As promised today we are going to delve deep into the chaos that is teaching English in a Chinese primary school.
One of the best stories I remember was the first day I had a new T.A. for the primary school. When I first started teaching there I had a male T.A. who was normally pretty good but the primary school classes just ruined him. This is a man who 6 months later would end up managing one of our satellite schools literally brought to tears on several occasions by an unruly bunch of 11 year old children.
That's why when I was told I was getting a different T.A. I was both relieved and worried. When they told me it was a T.A. who had literally finished her training only the week before my heart sank.
When we headed out to classes that Thursday I was determined to be firmer with the class, the last thing I wanted was this young, shy T.A. being so demoralized that she up and quit (a response I really thought possible).
Before I go on I should maybe admit that within the next 12 months this same T.A. would go on to be one of the best I've ever met. I've only ever seen her raise her voice once in all the time I've known her (but that is a whole other story) and yet she demands respect from her students.
So in we walked and surprise, surprise the kids were going crazy. As soon as they noticed the change in T.A. they got even louder and their behaviour got worse. At this point I decided to take matters into my own hands and started yelling at the kids to sit down and shut up. As I've said before I am not particularly good at this and to be honest it has never worked for me.
In this particular class, the first of three every Thursday, there was one girl that pretty much ran the show. She was the real ringleader but catching her doing anything wrong was nearly impossible. She had basically made an art form out of causing chaos and not being implicated when it all went south.
Now even as I started to get flustered and run out of voice the new T.A. just turned to me and asked if she could have a couple of minutes. Sure I told her knowing that tirades and threats from other T.A.s had completely failed to have any impact in the past.
Instead of yelling or banging the ruler on the big metal desk she quietly slipped into the rows between the seats heading straight for little miss trouble maker. Apparently in less than five minutes she had already figured the pattern out and was headed straight for it's source.
As she reached the girl's desk the class started to quieten down, it seems just like me they were waiting to see what was about to happen. So Susan (the T.A.) bends down so her mouth is right beside the girl's ear and she stands there for a couple minutes just whispering to her.
Even as I watched the girl's face just seemed to crumple in on itself and in less than a minute the girl was sobbing. Not yelling or crying out loud, not even crocodile tears but that slow sob that you know will last for a while.
Slowly and gently Susan pulled her to her feet and told her to stand in the aisle. After that the class was much more subdued. Don't get me wrong it didn't turn them into little angels but one good look from Susan was enough to quieten them down most of the time.
After the class (40 minutes later) the rest of the kids went to break but the trouble maker was still in the aisle sobbing. Susan went over and had a chat with her and the girl seemed to brighten up a bit but was far from her usual obnoxious self.
As we were leaving later on that day I asked Susan what she'd said but she point blank refused to tell me. In fact I never did find out what it was she had whispered in the girl's ear that day. All I know is that from that point on not only did the students learn to respect this shy young lady but the foreign teachers did too.
Rory McDonald is an online marketer and digital entrepreneur, co-founder of the Online Business Expert and passionate blogger.
Showing posts with label education. Show all posts
Showing posts with label education. Show all posts
Sunday, 13 December 2015
Saturday, 12 December 2015
Wandering Misfit: Part 20 ... the zoo class
We didn't just do in-house classes we also went out to primary schools and kindergartens. These external schools were often places that teachers felt some measure of dread over. For internal classes we had a class size limit of 18 students which is mostly manageable but for external schools we had classes of up to 50 students which make life a lot harder.
I will never forget my first primary school class in China. We had classes in a primary school inside the nearby university. Aside from a trip of half an hour each way and a long break between some of the classes the classes themselves often ended up being something of a challenge.
For about 18 months I was in charge of teaching the 3 grade 5 classes at this school. Now before I go on to talk about some of the things that happened in these classes I need to explain just how bad they were. The grade 5 class had amongst the foreign teachers gained the nickname the "zoo class". I know it seems harsh to draw similarities between a class full of kids and a zoo but it is a good example of how bad these kids could really be.
Aside from the fact that all of the foreign teachers and T.A.s dreaded these 3 classes there is is the fact that even the headmaster of the school knew that these kids bullied not only other students but teachers too.
Before I took over the class they had been given to one of my predecessors. They had been given to him specifically because it was believed he could "scare them into behaving well". Now no foreign teacher I know ever used any form of physical or verbal abuse but obviously some teachers are stricter and more intimidating than others.
When I first started I was definitely not a strict or intimidating teacher. In fact I was accused many times in my first few months of being too soft, so this class was going to be a major challenge for me.
Needless to say I have some pretty bad stories from these classes. At the time they seemed to be some kind of nightmare but now I come to think back on it some of them seem pretty funny.
Tomorrow I'll share some of the weird stuff that went on at this particular primary school.
Rory McDonald is an online marketer and digital entrepreneur, co-founder of the Online Business Expert and passionate blogger.
I will never forget my first primary school class in China. We had classes in a primary school inside the nearby university. Aside from a trip of half an hour each way and a long break between some of the classes the classes themselves often ended up being something of a challenge.
For about 18 months I was in charge of teaching the 3 grade 5 classes at this school. Now before I go on to talk about some of the things that happened in these classes I need to explain just how bad they were. The grade 5 class had amongst the foreign teachers gained the nickname the "zoo class". I know it seems harsh to draw similarities between a class full of kids and a zoo but it is a good example of how bad these kids could really be.
Aside from the fact that all of the foreign teachers and T.A.s dreaded these 3 classes there is is the fact that even the headmaster of the school knew that these kids bullied not only other students but teachers too.
Before I took over the class they had been given to one of my predecessors. They had been given to him specifically because it was believed he could "scare them into behaving well". Now no foreign teacher I know ever used any form of physical or verbal abuse but obviously some teachers are stricter and more intimidating than others.
When I first started I was definitely not a strict or intimidating teacher. In fact I was accused many times in my first few months of being too soft, so this class was going to be a major challenge for me.
Needless to say I have some pretty bad stories from these classes. At the time they seemed to be some kind of nightmare but now I come to think back on it some of them seem pretty funny.
Tomorrow I'll share some of the weird stuff that went on at this particular primary school.
Rory McDonald is an online marketer and digital entrepreneur, co-founder of the Online Business Expert and passionate blogger.
Friday, 11 December 2015
Wandering Misfit: Part 19 ... and the list goes on
It isn't only the locals that choose strange and unusual English names. Even amongst foreign teachers I have seen some odd choices when giving out names to students.
The first one that comes to mind was a class I took over from someone else. When the class was brand new it had started with 11 children. For some reason, presumably known only to themselves, the foreign teacher in question had decided to give all of the students names beginning with T. This meant that for the boys for example there was Tom, Tommy, Tim, Ted and Tony. While the girls were called Tina, Tessa, Trudy, Tania, Tami and Tiffany. Altogether it made for a rather confusing situation.
Other classes I have taught or at least covered for others included ones where all of the students were named after characters from a specific tv show and ones where the kids were named after places.
Overall it really doesn't make a big difference after all they will most likely go on to choose new names for themselves as they get older if they continue with learning English. Somewhere in my mind though it just made me slightly uncomfortable both handing out new names because I was too lazy to learn their real names and also making the sole judgement call on what that name would be.
