A Journey To Teach Abroad

So I mentioned in my last post that I would be dedicating a whole post to the induction process the school ran for all new starters. I can't over state how amazing the whole process was in helping us all to settle into our new lives in Malaysia. I should also point out that due to arriving late because of the issues I had with the Visa application process I did miss out on some of the bits and pieces (See my previous posts). That said, I was there for the vast majority of the process. Accommodation  Yes, that is actually my pool!!!!  This one is going to be split down into two different areas, our amazing hotel (Note the sarcasm), and finding your forever home. Lets start with the hotel. I literally had no idea that a hotel room could be so small, but it turns out that you can fit a double bed into a cupboard. The hotel that we were put up in was tiny, and the rooms even more so, that said it was very well presented, clean and the beds were comfortable. It was, ho...

I'm exhausted. Really exhausted. Now that I've got that out the way, let me explain why I'm exhausted. I'm sure all of my teaching friends will understand what I mean when I say this year has felt like a VERY long year. For those of you who are not teachers, it goes a little bit like this. We work hard throughout the year and put in far more than our contracted hours, to the point where I suspect it gets more than a little bit dangerous for us to be working. Add to that all the usual stress of teaching and by the end of the year every teacher is literally at the end of their ability to stay awake. Don't worry, I'm not about to go into some huge rant about how my job is harder than others, that's not the point of my blog. Besides it has been done far more eloquently by others than I could ever attempt to do. If you want to hear all about it simply do a quick Google search, you will find plenty. I'm simply setting the scene a little bit. Wonderful P...

The joys of Vaccinations, Visas and Finances So, As of this morning I've had the first part of the official paperwork through, I have a sneaky feeling this is going to be a long process, I'll explain more in a minute. Vaccines For the moment I'm going to talk about the joy that is Vaccines. The very thought of having someone repeatedly stab me with a needle is not what you might call my favorite past time. If your not sure of what vaccines you need, have a look at the following link: http://www.londonvaccinationclinic.co.uk/travel-vaccinations-for/asia-pacific/malaysia/ As soon as I had confirmation that I would be going and a rough idea of the date for my travel I contacted my local GP (Yesterday). I'm not going to name names, but suffice to say I was not overly surprised when they told me there would be a long wait for an appointment, my surgery is renowned for that. What i was surprised about was the fact that I needed to have a telephone appointment wit...