you had to do it again, would you do anything different?
Nope. Maybe I would bring less makeup, and more underwear. That’s it.
8) Would you recommend your own 23-year-old daughter get lost in the jungle?
Oh, c’mon Dad. I obviously would not tell my child to get lost in the jungle.
I would, however, hope I would accept my child’s adventurousness and bravery. I would likely encourage him or her to bring a compass, some bugspray, a calling card, and oh, maybe one of those large, impermeable bubble membranes to live in so that nothing could scathe my precious pumpkin. Zing! Just kidding. I would probably worry a LOT, but the reality is, whether it’s constructed out of concrete or carnivorous Venus fly traps, it’s always a jungle out there…
9) What is the biggest revelation you have gained from living in a different country and culture?
The biggest revelation that I’ve had is that everything you can see is different from what you may be used to, but everything you can’t see is consistent and true across oceans and cultures.
My eyes have experienced shock and delight from visual differences in terms of plant forms, architecture, topography, skin colour, insects, clothing, and foods, but my heart had to experience no such readjustment. Emotionally speaking, the human experience is pretty much universal. In Ecuador, just like in Canada, teenage girls still gossip and giggle in groups, and teenage boys still wear too much gel in their hair. Ten-year-olds still go through that “know-it-all-I’m-cooler-than-thou” phase, and little kids still have a hard time letting go of their mum’s hands on the first day of class. Men and women still wrench their hearts trying to get over past relationships, and they are just as scared of getting hurt in new ones. And still, people here fall in love again, too. City people like to get away to the country for a break, and country people still have the rosier cheeks.
I suppose before I came here, I naively (or ignorantly) thought that people would be more different. Perhaps I thought they would not love as deeply, or experience fear in the same way. Maybe their laugh would sound foreign. But, in these ways, our Southern neighbours are intimately familiar, and I think this is true across the world.
We are all motivated by love, and stifled by doubt. We all try to find the balance between peace and excitement. We all appreciate a good cry, but a good laugh even better. We all take turns feeling small, and feeling big. But most of all, we are all relieved when we discover someone, or perhaps a whole nation, is just like us.
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