By the time I was a year in I had gotten to the point where I simply refused to do it and made the T.A., kids or parent come up with names. Usually this worked pretty well, they often chose names that sounded as close to the poor kid's actual name as they could. Sometimes however it went badly wrong with kids choosing names like sheep and parents going for names like Ilex (pronounced Aleth according to the paretns involved by the way).
All in all names to me ended up being something I tried to avoid after all it is hard remembering 100+ names when you only see the kids once a week without adding the strange and unusual to the mix. Personally I've never been good with names but I can't count the amount of times I have called a student by the wrong name so I always tried to make it as simple for myself as possible.
Rory McDonald is an online marketer and digital entrepreneur, co-founder of the Online Business Expert and passionate blogger.
The first one that comes to mind was a class I took over from someone else. When the class was brand new it had started with 11 children. For some reason, presumably known only to themselves, the foreign teacher in question had decided to give all of the students names beginning with T. This meant that for the boys for example there was Tom, Tommy, Tim, Ted and Tony. While the girls were called Tina, Tessa, Trudy, Tania, Tami and Tiffany. Altogether it made for a rather confusing situation.
Other classes I have taught or at least covered for others included ones where all of the students were named after characters from a specific tv show and ones where the kids were named after places.
Overall it really doesn't make a big difference after all they will most likely go on to choose new names for themselves as they get older if they continue with learning English. Somewhere in my mind though it just made me slightly uncomfortable both handing out new names because I was too lazy to learn their real names and also making the sole judgement call on what that name would be.
By the time I was a year in I had gotten to the point where I simply refused to do it and made the T.A., kids or parent come up with names. Usually this worked pretty well, they often chose names that sounded as close to the poor kid's actual name as they could. Sometimes however it went badly wrong with kids choosing names like sheep and parents going for names like Ilex (pronounced Aleth according to the paretns involved by the way).
All in all names to me ended up being something I tried to avoid after all it is hard remembering 100+ names when you only see the kids once a week without adding the strange and unusual to the mix. Personally I've never been good with names but I can't count the amount of times I have called a student by the wrong name so I always tried to make it as simple for myself as possible.
Rory McDonald is an online marketer and digital entrepreneur, co-founder of the Online Business Expert and passionate blogger.
Thursday, 10 December 2015
Wandering Misfit: Part 18 ... the student formerly known as Lucy
Staying with names I was reminded writing the last post of a great student I had who had a terrible time with her name.
I took over a class from the previous senior teacher and one of the girls really disliked me for replacing him. The kids in the class were in their early teens and so were just starting to get a little angsty. When I took over the class the girl's English name was Lucy. A little plain but overall pretty much okay.
After 3 weeks of refusing to speak to me Lucy finally calmed down and decided that maybe i wasn't all that bad. She decided though that now she was old enough to pick a name for herself and that now she had a new teacher it was the perfect time.
The name she settled on was Candy. Now I tried really hard not to groan or to discourage her after all she had only just decided to stop sulking in the corner and talk during class.
The very next week though she came storming into class, walked right up to me and yelled "I hate you" right in my face. Not sure yet what exactly I had done to receive this kind of venom I waited to see what would come next. The T.A. looking a little worried went off to talk to Candy. Sitting in the corner chatting the T.A. suddenly started to laugh.
At this point I was feeling a little hard done by and out of the loop so I set the other kids on a writing task and headed over to see what was up. It turns out that Lucy/Candy was upset because I didn't tell her that Candy was stupid name. Apparently my instinct the week before had been dead wrong.
At this point Lucy vowed once more to change her name but this time she said she would do her research first.
Next week eventually rolled around and in walked Lucy. "So what is your new name?", I asked. "I thinked a long time and I want my name to be Reborn because that is what I am", was the answer. Turns out that when she said she was going to do research she really meant she was going to use a dictionary.
Thinking back on the result of her last odd name choice i tried to explain that maybe she was being a tiny bit too literal, but she wasn't having any of it.
From that point on she became to all but herself "the student formerly known as Lucy". As far as I know she still calls herself Reborn and no-one else in the class ever got the Prince reference.
Rory McDonald is an online marketer and digital entrepreneur, co-founder of the Online Business Expert and passionate blogger.
I took over a class from the previous senior teacher and one of the girls really disliked me for replacing him. The kids in the class were in their early teens and so were just starting to get a little angsty. When I took over the class the girl's English name was Lucy. A little plain but overall pretty much okay.
After 3 weeks of refusing to speak to me Lucy finally calmed down and decided that maybe i wasn't all that bad. She decided though that now she was old enough to pick a name for herself and that now she had a new teacher it was the perfect time.
The name she settled on was Candy. Now I tried really hard not to groan or to discourage her after all she had only just decided to stop sulking in the corner and talk during class.
The very next week though she came storming into class, walked right up to me and yelled "I hate you" right in my face. Not sure yet what exactly I had done to receive this kind of venom I waited to see what would come next. The T.A. looking a little worried went off to talk to Candy. Sitting in the corner chatting the T.A. suddenly started to laugh.
At this point I was feeling a little hard done by and out of the loop so I set the other kids on a writing task and headed over to see what was up. It turns out that Lucy/Candy was upset because I didn't tell her that Candy was stupid name. Apparently my instinct the week before had been dead wrong.
At this point Lucy vowed once more to change her name but this time she said she would do her research first.
Next week eventually rolled around and in walked Lucy. "So what is your new name?", I asked. "I thinked a long time and I want my name to be Reborn because that is what I am", was the answer. Turns out that when she said she was going to do research she really meant she was going to use a dictionary.
Thinking back on the result of her last odd name choice i tried to explain that maybe she was being a tiny bit too literal, but she wasn't having any of it.
From that point on she became to all but herself "the student formerly known as Lucy". As far as I know she still calls herself Reborn and no-one else in the class ever got the Prince reference.
Rory McDonald is an online marketer and digital entrepreneur, co-founder of the Online Business Expert and passionate blogger.
Wednesday, 9 December 2015
Wandering Misfit: Part 17 ... what's in a name?
I know that I have been jumping around a bit lately and not really following any sort of order. I gets hard to write in any kind of sequence, every time I tell a little bit of the story I get caught up in memories it brings back and tend to get sidetracked.
Because of that I am going to just try and stick to a single theme for each post from now on and avoid the issue of when things happened altogether.
Today I wanted to talk about names. I said before that the T.A.s all had English names tomake it easier on us foreigners. For the same reason every time a new student came into the school they were also given an English name if they hadn't already chosen one.
A lot of the time parents would choose English style names for their kids. Unfortunately this often ended up creating some pretty cringe worthy names. I remember one poor 6 year old boy I had whose mother decided his name should be Seven. Yep, she called her kid a number, should have seen the look on the poor kids face every time someone asked "What's your name and how old are you?".
Some other strange names came into the mix. Because almost all characters in Chinese are made up of a consonant followed by one or more vowels names that end in a vowel sound are very popular. At one point I had 2 Cindys, 2 Lilys and a Candy all in the same class.
Aside from names ending in y or a vowel certain other names are incredibly popular too. For a while I had 7 different students named Angel in only 11 classes (about 100 or so kids). Summer, Sunshine and other similar names are a perennial favourite for girls too.
