must wear shoes when outside, must wear shoes when outside...

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Bee stings hurt much more than I remember. Ouch. I've decided that I'm going to apply for a position in China. I chatted to the company for a good hour and a half yesterday, they were very keen to hear what I had to say and they want my application this week. I also asked questions and raised concerns that my parents have, I decided to tell them my

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Dude. I taught English in Israel to Bedouin Arabs when I was 18. For seven months. It was far and away the best and most life-changing thing I've ever done. The first month or so, getting used to it and the culture shock etc is hard, but it is SO worth it.

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That sounds incredible. I've been looking into culture shock and I'm aware it's something that can't be avoided, and I've been told that in China it's going to be especially hard as English doesn't really get you very far at all! I see it as such a big challenge, however, and I've been reading many blogs by ESL teachers in the far east away from everything that they know.

I'd love to talk to you about your experience in more detail, as you can tell I just have so many questions...

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No problem we can talk on Sunday!

All I can say is DO IT. I don't know anyone that's regretted doing anything like that. I was pretty unprepared, I didn't really know anything about the Israel/Palestine situation politically or that English would be the children's third language after Hebrew and Arabic.... but I had a girl doing it with me and we lived together and we got each other through it and it was totally amazing. When I get qualified me and Ruth intend to do another thing (not teaching, but working in some sort of heritage/museum/archives/library context) abroad.

I know nothing about China other than it is a fascinating country. You will learn so much!