Latest Blog Posts

Bittersweet (adj.): both pleasant and painful or regretful.

Saying goodbye to students is a bittersweet experience. The sweetness stems from seeing them successfully reach the end of a year-long journey, one filled with personal and academic growth. The bitterness bleeds from carving the word "former" in front of "students". These six letters represent the sobering realization that future reunions, no matter how joyful, won't replicate bygone days: the ordinary yet precious experience of seeing this particular cohort of bright-eyed students gathered together in our classroom for a regular day of class. That time has passed, run out, expired - preserved only in imperfect memories and paper trails.

Going to see a doctor or dentist can be a nerve-wracking experience under any circumstances. Move to a new country, where you’re unfamiliar with the environment and the local language, and anxieties are amplified. Personally, hospital visits of any kind have always made my stomach churn and, when I first moved overseas, it was something I earnestly prayed that, as a relatively fit and healthy young person, I would be able to avoid as much as possible. 

What happens when you are planning to teach abroad and then a global pandemic hits? What is it like to move to a new country amidst the uncertainty? Is it even possible to go? These brave new teachers moved to Taiwan to teach in 2020. We asked them to tell us about their experience.

Daniel, a high school teacher in our Ontario ESL program, shares how, through making connections to K-pop, learning Chinese, and discovering hole-in-the-wall restaurants, he’s been able to grow personally and make the most of his experience teaching in Taiwan.