Boys tend to have a wider array of "acceptable" names but that doesn't stop names like Tom and Harry dominating. Boys are also not immune from the stranger names that evolve, with names like Tiger, Putin and Severus all amongst my former students.
Even the T.A.s come up with the occasional weird moniker, you'd think their knowledge of English would help them know better. Names such as Purple ("because it's my favourite colour") and Coco spring to mind for the girls. Meanwhile the male staff seemed determined to be ridiculed by the foreign teachers picking such wonders as Chicken and Panda.
Overall names and naming were a great past-time and source of amusement for us. That's not to say that some foreign teachers didn't give out some weird names of their own.
Rory McDonald is an online marketer and digital entrepreneur, co-founder of the Online Business Expert and passionate blogger.
Because of that I am going to just try and stick to a single theme for each post from now on and avoid the issue of when things happened altogether.
Today I wanted to talk about names. I said before that the T.A.s all had English names tomake it easier on us foreigners. For the same reason every time a new student came into the school they were also given an English name if they hadn't already chosen one.
A lot of the time parents would choose English style names for their kids. Unfortunately this often ended up creating some pretty cringe worthy names. I remember one poor 6 year old boy I had whose mother decided his name should be Seven. Yep, she called her kid a number, should have seen the look on the poor kids face every time someone asked "What's your name and how old are you?".
Some other strange names came into the mix. Because almost all characters in Chinese are made up of a consonant followed by one or more vowels names that end in a vowel sound are very popular. At one point I had 2 Cindys, 2 Lilys and a Candy all in the same class.
Aside from names ending in y or a vowel certain other names are incredibly popular too. For a while I had 7 different students named Angel in only 11 classes (about 100 or so kids). Summer, Sunshine and other similar names are a perennial favourite for girls too.
Boys tend to have a wider array of "acceptable" names but that doesn't stop names like Tom and Harry dominating. Boys are also not immune from the stranger names that evolve, with names like Tiger, Putin and Severus all amongst my former students.
Even the T.A.s come up with the occasional weird moniker, you'd think their knowledge of English would help them know better. Names such as Purple ("because it's my favourite colour") and Coco spring to mind for the girls. Meanwhile the male staff seemed determined to be ridiculed by the foreign teachers picking such wonders as Chicken and Panda.
Overall names and naming were a great past-time and source of amusement for us. That's not to say that some foreign teachers didn't give out some weird names of their own.
Rory McDonald is an online marketer and digital entrepreneur, co-founder of the Online Business Expert and passionate blogger.
Tuesday, 8 December 2015
Wandering Misfit: Part 16 ... the good
Okay so I've been on a little bit of a downer in the last couple of episodes, but honestly there have been some great moments to my time in China.
Obviously at the top of that list is meeting my beautiful wife, but there are others too. Having days where students thank you sincerely for what you've taught. Getting three years in and suddenly realising that you are just chatting with kids that started off not even knowing colour words. All of these things have been hallelujah moments for me.
Even the little things can make your day. I had one class of very young kids, who I am sure I will talk much more about soon, where every week the parents would bring food for a mini picnic after class. This class was my last for the week and finished up at 8 or 8:30 on a Monday by which point I was usually pretty much over it all. Having the mothers come in with cakes and ice-cream and settle down for another half hour of just drawing and having fun made my week every single time.
It wasn't until I left my first teaching job in Dongying after just over 3 years that I realised just how attached I had become to some of these kids. Despite being their teacher and only seeing most of them once a week I really felt like I was leaving friends. Of course some students I definitely didn't miss but there is always going to be a few like that.
For the most part though by the time I left Dongying I found it really hard to go. All of the staff both foreign and local were great and of my 10 permanent classes I really enjoyed 6 or 7 every week with only one that I always dreaded.
I think here it is also important to talk about the change China made in me. Before I got out there I was a bit of a procrastinator and I hated being the one that had to make the decisions. I was so bad I couldn't even pick from a menu in a restaurant. After nearly five years of being "the boss" in the classroom I feel like I have emerged from that mindset with a whole new attitude for life.
Rory McDonald is an online marketer and digital entrepreneur, co-founder of the Online Business Expert and passionate blogger.
Obviously at the top of that list is meeting my beautiful wife, but there are others too. Having days where students thank you sincerely for what you've taught. Getting three years in and suddenly realising that you are just chatting with kids that started off not even knowing colour words. All of these things have been hallelujah moments for me.
Even the little things can make your day. I had one class of very young kids, who I am sure I will talk much more about soon, where every week the parents would bring food for a mini picnic after class. This class was my last for the week and finished up at 8 or 8:30 on a Monday by which point I was usually pretty much over it all. Having the mothers come in with cakes and ice-cream and settle down for another half hour of just drawing and having fun made my week every single time.
It wasn't until I left my first teaching job in Dongying after just over 3 years that I realised just how attached I had become to some of these kids. Despite being their teacher and only seeing most of them once a week I really felt like I was leaving friends. Of course some students I definitely didn't miss but there is always going to be a few like that.
For the most part though by the time I left Dongying I found it really hard to go. All of the staff both foreign and local were great and of my 10 permanent classes I really enjoyed 6 or 7 every week with only one that I always dreaded.
I think here it is also important to talk about the change China made in me. Before I got out there I was a bit of a procrastinator and I hated being the one that had to make the decisions. I was so bad I couldn't even pick from a menu in a restaurant. After nearly five years of being "the boss" in the classroom I feel like I have emerged from that mindset with a whole new attitude for life.
Rory McDonald is an online marketer and digital entrepreneur, co-founder of the Online Business Expert and passionate blogger.
Sunday, 6 December 2015
Wandering Misfit: Part 14 ... enter the children
So Saturday morning rolled around. We taught most of our classes across the weekend because most of our students had to go to normal schools during the week. My very first class at 8 o'clock was a group of 12 3 and 4 year olds.
At this point I had never really had anything to do with little kids so I really had no idea what I was doing. In they come with their parents. The first few are not too bad they are pretty fidgety but they are pretty young after all. As the next few start to come in though one of the new arrivals starts to cry. Now I don't know about you but even after years of dealing with it I still have trouble with crying children, especially when their parents are sitting in the back of the room watching what I am going to do about it.
Thankfully instead of the usual complement of a single T.A. I had 3 that morning for exactly that reason. Very quickly though all 3 of my T.A.s were tied up with one issue or another. It is amazing how one crying child very quickly leads to a whole class of them.
By now I was simply sitting in a tiny little baby chair up the front of the class waiting and wishing I was pretty much anywhere else. I remember thinking "at least it can't get much worse". You know what they say about thinking things like that though. Right in the middle of the crying and running around screaming Summer walked into the class.
Summer as I said before was a pretty strict and severe kind of person even though she was small she was also pretty tough. I'm not sure what I expected but whatever it was what actually happened wasn't it. Summer took one good look at what was happening, came to the front of the class and stood next to me. The next thing I know she is bellowing orders to the kids to sit down and behave. She started so suddenly and so loudly I have to admit even I jumped a little.
Amazingly all of the kids but one simply stopped. They stopped running around, they stopped screaming and they stopped crying. Slowly but surely all but the original crying girl came and sat in front of Summer and I. From the look on many of their faces I think they were at that point pretty much as surprised as I was.
