ESL Traning

Appone arrival in Japan I underwent training for two weeks with my company about what would be expected of a ALT. The simple and cynical answer is 'dancing bear' wile that is incorrect its also more correct then what your company will tell you.

But the bottom line is I was expected to teach at 1 school a day, about 3 classes a day. Alternate between six elementary schools. (3 each week) one middle high school. And once private girls school.

Over all it was pretty simple, seeing that the school board provided us with books. 'Hi Friends!' for Elementary. And 'Sunshine' for Middle School.

Arrival in Japan.

My arrival in Japan happened after a 16 hour flight, which for the most part wasn't all that bad. Landed at Narita International airport and took a train over to Hanita. From there I caught a bus to the bullet train station and then shot down to Okayama.

Once I got there I found that my company did in fact... Forget about me, It wasn't so bad. A few calls and I actually found the hotel I was suppose to go to. Walked there sense it wasn't all that far away. Checked in and then when off to find something to eat.

Which was a adventure in and of its self.
I found a little food stand walked in and put a 500 yen piece on the counter and shrugged at old man behind the counter. After what little conversation I could manage... Which was not much he just brought me what ever he wanted to feed me. Which was actually quite nice, and filling.

Food is actually very reasonably priced in Japan.
And you can find it anywhere, and at anytime.

He also eventually figured out I was from Kentucky, gave me a free beer for that, I don't know why he was such a fan of Kentucky. but goof for me/him.

Doing your reserch on teaching english

Something I can always recommend is doing your research.
And if you are going to go thousands of miles from home for a year or more you should more then likely research everything about the place that you are going. There are a ton of resources on the internet about teaching pretty much anywhere that you can think of going.

A few good places are web sights that are for companies, even if you don't go though those companies you can get a good ideal as to what the job is going to be like there.

Doing your reserch.

The internet is a wonderful thing and should be used with care and diligence when ever you make a big choice in life, Teaching English is really no different then any other choice. There are a ton of good web sights out there that you can read, on subjects from pay, to culture to things you need to bring.

One of my rules of life is to always do your homework, this goes for companies as well, some companies have much better user comments then others, and there is normally a reason for that.

Apostilling Documents.

One of the many steps you may be asked to understand wile going into the field of teaching english overseas, is the process of having documents Apostilled.

The best way to explain the ideal is to just say that Apostilling is the form of international notarizing.

The county you go to will determine what documents you will need to have Apostilled.
But it is very important to remember that some documents must be Apostilled by the United States State Deparment. (If you are in the US) And others will need to be Apostilled by your states state department. (Kentucky in my case)

A good rule of thumb is that if it was given to you by a state istitute, it must be Apostatized in your state. (So my degree from Eastern Kentucky University but be Apostilled by the Kentucky department of state)

It is also important to note that this is free in some states and not in others.

First time.

So my first response from a company was from 'Teachaway' after a little research, I figured out that this was most likely not the best company to get a job from. Wile there were plenty of people who had gotten there jobs with them. There wear also quite a few people who had some trouble with them.

Common complaints were.
Dropping you a month before peak hiring dates.
Dropping you AFTER giving you a work offer.
Dropping you for a better worker after you have spent $100+ on paper work with them.

Despite this I went ahead and applied, did the paper work. (Took a week) and then sent it in, After a few day I got a phone interview.

I was told it would take about a hour, took some time to studdy up on the questions that might be asked. And then came the interview.

I was... Less then Impressed.

It took about 20 minutes of them asking questions, and then 7 minutes of me asking questions.
Needless to say I was less then Impressed by there battery of questions.
The only up side I can find with this group is that they hire people to teach English in more then one country.

First Steps

So I have taken the first step to teaching in another country.
That is to say that I have applied for graduation from Eastern Kentucky University.
And have applied for a United States Passport at the local post office.
So in three to four weeks I will have a passport, and In four to eight weeks I will have a Diploma.

That's fine I can apply for the jobs wile waiting for the Diploma, And thanks to a pair of cosines teaching English overseas, I already have a very good lead on a company to go throw to get my first job teaching English.

The process of Getting a passport is actually pretty easy.
Fill out a form online print it out.
Get your drivers license and birth certificate.
Go to the post office and pay... 135 to 165 dollars. Depending on what you are trying to get. A passport booklet. (What most people get) Or a passport card. (Only good to cross the US/Mexican or US/Canadian Border.)

So other then being kind of pricier it was pretty easy to apply for a booklet.

If you want some more information here is the URL to the state departments sight about getting your passport. (Link)