Get Real and Get Flexible for TEFL

How the “Other” World Operates

Today’s post might seem like more of a rant, but it is meant to help people understand a bit of how the non-Western world operates.

In the course of my TEFL career I have dabbled a bit in a variety of things and one of them is recruitment (Satan!). Well . . . some people consider recruiters satanic. Some are not so good, some are great.

I enjoy recruiting because I am a bit of an evangelist for TEFL careers and of the extra-ordinary lifestyle that teaching English abroad can provide to us relatively normal folks who don’t have doctorates or degrees in rocket science.

One of the problems that I see in people who are interested in working abroad is a rigidity about how things must be and a general lack of flexibility about letting things be different.

My favorite example is of a person who was seeking a job in China, which is where I sometimes place people. He was a well-qualified teacher and had already signed a contract when the school asked him to sign another one. The new one was blank.

Now, I don’t advocate signing blank forms or blank contracts but sometimes to get what you want you have to do what someone else wants. The teacher had a fit and withdrew from the position. The teacher had experience in Japan and in Korea and said he had never had to do such a thing before.

I quite understand his bewilderment and discomfort with the idea, but the signing of blank forms is a common thing in many countries.

In the aftermath, my wife and I sat down and tried to remember all the contracts and forms that we had signed while abroad that were either blank or written in a language that we couldn’t at the time understand and there really were too many to count.

Another example was just yesterday at the post office. I went in pay my annual fee for my post office box and the clerk asked me to sign a blank form that was written in the local language.

Did I balk, have a fit, stomp out, demand a translator or refuse to sign it?

No, it just seemed like a regular form they used and she needed it filled out, but as I couldn’t fill in the blanks, she would do it later. No problem, I signed and in fact, got a nice refund on the security deposit for the PO box! Great surprise.

All I am trying to say here is to be flexible and try to read situations before freaking out and bailing out.

Try to read the person and the situation. Don’t sign a blank form that a stranger offers who pops out of dark alley, of course. But if a human resources clerk at your language school asks you to sign a blank form for immigration – really, it probably is okay.

Much of the world operates on trust far more than the Western world. They don’t tend to have the trust in contracts that we have, they know how easily they can be broken.

People who are always looking for “scams” and other things do tend to find them. That’s just how the world works. Yet, in my 20 years abroad, I’ve not yet signed my future paychecks over to a clerk or signed a confession for something I haven’t done.

But then I haven’t been actively looking for scams and expecting them to appear in my life.

Ted’s Tips™ #1: Take some trust with you into the real world. It is not a bad thing.

Ted’s Tips™ #2: Learn to read people and situations and gauge your responses by the situation rather than by a rigid set of YES/NO rules.

5 Comments

• 

  By McAddle.J., September 17, 2009 @ 3:45 PM

  I agree. So many people depend on their American or British backgrounds that they just can’t function in other settings. Rigidity is the same as rigor mortis – they have already died and don’t even know it.

• 

  By Clark, July 26, 2010 @ 9:25 AM

  Hi Ted,
  I’d consider myself a pretty adventerous person, but I’ve heard many stories of bad hakwons in South Korea. They’re usually quick to offer a job and want to know when you can come over. If too many questions are asked, or a face to face on Skype is requested, they shy away. …There have been instances where I’ve asked for photos of the school /apartment, and they tell me they don’t have a digital camera.. Don’t have a digital camera and living in South Korea??… Come on – I think to myself..

• 

  By Ted, July 26, 2010 @ 9:46 AM

  Hi Clark,
  The problems is that many people have “heard many stories” and unfortunately – many of them are just that: stories. There are usually two sides to those stories and we rarely hear the other side. I’ve lived abroad long enough to see and know how many problems foreigners/teachers can create. The problems really do sort out both ways. I never suggest ignoring problem signs, but just being a bit more flexible in understanding how the rest of the world works. Enjoy! Ted

• 

  By Clark, January 18, 2011 @ 3:20 PM

  hi ted,
  if i sign up/ register for a certification course – do i necessarily have to have it completed to raise the interest of a good prospective employer in south korea?

• 

  By Ted, January 18, 2011 @ 4:10 PM

  Hello again, Clark;
  Signing up for a course will help make you a bit more competitive, but completing one will help much more. It’s a bit like having a degree – or not. There is a big difference between taking a few classes and actually completing a course of study (not that there is a real comparison between a TEFL course and a BA/BS).
  Enjoy! Ted

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