I've never had a class begin as badly as that since and as much as I felt uncomfortable on that first day I am glad it happened because it taught me a lot about how to handle these kids, things I would keep using for the next 5 years. Don't get me wrong though there was no epiphany here just the start of a very long, very steep learning curve.
Rory McDonald is an online marketer and digital entrepreneur, co-founder of the Online Business Expert and passionate blogger.
At this point I had never really had anything to do with little kids so I really had no idea what I was doing. In they come with their parents. The first few are not too bad they are pretty fidgety but they are pretty young after all. As the next few start to come in though one of the new arrivals starts to cry. Now I don't know about you but even after years of dealing with it I still have trouble with crying children, especially when their parents are sitting in the back of the room watching what I am going to do about it.
Thankfully instead of the usual complement of a single T.A. I had 3 that morning for exactly that reason. Very quickly though all 3 of my T.A.s were tied up with one issue or another. It is amazing how one crying child very quickly leads to a whole class of them.
By now I was simply sitting in a tiny little baby chair up the front of the class waiting and wishing I was pretty much anywhere else. I remember thinking "at least it can't get much worse". You know what they say about thinking things like that though. Right in the middle of the crying and running around screaming Summer walked into the class.
Summer as I said before was a pretty strict and severe kind of person even though she was small she was also pretty tough. I'm not sure what I expected but whatever it was what actually happened wasn't it. Summer took one good look at what was happening, came to the front of the class and stood next to me. The next thing I know she is bellowing orders to the kids to sit down and behave. She started so suddenly and so loudly I have to admit even I jumped a little.
Amazingly all of the kids but one simply stopped. They stopped running around, they stopped screaming and they stopped crying. Slowly but surely all but the original crying girl came and sat in front of Summer and I. From the look on many of their faces I think they were at that point pretty much as surprised as I was.
I've never had a class begin as badly as that since and as much as I felt uncomfortable on that first day I am glad it happened because it taught me a lot about how to handle these kids, things I would keep using for the next 5 years. Don't get me wrong though there was no epiphany here just the start of a very long, very steep learning curve.
Rory McDonald is an online marketer and digital entrepreneur, co-founder of the Online Business Expert and passionate blogger.
Friday, 4 December 2015
Wandering Misfit: Part 12 ... careful what you wish for
So at this point I really want to point out that I never had any intention of going to China to find a girlfriend never mind a wife. I will be honest I know a few people that have gone over there with exactly that aim in mind. A word to the wise though, if that is your plan China probably isn't where you want to go, at least not Northern China. Most of the girls (women) I know in Shandong and the North are for example pretty traditional in their outlook.
When I say traditional I mean even to the point that having a date with a guy without a chaperon is pretty much one step away from an engagement. I know this mainly because I, usually with my wife, have been forced to be the chaperon for what usually turns out to be a pretty cringe-worthy dinner.
My "courtship" with my wife was a little less painful than most from what I've seen but I am lucky she has pretty open-minded parents and is herself very open to new ideas and is not tied too strongly to traditions. At some point though I will no doubt write an episode about my wedding which may have been the most bizarre and scariest day of my life.
So, anyway, if you are going to get involved with a girl from China don't say I didn't warn you.
What amazed me most about the way Tony asked me was that he was completely blase about the whole thing. Apparently I needed to be married before I was 30 (that being the point of no return) and seeing as I was in China I might as well find a girlfriend. It wasn't until much later that that eventuality came to pass but again that is a story for another time.
Apologies for digressing we will get back to the story proper next episode.
Rory McDonald is an online marketer and digital entrepreneur, co-founder of the Online Business Expert and passionate blogger.
When I say traditional I mean even to the point that having a date with a guy without a chaperon is pretty much one step away from an engagement. I know this mainly because I, usually with my wife, have been forced to be the chaperon for what usually turns out to be a pretty cringe-worthy dinner.
My "courtship" with my wife was a little less painful than most from what I've seen but I am lucky she has pretty open-minded parents and is herself very open to new ideas and is not tied too strongly to traditions. At some point though I will no doubt write an episode about my wedding which may have been the most bizarre and scariest day of my life.
So, anyway, if you are going to get involved with a girl from China don't say I didn't warn you.
What amazed me most about the way Tony asked me was that he was completely blase about the whole thing. Apparently I needed to be married before I was 30 (that being the point of no return) and seeing as I was in China I might as well find a girlfriend. It wasn't until much later that that eventuality came to pass but again that is a story for another time.
Apologies for digressing we will get back to the story proper next episode.
Rory McDonald is an online marketer and digital entrepreneur, co-founder of the Online Business Expert and passionate blogger.
Wednesday, 2 December 2015
Wander Misfit: Part 10 ... the local team
After my conference with Summer it was time for a more formal meet and greet. So off Tony and I went to meet the T.A.s (local Chinese teachers) and the teacher who was going to be giving me my training.
Meeting the T.A.s was an interesting situation to be in, some of them regarded me as just another nuisance while others seemed pretty excited about chatting. At that point all of our T.A.s were women (although they preferred to be called girls) with most of them only a year or two out of university. For the most part their majors were in English although some of them must surely have just scraped in with a pass.
One thing that immediately hit me about them was that they used English names, either names they had chosen or names given to them by former teachers. The use of English names rather than their actual Chinese names in fact was so prevalent that even after 3 years I knew only a handful of them by their real names. They also tended to use their English names when chatting with each other even when the rest of the sentence was in Chinese.
After a flurry of questions about where I was from, how old I was and whether I was married or had kids I settled down to trying to work out who was who. Trying to explain that I have dual nationality was an interesting task. All in all though I was pleasantly surprised by how open and friendly the girls were, especially compared to Summer and Tony.
The next stop was a visit to Darcy. As one of the two senior teachers he would be giving me my ongoing training. I am not even today quite sure how to describe Darcy. Instead I feel it might be best just to tell you my initial impressions and work from there. Darcy was (and still is I presume) a real Australian. What I mean by that is that he had carried both his accent and his love of Aus deep into the heart of China.
The one big thing that hit me almost instantly about him though was the speed at which he spoke. Later I realised that the slowness was a trait developed by talking to children in their second language for a long time. At the moment I met him though it just seemed to make conversations mildly irritating as I waited for him to finish.
Rory McDonald is an online marketer and digital entrepreneur, co-founder of the Online Business Expert and passionate blogger.
Meeting the T.A.s was an interesting situation to be in, some of them regarded me as just another nuisance while others seemed pretty excited about chatting. At that point all of our T.A.s were women (although they preferred to be called girls) with most of them only a year or two out of university. For the most part their majors were in English although some of them must surely have just scraped in with a pass.
One thing that immediately hit me about them was that they used English names, either names they had chosen or names given to them by former teachers. The use of English names rather than their actual Chinese names in fact was so prevalent that even after 3 years I knew only a handful of them by their real names. They also tended to use their English names when chatting with each other even when the rest of the sentence was in Chinese.
After a flurry of questions about where I was from, how old I was and whether I was married or had kids I settled down to trying to work out who was who. Trying to explain that I have dual nationality was an interesting task. All in all though I was pleasantly surprised by how open and friendly the girls were, especially compared to Summer and Tony.
