teaching in the land of hockey and beer: Czech Republic

The Czech Republic is essentially the polar opposite of Indonesia:

The language is extremely difficult, hockey prevails over football, there are 4 distinct seasons (though I could quite happily do without the arctic style winter),  they are the second least religious country in Europe with just over 19% claiming to follow a religion on the 2011 census, the population of the entire country is less than that of Jakarta, the air is clean, litter is sparse and pork graces every menu. In short, I couldn't have found a more opposite country if I had tried.

I live in Liberec, a small city of around 100,000 situated about an hour north of Prague at the base of a small mountain range. My main goal in finding my next home after Indonesia was to be surrounded by the colour green, and not just in packaging floating down the river but in the form of trees and grass, to be surrounded by air that wasn't doing permanent damage to my respiratory system. (When I came home from Jakarta one of my best friends asked me 'So...is this your voice now?' I honestly hadn't noticed a difference but the general consensus seemed to be that I now had a rather unhealthy rasp.) So you can imagine my delight at ending up here surrounded by forest, mountains and a nice little reservoir where you can drink beers in the sun.

Everything that I longed for while in Indonesia was nestled here in a quaint little country with some questionable traditions. And luckily for me, unlike most European countries the Czech Republic doesn't require you to be EU to work here. So through the process of elimination they quickly raced to the top of the list of possible destinations.

It wasn't hard to fall in love with the Czech Republic what with it's medieval towns and picturesque landscape, Czechs on the other hand take their time. The main difference between Indonesia and Czech Republic is the people. Indonesians made you love them straight away with bright smiles and gentle gestures, Czechs on the other hand want you to win them over, they're not going to like you just because you're there, they need convincing that you are in fact a likable person, but once convinced they are some of the loveliest most generous people you will have the pleasure of meeting. So don't bother feeling dejected if your service doesn't come with a smile, no ones does.

Teaching contracts here usually run for a regular school year (September to June) and the monthly wage is around $1000 depending on who you work for. Unlike (most of) Asia, here your accommodation is not included (I share a flat with 2 American girls and we each pay around $200/mth including bills - the first year I was here the company I am working for helped me organize my accomdation, the second year my co-worker/friend, Petra, helped me find a new flat), grocery bills are usually around $20/week and eating out tends to be between $5-10 (depending on whether it's lunch or dinner since most restaurants have a cheaper lunch menu), beer is legitimately cheaper than water - and runs at about $1.25 at restaurants and $0.50 at the shop I can count on one hand the amount of times I have not ordered beer with my meal since I moved here.

A main selling point for me was the fact that Liberec has a Czech Extraliga (ELH) hockey team, which living up to my national stereotype was important for me after a year and a half in South East Asia where hockey plays a non-existent role. Not only is it quality hockey here but going to a game usually costs around $15 (including a delicious klobása, 3 beers and a ticket about 6 rows from the ice), that kind of price would buy you a six pack and an evening on your couch at home.

I am quickly approaching my departure date and with only 8 weeks left here I can genuinely say I am going to miss it. A. LOT. I have made some amazing friends here and in July will be celebrating one of my best friend's weddings, which will be bittersweet since it will also mark the end of my time here. I have been inside a church decorated with bones (Kostnice Sedlec), seen a ridiculous amount of live hockey, walked through some of the most impressive rock formations I have ever laid eyes on (Adršpach-Teplice Skály) starred in a dubious maternity photo shoot, done wine tours in Moravia and will spend next weekend at a beer spa where you legitimately bathe in beer while drinking beer, and that's only to name a few of the amazing things I have done/experienced here. When I came to Europe for the first time in 2003 I left having fallen in love with the Czech Republic, little to my knowledge 8 years later I would move here and fall in love with it all over again.



 Photos from top to bottom: looking out over the Prague Christmas Markets from the Old Town Hall Tower, a view of Prague, the reservoir in Liberec, 'The Mayor and his Wife' at Adršpach-Teplice Skály, the lake at Adršpach-Teplice Skály and Kostnice Sedlec (Sedlec Ossuary) in Kutna Horá

being a teacher in crazy beautiful Indonesia

Technically speaking I wasn't even allowed to teach in Indonesia because they have a law that says you must be at least 25 years old and I was 23 at the time, but one of the advantages to a country that is openly corruption ridden is that with a little money in the right pocket you can do just about anything. (Seriously, we even managed to bribe our way in to the National Football Stadium to score a goal as a part of a challenge through our school, I also rode on the back of a police motorcycle without a helmet through downtown Jakarta for the same reason). So my being 2 years junior to the offical limit was a non-issue.

I had no idea what I was getting in to but I prepared myself for the worst. My figuring is that if you arrive thinking everything is going to go smoothly then you will be sorely disappointed no matter where you are, however, if you arrive assuming that you will be robbed, left hungry and stuck in a hut then you will be very grateful for anything better than that.

So when I was told that my shared accomodation would have airconditioning, I pictured a rusty old fan, when I was told I would have my own room I pictured paper dividers set up between straw mats layed out on the floor, and when I asked if I would be met at the airport and received this reply from the company I was going to work for "I'll be teaching classes, so you will be met at the airport by Mo, one of the teachers. He's unique, not at all typical of an EF teacher, so don't be put off by his outrageous behaviour", I assumed they weren't taking the piss but rather sending a crazy person to pick me up.