The next stop was a visit to Darcy. As one of the two senior teachers he would be giving me my ongoing training. I am not even today quite sure how to describe Darcy. Instead I feel it might be best just to tell you my initial impressions and work from there. Darcy was (and still is I presume) a real Australian. What I mean by that is that he had carried both his accent and his love of Aus deep into the heart of China.
The one big thing that hit me almost instantly about him though was the speed at which he spoke. Later I realised that the slowness was a trait developed by talking to children in their second language for a long time. At the moment I met him though it just seemed to make conversations mildly irritating as I waited for him to finish.
Rory McDonald is an online marketer and digital entrepreneur, co-founder of the Online Business Expert and passionate blogger.
Tuesday, 1 December 2015
Wandering Misfit: Part 9 ... talking terms
Sitting in Summer's rather cramped little office I was not really sure what to expect. I thought maybe we'd talk pay or that we'd talk work, at this point I had taught but that had been as a flight instructor mainly to rich old men not kids. Instead the conversation started with a warning.
Don't go to bars, don't drink too much and don't do anything bad in front of the parents or kids. It seemed like she was trying hard to cover a long list of problems that had come up with foreigners, and often by the sound of it. I was a little put off by this. I'd never been a heavy drinker and nowadays I am one step from being teetotal,and some of the things I was being explicitly told not to do were things which honestly had never crossed my mind.
After assuring Summer on multiple occasions that I would act like a good boy we came to "the contract". You see all foreign teachers in China, and most of the local ones at training schools like Shane, are required to sign a contract. To be honest the system usually works pretty well, but the do tend to hold you over a barrel when it comes to the fine print.
Looking through the contract a few odd things caught my eye, mainly provisions for what happens if I quit or get fired. Overall though it looked like a reasonable document. I work for a year with them and get ¥7,000RMB a month (roughly £700 or $1,100) in pay on the 15th of every month. A pretty simple bargain. As far as hours go I teach 20 hours a week and do 5 hours of office time to prep for lessons. 20 hours a week sounds cushy after all I'd pulled 50 or 60 hour weeks before.
It wasn't until later that I found out just how intense and tiring those 20 hours could be and how badly the were spread out across the week.
Rory McDonald is an online marketer and digital entrepreneur, co-founder of the Online Business Expert and passionate blogger.
Don't go to bars, don't drink too much and don't do anything bad in front of the parents or kids. It seemed like she was trying hard to cover a long list of problems that had come up with foreigners, and often by the sound of it. I was a little put off by this. I'd never been a heavy drinker and nowadays I am one step from being teetotal,and some of the things I was being explicitly told not to do were things which honestly had never crossed my mind.
After assuring Summer on multiple occasions that I would act like a good boy we came to "the contract". You see all foreign teachers in China, and most of the local ones at training schools like Shane, are required to sign a contract. To be honest the system usually works pretty well, but the do tend to hold you over a barrel when it comes to the fine print.
Looking through the contract a few odd things caught my eye, mainly provisions for what happens if I quit or get fired. Overall though it looked like a reasonable document. I work for a year with them and get ¥7,000RMB a month (roughly £700 or $1,100) in pay on the 15th of every month. A pretty simple bargain. As far as hours go I teach 20 hours a week and do 5 hours of office time to prep for lessons. 20 hours a week sounds cushy after all I'd pulled 50 or 60 hour weeks before.
It wasn't until later that I found out just how intense and tiring those 20 hours could be and how badly the were spread out across the week.
Rory McDonald is an online marketer and digital entrepreneur, co-founder of the Online Business Expert and passionate blogger.
Monday, 30 November 2015
Wandering Misfit: Part 8 ... meet the Boss
The "boys" as someone affectionately called them were a strange bunch. A mix of nationalities and ages with people from Ireland, the US, UK, South Africa, Australia and even Zimbabwe. Altogether with me included there were 14 of us.
Even though Dongying is as I said before a fishing village transformed only in the last decade or two into a city it had at the time the biggest Shane English school in China. The secret was oil. During the 80's oil was discovered nearby and since then the area has become the second largest oil field in China and as such bee catapulted into mega rich status.
Villagers made rich is a pretty good description of the place actually and like all the locals who have flooded the city in recent years the foreigners too have come seeking riches and a good time. Even though I was going to be working with these guys and I had just had dinner with them Tony forbade me from going out on the town with them. When I asked him why he didn't seem too inclined to answer just telling me I "needed sleep".
So after a brief round of hellos it was back off to my lonely little hotel room and an early start planned for the morning. The next day was going to be a big one with a talk from the manager, shopping for basic necessities with Tony and a tour of the school and city.
After what turned out to be a surprisingly good sleep I headed out the next morning to meet my new, and so far rather mysterious, boss. So across the main road we went (a scary challenge for a novice) and into a rather nondescript building on the other side. The building we entered looked old but as I was to find out it wasn't really it seems buildings in Dongying just start to look old the second they are built.
Up 4 flights of stairs and through a weird metal door into a tiny office space crammed with boxes and paper we went. Here in amongst all of the flashcards, books and cassettes (yes real honest to god cassettes) was Summer my manager. Summer turned out to be a short, petite middle aged woman with as I now recall the strongest grip I have ever felt.
Rory McDonald is an online marketer and digital entrepreneur, co-founder of the Online Business Expert and passionate blogger.
Even though Dongying is as I said before a fishing village transformed only in the last decade or two into a city it had at the time the biggest Shane English school in China. The secret was oil. During the 80's oil was discovered nearby and since then the area has become the second largest oil field in China and as such bee catapulted into mega rich status.
Villagers made rich is a pretty good description of the place actually and like all the locals who have flooded the city in recent years the foreigners too have come seeking riches and a good time. Even though I was going to be working with these guys and I had just had dinner with them Tony forbade me from going out on the town with them. When I asked him why he didn't seem too inclined to answer just telling me I "needed sleep".
So after a brief round of hellos it was back off to my lonely little hotel room and an early start planned for the morning. The next day was going to be a big one with a talk from the manager, shopping for basic necessities with Tony and a tour of the school and city.
After what turned out to be a surprisingly good sleep I headed out the next morning to meet my new, and so far rather mysterious, boss. So across the main road we went (a scary challenge for a novice) and into a rather nondescript building on the other side. The building we entered looked old but as I was to find out it wasn't really it seems buildings in Dongying just start to look old the second they are built.
Up 4 flights of stairs and through a weird metal door into a tiny office space crammed with boxes and paper we went. Here in amongst all of the flashcards, books and cassettes (yes real honest to god cassettes) was Summer my manager. Summer turned out to be a short, petite middle aged woman with as I now recall the strongest grip I have ever felt.
Rory McDonald is an online marketer and digital entrepreneur, co-founder of the Online Business Expert and passionate blogger.
Sunday, 29 November 2015
Wandering Misfit: Part 7 ... enter the other misfits
I am still, to this day, not really sure what I was expecting when it came time to meet my fellow wanderers and misfits. I think somewhere I had the impression of them as people who just wanted to do something different. That maybe they would be tied together by the bond of choosing uncertainty and adventure over calm certainty.
In some ways I was disappointed but in others I was pleasantly surprised. Nowhere to be seen, at least in that initial meeting, was the drive to see the world differently I had in some naive way hoped for. Instead what I found was a general joyous abandon. Also at this first dinner I saw some of the gluing together of people who under other circumstances would not have given each other the time of day.
An odd bunch indeed. It is strange to recount that this was less than 5 years ago, but even so recently China was a different place, especially in a backwater like Dongying. This was before Chairman Xi came and started his war on corruption, before the real drive began to make it more difficult for foreigners to enter the country. I say that it has become more difficult because it has but perhaps suggesting that it has been made that way is wrong. Instead I should say that all of the little loopholes have been closed and all the blind eyes turned now stare unblinking.
Going back to that I myself had at this time not come into the country on a work visa but instead a tourist one. Admittedly I never worked illegally on that visa but to be honest you aren't supposed to, and can't now, have these visas changed over in country. There was a brief stage where people would duck off to Hong Kong or even Thailand to get it changed but even that now has gone by the wayside as in a later tale I am sure I will complain bitterly about.
I digress however. This veritable mix of humanity sitting before me were to be my new colleagues, friends and only "real" contact with the world for the foreseeable future.
Rory McDonald is an online marketer and digital entrepreneur, co-founder of the Online Business Expert and passionate blogger.
In some ways I was disappointed but in others I was pleasantly surprised. Nowhere to be seen, at least in that initial meeting, was the drive to see the world differently I had in some naive way hoped for. Instead what I found was a general joyous abandon. Also at this first dinner I saw some of the gluing together of people who under other circumstances would not have given each other the time of day.
An odd bunch indeed. It is strange to recount that this was less than 5 years ago, but even so recently China was a different place, especially in a backwater like Dongying. This was before Chairman Xi came and started his war on corruption, before the real drive began to make it more difficult for foreigners to enter the country. I say that it has become more difficult because it has but perhaps suggesting that it has been made that way is wrong. Instead I should say that all of the little loopholes have been closed and all the blind eyes turned now stare unblinking.
Going back to that I myself had at this time not come into the country on a work visa but instead a tourist one. Admittedly I never worked illegally on that visa but to be honest you aren't supposed to, and can't now, have these visas changed over in country. There was a brief stage where people would duck off to Hong Kong or even Thailand to get it changed but even that now has gone by the wayside as in a later tale I am sure I will complain bitterly about.
I digress however. This veritable mix of humanity sitting before me were to be my new colleagues, friends and only "real" contact with the world for the foreseeable future.
Rory McDonald is an online marketer and digital entrepreneur, co-founder of the Online Business Expert and passionate blogger.
Saturday, 28 November 2015
Wandering Misfit: Part 6 ...Chasing Smoke
As I am sure most of you know sitting in a hotel in a foreign country with no-one to talk to and nowhere really to go is pretty high on the list of most lonely experiences on earth. Sitting there though I had time to reflect on the enormity of the leap I had made. Unable to sleep despite being exhausted I took a quick shower and decided to go and see what I could find in my new home.
Slightly worried about getting lost in a new city where I knew no-one I decided to stay close by the hotel. Just across the alley was a supermarket, always a great place to get a feel for local culture. In I headed determined to find something to eat and hopefully a packet of cigarettes to boost my dwindling supply.
It didn't take me long to realise that even the simple task of buying a packet of smokes was going to be a bit of a chore. In China you see supermarkets don't sell cigarettes the way I was used to. Instead of simply going to the counter, deciding what I wanted and paying I had to go through something of a wild goose chase. When you buy certain items in a Chinese supermarket you go to the counter and decide what you want as usual but from there it gets odd. Instead of paying and getting your stuff you are given a receipt and sent off to another desk to pay. Coming back with the receipt you have to hand that in at the first desk before you get what you paid for.
This doesn't seem all that difficult but when your understanding of the local language doesn't even reach to numbers it presents something of a challenge. Lots of hand gestures, scowls and a personal escort later I emerged feeling slightly dazed. At this point unbeknownst to me I was observed by my new boss, a woman who I was yet to meet. Seeing me wandering around slightly lost she quickly phoned Tony and sent him out to see if I needed any help.
In response to this summons Tony, who always seemed short on time decided the best option was to deliver me into the hands of some of the resident foreigners and let them deal with me. So grabbing a cab we headed out to yet another restaurant to meet the rest of the guys.
Rory McDonald is an online marketer and digital entrepreneur, co-founder of the Online Business Expert and passionate blogger.
Slightly worried about getting lost in a new city where I knew no-one I decided to stay close by the hotel. Just across the alley was a supermarket, always a great place to get a feel for local culture. In I headed determined to find something to eat and hopefully a packet of cigarettes to boost my dwindling supply.
It didn't take me long to realise that even the simple task of buying a packet of smokes was going to be a bit of a chore. In China you see supermarkets don't sell cigarettes the way I was used to. Instead of simply going to the counter, deciding what I wanted and paying I had to go through something of a wild goose chase. When you buy certain items in a Chinese supermarket you go to the counter and decide what you want as usual but from there it gets odd. Instead of paying and getting your stuff you are given a receipt and sent off to another desk to pay. Coming back with the receipt you have to hand that in at the first desk before you get what you paid for.
This doesn't seem all that difficult but when your understanding of the local language doesn't even reach to numbers it presents something of a challenge. Lots of hand gestures, scowls and a personal escort later I emerged feeling slightly dazed. At this point unbeknownst to me I was observed by my new boss, a woman who I was yet to meet. Seeing me wandering around slightly lost she quickly phoned Tony and sent him out to see if I needed any help.
In response to this summons Tony, who always seemed short on time decided the best option was to deliver me into the hands of some of the resident foreigners and let them deal with me. So grabbing a cab we headed out to yet another restaurant to meet the rest of the guys.
Rory McDonald is an online marketer and digital entrepreneur, co-founder of the Online Business Expert and passionate blogger.
Friday, 27 November 2015
Wandering Misfit: Part 5 ... and there was lunch
There I was standing outside this "hole in the wall" restaurant after a journey that had at this point taken around 24 hours. Even though it was lunchtime locally and in fact was only mid afternoon in Australia I was feeling pretty washed out.
Food and then a good sleep seemed like a great idea so in I wandered to find the by now almost mythical Tony. After sitting me down at a table in the back Tony proceeded to order what seemed like half the menu. Now I have eaten "Chinese" food in a few different countries but nothing quite prepared me for this. It took me a long time to find out most of the food available at restaurants in the west is not only southern style, which makes it very different from the food in the north, but that it is also changed to appeal to more western palates.
Most of the dishes brought out were pretty good albeit slightly on the greasy side. Insects featured in one dish and a whole chicken, head still intact in another but I had eaten far worse and despite being stared at by a decapitated hen I was thoroughly enjoying myself.
The discussion was kept light and Tony seemed to at least realize I was too worn out to care about getting down to business. Towards the end of the meal though he called the waitress over and ordered one more item. Now Baijiu (literally white alcohol) has a well deserved reputation amongst foreigners in China. I am sure at some point I will have an entire episode devoted to just that topic but for now just let me say that I will never, ever drink Baijiu again.
In fact I have even gone so far as to tell people in China that I am allergic to alcohol just to avoid having to share a drink of the local brew. Perhaps this is the point too where I should state that if you don't drink or smoke, and you are a man, life can get complicated in China. On the other hand if you do and you are a woman it can be even worse.