Luckily, everything was better than anticipated. Mo, turned out not to be a deranged psychopath. I did in fact have a room of my own (it even had a lock on the door, however the only window faced in to the kitchen instead of the more traditional 'view of the outside') which came equipped with a real working airconditioner. So for all intents and purposes I was in fact going to be living in a house. A house which I could theoretically lock said psychopaths out of.

This was by no means 5 star accomodation, we had everything from rats to floods. When you pulled open the cutlery drawer you literally had to wait for the cockroaches to run to the back before you could pull out utensils, toilet paper was unflushable, hot water was non-existant, mold was rampant and leaks were an everyday issue during rainy season (which lasts half the year), there was a time when our water pump was broken and we had to use the water that was leaking through our roof to flush our toilets. And as far as Indonesian standards went, we were living well.


Living in Indo is not for the faint of heart. If you want comfortable accommodation you need to either work for an Internationl School or pick a different country.


I was working for a franchise called EF English First and was based in Central Jakarta, unlike working at an international school or even a regular school for that matter, we were simply a language school, meaning we were essentially an after school activity for kids or an after work learning centre for adults. So instead of waking up at a normal time and having a 9-5, our classes started around 2 or 3pm which meant we didn't go in to the office until around 12 to do lesson planning and you didn't finish until around 9pm. The result being that we wouldn't usually have dinner until after work (classes tended to be back to back with not enough time between for a meal) or go to bed until around 2am, which meant waking up late - usually around 10 or 11am. It was a bizarre system, but it worked.


Indonesia may not have been easy, but what it lacked in organization it made up for in adventure and friendliness.

Indonesians are hands down some of the nicest people in the world. No matter where I was people were forever trying to help me get where I was going (even if their directions were wrong) or just smiling and calling 'Hey Mister' (not offensively, more as a slight misunderstanding of the definition of mister). Of course by the end of the year I definitely craved walking down the street anonymously, but in saying that, I now miss being told I look beautiful by random strangers even when I looked my worst, can't have it all I suppose.

Beauty wasn't the only thing on their mind, Indonesians have a habit of asking very personal questions. When teaching a Business English class once, I asked my students to work together to create a list of 20 appropriate questions they could ask a foreign business partner. Here's a small sample from their uncomfortable answers:

What is your religion?
How old are you?
Are you single?
What is your address?

They were honestly shocked when I told them that none of those questions would be deemed appropriate by their foreign counterpart and that some may even consider them to be rude. Indonesians are just very open people and by showing interest in your life they are showing an interest in you, they really do want to hear your answer and they were very surprised to find that you may not want to answer at all.

Religion is a big deal in Indonesia, everyone is something. It's even printed on their ID cards (they are given six religions to choose from: Islam, Christianity, Catholicism, Hinduism, Buddhism, and most recently Confucianism - which I'll be honest, I had to google) The interesting thing is that there didn't appear to be any strife between the religions, or even any resentment towards me for not being religious. I was constantly asked about my religion and when I answered that I wasn't religious, they would just nod their head and smile, no one tried to convert me or ostracize me, I was just accepted, which is a lot more than I can say for most countries. Hillary Clinton even commented once that 'If you want to see democracy, Islam, modernity, and women’s rights coexisting in one place, then come to Indonesia. Because I believe this place is more about the future than many other places in the world'.
And if the wonderful people weren't enough to win you over, surely the tropical landscape (from unexplored rainforests to active volcanos), diverse cultures (there are around 300 native ethnicities in Indonesia with 742 different languages and dialects) and food (think creamy peanut sate, spicy fried rice and fresh fruit - all being sold for less than $1 on the street) would.

I absolutely adored my time in Indonesia, it was a struggle for sure, what with over population, some of the most intense traffic I have ever witnessed and a thick layer of pollution blanketing the cities. But I also climbed two active volcanoes, took weekend trips to tropical islands (that costs me less than $100US including my flights, hotels and food), ate a massive amount of delicious street food, tasted Kopi Luwak (the most expensive coffee in the world because it is literally pooped out by a cat), planted rice in a rice padi and met amazing people whom I will never forget. So was it worth it? What do you think.



(Photos top to bottom: with some of the children out at Himmata Orphanage & School for Street Children where I volunteered as a teacher on Sundays, Puppets for sale in Jogjakarta, with one of our hosts during a homestay program in Cianjur where we learnt how to plant rice and visited a floating village, Gili Trawangan, and last but not least, spending Christmas with my friends Tiara & Fika's family)

Teaching ESL

On a fairly regualr basis I find myself writing to people who are interested in teaching ESL (English as a Second Language), sometimes just generally, but most often either with regards to Indonesia or Czech Republic. So I finally decided to put all the info in one place, I'll put it in to three parts starting with teaching ESL abroad, followed by Indo and then lastly CZ so that everyone can (hopefully) find what they are looking for, but if I miss something or you have more questions, just ask.