Needless to say I drank the stuff I was offered, a fact I would later regret. The fact that between us we managed to down an entire bottle of what turned out to be 40% alcohol (with no mixer) seemed to amuse Tony.
Shortly after he took me across the street to the hotel I would be temporarily living out of until they found me an apartment. Grateful as I was I was still a little edgy about the place it wasn't for another couple of years that I would realize why. Only about 18 months after i stayed there the place was condemned and ripped down glad I was only there for a couple of days.
Rory McDonald is an online marketer and digital entrepreneur, co-founder of the Online Business Expert and passionate blogger.
Food and then a good sleep seemed like a great idea so in I wandered to find the by now almost mythical Tony. After sitting me down at a table in the back Tony proceeded to order what seemed like half the menu. Now I have eaten "Chinese" food in a few different countries but nothing quite prepared me for this. It took me a long time to find out most of the food available at restaurants in the west is not only southern style, which makes it very different from the food in the north, but that it is also changed to appeal to more western palates.
Most of the dishes brought out were pretty good albeit slightly on the greasy side. Insects featured in one dish and a whole chicken, head still intact in another but I had eaten far worse and despite being stared at by a decapitated hen I was thoroughly enjoying myself.
The discussion was kept light and Tony seemed to at least realize I was too worn out to care about getting down to business. Towards the end of the meal though he called the waitress over and ordered one more item. Now Baijiu (literally white alcohol) has a well deserved reputation amongst foreigners in China. I am sure at some point I will have an entire episode devoted to just that topic but for now just let me say that I will never, ever drink Baijiu again.
In fact I have even gone so far as to tell people in China that I am allergic to alcohol just to avoid having to share a drink of the local brew. Perhaps this is the point too where I should state that if you don't drink or smoke, and you are a man, life can get complicated in China. On the other hand if you do and you are a woman it can be even worse.
Needless to say I drank the stuff I was offered, a fact I would later regret. The fact that between us we managed to down an entire bottle of what turned out to be 40% alcohol (with no mixer) seemed to amuse Tony.
Shortly after he took me across the street to the hotel I would be temporarily living out of until they found me an apartment. Grateful as I was I was still a little edgy about the place it wasn't for another couple of years that I would realize why. Only about 18 months after i stayed there the place was condemned and ripped down glad I was only there for a couple of days.
Rory McDonald is an online marketer and digital entrepreneur, co-founder of the Online Business Expert and passionate blogger.
Thursday, 26 November 2015
Wandering Misfit: Part 4 ... a journey into the unknown
So there I was, I had wanted to get far away from my life in Australia a goal I think I had pretty much covered, despite possibly jumping in too far down the deep end.
China is not, as many of my friends have since said, a completely different world but it really is unlike anywhere I had been before. Having done a fair amount of travel (I believe China was my 42nd country), I very quickly understood I had really gone out on a limb this time.
If I had headed off to Beijing or Shanghai, or even along the southern coast I think the differences would have been mostly cosmetic. Instead I had chosen a "town" off the beaten track in Shandong in northern China. Now Dongying where I chose to live is not small, not by western standards anyway. In fact it is a bustling oil town of around two and a half million people. The thing to consider though is that not only is Shandong one of the oldest and most traditional of Chinese provinces but that Dongying itself had been a mere fishing village 20 years ago and to be honest in many ways it still is.
Getting on a bus from Beijing to Dongying was, in a word, an experience. At this point I was surrounded by people who didn't speak a single word of English (beyond the ubiquitous "Hello"). To make matters just a little more stressful I had no contact with the outside world, no idea where I was and had not heard from Tony who was supposed to be picking me up.
After a somewhat bewildering 6 hours or so I was dropped off at a dingy looking depot in a dirty looking city only to be picked up by a guy who's only real communication was "Tony tell me bring you". So, and I realize only now as I write this how stupid it sounds, I jumped in the back of his van and took my first real trip on inner city Chinese roads.
Even being half asleep as I was at this point I believe I spent most of the trip white knuckled and sweating. Many people will tell you that the Chinese are scary drivers. As a nation though I have to say they are not that bad, they are very unpredictable but road rage seems basically non-existent beyond gratuitous use of horns and as a general rule they drive slower than many other countries.
The guy I was unlucky enough to be picked up by though seemed to think he was on a racetrack somewhere not a crowded city street. Fortunately he did seem to know his stuff and after around 10, miraculously incident free, minutes he dropped me off outside a restaurant on a little side street off one of the main roads through town.
Rory McDonald is an online marketer and digital entrepreneur, co-founder of the Online Business Expert and passionate blogger.
China is not, as many of my friends have since said, a completely different world but it really is unlike anywhere I had been before. Having done a fair amount of travel (I believe China was my 42nd country), I very quickly understood I had really gone out on a limb this time.
If I had headed off to Beijing or Shanghai, or even along the southern coast I think the differences would have been mostly cosmetic. Instead I had chosen a "town" off the beaten track in Shandong in northern China. Now Dongying where I chose to live is not small, not by western standards anyway. In fact it is a bustling oil town of around two and a half million people. The thing to consider though is that not only is Shandong one of the oldest and most traditional of Chinese provinces but that Dongying itself had been a mere fishing village 20 years ago and to be honest in many ways it still is.
Getting on a bus from Beijing to Dongying was, in a word, an experience. At this point I was surrounded by people who didn't speak a single word of English (beyond the ubiquitous "Hello"). To make matters just a little more stressful I had no contact with the outside world, no idea where I was and had not heard from Tony who was supposed to be picking me up.
After a somewhat bewildering 6 hours or so I was dropped off at a dingy looking depot in a dirty looking city only to be picked up by a guy who's only real communication was "Tony tell me bring you". So, and I realize only now as I write this how stupid it sounds, I jumped in the back of his van and took my first real trip on inner city Chinese roads.
Even being half asleep as I was at this point I believe I spent most of the trip white knuckled and sweating. Many people will tell you that the Chinese are scary drivers. As a nation though I have to say they are not that bad, they are very unpredictable but road rage seems basically non-existent beyond gratuitous use of horns and as a general rule they drive slower than many other countries.
The guy I was unlucky enough to be picked up by though seemed to think he was on a racetrack somewhere not a crowded city street. Fortunately he did seem to know his stuff and after around 10, miraculously incident free, minutes he dropped me off outside a restaurant on a little side street off one of the main roads through town.
Rory McDonald is an online marketer and digital entrepreneur, co-founder of the Online Business Expert and passionate blogger.
Wednesday, 25 November 2015
Wandering Misfit: Part 3 ... don't try this at home
The decision to up sticks and leave everything I had, not that it was much at that time, and head to China came in the end very quickly and as a shock even to me. I remember making the decision to get out of Oz but I never really decided where I was going to go.
I went and did my TOEFL course and told my then boss I was getting ready to go. She was really good about it, in fact she was the best boss I've ever had in a lot of ways. I'd had some job offers mostly in Russia and South Korea but I had passed them up because as much as I like the sound of both I really just wanted to go completely off the beaten path.
Coming home from work one night I got a call out of the blue. On the other end of a crackling line and in badly broken English there is a man offering me a job. Now most people, most sane people would have probably hung up at that point or at least been very, very wary. I however was apparently not having a sane day.