So I suppose I'll start with the conundrum: How does one end up teaching when they aren't actually a teacher?

For me it started just before my 23rd birthday, I was living in Victoria, Canada where I was born and raised. I had a great job that I adored, working at an Adoption Agency, and was living in a beautiful flat with one of my best friends. But something was missing. I realized I didn't really have anything tying me down, I didn't own the flat or even a (nice) car for that matter, I wasn't dating anyone and while yes, I loved my job, was that really enough to keep me in one place? As it turns out the answer to that is a steadfast, no.

The only issue was that while I wanted to travel more (I had already lived in Australia for a year and backpacked around both Europe and Thailand) I didn't have the money to fund a trip, nor the means to pull off a heist, so my friend suggested teaching ESL. The idea had crossed my mind before, but I thought (quite logically) that you needed a degree to teach, which it turns out, overseas anyway, you don't. Teaching ESL is more of a 'fake it till you make it' type gig. Though not having a degree limited where I could and couldn't teach by quite a large margin, I was still able to find a handful of countries where I was qualified, simply because English was my first language. And so my decision was made.

I took a TEFL (Teaching English as a Foreign Language) course throughout November, quit my job, sold my car, moved back in with my parents and started applying for jobs, within a month of my application being sent out I had interviewed, bought a ticket and was on my way to Indonesia to start as an ESL teacher in the capital city, Jakarta. It really is that quick. There are quite literally always job openings somewhere in the world all you have to do is find one you trust and go.

As for taking your TEFL, there are a lot of options out there, you can take the course either at home - wherever that may be - or you can do it abroad (it's offered in Thailand, Spain, Czech Republic, Greece and Vietnam amongst other exotic locations) most courses are about 4 weeks long and cost somewhere in the range of $1000US, but that's a ballpark range and fees will vary depending on the company/country you choose. Once you are finished, if you have a degree you will pretty much be able to work ANYWHERE in the world (the only exception is the Middle East, where they expect you to be an actual teacher with experience and a teaching degree, fair play I suppose). But other than that having a TEFL/TESL Certificate really makes the whole 'the world's your oyster' a reality.

The best salaries are usually in Asian countries, they also generally pay for your flight - reimbursed at the end of your contract - and your accommodation, though in saying that while Indonesia paid for both my flight and my accommodation, I didn't make a high salary and my accomodation was not comparable to what I have been told is on offer in Korea or Japan. But Indonesia is cheap and I wasn't going for the money.

There are so many options with teaching ESL that you really need to decide what you want before starting your search, think about which continent you would like to be on, how long you are willing to sign on for (do you want a contact for one year or do you want to do a couple months in one place and then move on to somewhere new)? How much money you would like to make? And then start your search. It's easy to spend hours browsing the listings so it's good to narrow down your list a bit so you don't get too overwhelmed.

Hopefully that helps anyone who is interested in trying it out! It's definitely been worthwhile for me, there is no way I could have afforded to see as much of the world as I have without it. So if you are on the fence just do what I do every time I am faced with making a big decision, look at all the aspects and then ask yourself: Why not?

Burning Witches in the Czech Republic

In keeping with the Czech tradition of holidays that seem somewhat brutal at first glance, let's talk about Pálení Čarodějnice or in English ''The Burning of the Witches''.

Ah yes, the age old tradition of burning ones enemies at the stake in hopes of ridding the world of evil, but here it's not so much evil as winter that is being chased out (although when the latter hits -23 I would argue that it falls in to the evil category) and not so much enemies as dummies being burnt, making it a much less sadistic holiday then the title suggests. Thankfully as far as I can tell the history of the holiday never included setting fire to an actual person but rather has always been centered around the burning of an effigy or sometimes even just brooms, which should warm your heart a bit considering it dates back to the pagan days when we weren't quite so scrupulous about what, or rather, whom we burned.

How exactly the witch ties in to all this is a bit vague, legend seems to suggest that witches had a scheduled annual shindig on the 30th of April and that burning fires in high places, such as hills, would deter them from making pit stops in your village, while other articles suggest it has more to do with the witches powers being weakened by warm weather and that burning a pretend witch would bring an end to winter (In which case, why not do it earlier? Surely there is no one out there so masochistic as to wish for the extension of a bitterly cold season...), but whatever the reason it's a good excuse to get together and have a bonfire and some beer.

Last year I missed out on the celebration and wasn't about to make the same mistake twice, so when my friend, Dana, mentioned that her family would be burning a witch at their house I asked if I could come along. When I arrived they had already constructed a sort of teepee from branches topped with a dummy dressed in old clothes and a hat that was sitting waiting to be set aflame. We began by first roasting sausages on a separate fire as the big bonfire remains unlit until around sundown, so with a beer in one hand and a klobása in the other I was ready for my first Čarodějnice. The fire was massive and Dana's 3 year old nephew thoroughly enjoyed launching whatever he could (from a safe distance of course) in. By the end you could see a cloud of smoke hanging over Liberec as fires burned  across the country and fireworks were set off in the distance. I'll be honest it was pretty great, so if I make you partake in a bonfire next April 30th at least you have a reasonable idea of why, you know warding off witches and shite weather or something like that...