After chatting with "Tony" for about 20 minutes not only had I agreed to take the job but I had promised to try and be in China within a week. Before I go any further I want to say that I really don't recommend trying this at home.
Anyway a hectic 8 days later I was in China. Yes, I had literally taken a job sight unseen halfway across the world and headed out only a week later. A decision that would later prove to be both one of the best and one of the worst decisions of my life.
Rory McDonald is an online marketer and digital entrepreneur, co-founder of the Online Business Expert and passionate blogger.
I went and did my TOEFL course and told my then boss I was getting ready to go. She was really good about it, in fact she was the best boss I've ever had in a lot of ways. I'd had some job offers mostly in Russia and South Korea but I had passed them up because as much as I like the sound of both I really just wanted to go completely off the beaten path.
Coming home from work one night I got a call out of the blue. On the other end of a crackling line and in badly broken English there is a man offering me a job. Now most people, most sane people would have probably hung up at that point or at least been very, very wary. I however was apparently not having a sane day.
After chatting with "Tony" for about 20 minutes not only had I agreed to take the job but I had promised to try and be in China within a week. Before I go any further I want to say that I really don't recommend trying this at home.
Anyway a hectic 8 days later I was in China. Yes, I had literally taken a job sight unseen halfway across the world and headed out only a week later. A decision that would later prove to be both one of the best and one of the worst decisions of my life.
Rory McDonald is an online marketer and digital entrepreneur, co-founder of the Online Business Expert and passionate blogger.
Tuesday, 24 November 2015
Wandering Misfit: Part 2 ... the great escape
So now you all know where I am, the question just remains as to how I got here. It is as with most strange stories a long one. So I am going to try and break it up a little. I also want to apologize in advance for the fact that I am probably not going to keep to any kind of chronological order.
Sometimes we need to express where we are before we get to how we got there and sometimes we can just explain the how without ever needing the where.
The first part of our story I think needs to be a little bit about who I am, or at least what has made me the person I have come to be.
I was born in Scotland, grew up in both Scotland and Australia and have traveled a fair bit in between. Most of that travel has been less a case of itchy feet and more a desperate attempt to find that hallowed place called home. Admittedly I have seen some amazing things in some even more amazing places and I wouldn't trade it now for the world but honestly at the time I wasn't out to see the world I was just looking for somewhere to settle down.
Before I get cries of "but you are the luckiest person alive", I know that being allowed to live in Australia as well as the entirety of the EU is a blessing that many wish for. Australia is a wonderful country, equal measures of quirky and beautiful. The UK and especially my beautiful native land are safe, civilized and sane. All of that and more was open to me but strangely I never really felt at home.
In fact only last year I had to return to Australia to get a work visa for China and spending a week in Melbourne made me more depressed than I had been in years. I don't want you to think this is the fault of Melbourne or of Australia as a whole. It is as the old line says "not you but me". For all it's charms and the wonderful people who make it their home Australia only holds old ghosts for me.
Scotland too, for a long time brought with it memories I would rather have left buried. Nothing terrible, no deep dark secrets, just a spreading sense of unease. So I yearned for somewhere new because the grass is always greener.
Eventually I simply decided I needed to go completely off the map. A decision which led me to China, the love of my life and some completely unforeseen events.
Rory McDonald is an online marketer and digital entrepreneur, co-founder of the Online Business Expert and passionate blogger.
Sometimes we need to express where we are before we get to how we got there and sometimes we can just explain the how without ever needing the where.
The first part of our story I think needs to be a little bit about who I am, or at least what has made me the person I have come to be.
I was born in Scotland, grew up in both Scotland and Australia and have traveled a fair bit in between. Most of that travel has been less a case of itchy feet and more a desperate attempt to find that hallowed place called home. Admittedly I have seen some amazing things in some even more amazing places and I wouldn't trade it now for the world but honestly at the time I wasn't out to see the world I was just looking for somewhere to settle down.
Before I get cries of "but you are the luckiest person alive", I know that being allowed to live in Australia as well as the entirety of the EU is a blessing that many wish for. Australia is a wonderful country, equal measures of quirky and beautiful. The UK and especially my beautiful native land are safe, civilized and sane. All of that and more was open to me but strangely I never really felt at home.
In fact only last year I had to return to Australia to get a work visa for China and spending a week in Melbourne made me more depressed than I had been in years. I don't want you to think this is the fault of Melbourne or of Australia as a whole. It is as the old line says "not you but me". For all it's charms and the wonderful people who make it their home Australia only holds old ghosts for me.
Scotland too, for a long time brought with it memories I would rather have left buried. Nothing terrible, no deep dark secrets, just a spreading sense of unease. So I yearned for somewhere new because the grass is always greener.
Eventually I simply decided I needed to go completely off the map. A decision which led me to China, the love of my life and some completely unforeseen events.
Rory McDonald is an online marketer and digital entrepreneur, co-founder of the Online Business Expert and passionate blogger.
Wednesday, 18 November 2015
Just Let Me Ask...
If you have a quick look around you while you sit at your desk how
many people do you see loving their lives? How many people do you see
making a real difference to the lives of everyday people on the street?
I bet if you are honest the answer is not many.
If you are like me you have a feeling somewhere deep inside that tells you that even if you are working hard everyday you are just spinning your wheels. I'm not talking about money and I'm not talking about success. A lot of people have money and a lot of people have success however you choose to measure it. All of these people though tend to fail in one very important way. They don't actively make people's lives better.
I am proud to say that no matter how high the ladder you climb and no matter how many awards you win I still think I do better. I have almost never been promoted, I have almost never made much more money than I need to survive. Knowing all of this though I still feel good looking myself in the mirror every morning. I feel good because every day when I get up I have the chance to help someone. I get to take ordinary people and turn them into extraordinary people.
How do I do that? I know you hear a lot of promises and a lot of bragging about how much money YOU can make, but that is not really the issue. The issue is I know every person I introduce to the guys over at SFM has the chance to go from a worker ant to an entrepreneur. Granted not everyone does, a lot of people stumble, a lot of people fail and a lot of people are too scared to really take the first step into something new.
I wanted you to let me ask you a question way back at the beginning of this post so now let me ask: Do you think you have the will and the vision to make a start on changing how you see the world and how you live your life?
If you are not serious and if you have no interest then please turn back now. Go back to your T.V. show or the report you have due tomorrow and forget I asked. If you are interested though and if you want to hear some more of what I get to do everyday then put your email in the box and we will send you out a free week of videos that ought to give you a better idea of what I do and what SFM does.
So, are you interested? Get the videos here.
I bet if you are honest the answer is not many.
If you are like me you have a feeling somewhere deep inside that tells you that even if you are working hard everyday you are just spinning your wheels. I'm not talking about money and I'm not talking about success. A lot of people have money and a lot of people have success however you choose to measure it. All of these people though tend to fail in one very important way. They don't actively make people's lives better.
I am proud to say that no matter how high the ladder you climb and no matter how many awards you win I still think I do better. I have almost never been promoted, I have almost never made much more money than I need to survive. Knowing all of this though I still feel good looking myself in the mirror every morning. I feel good because every day when I get up I have the chance to help someone. I get to take ordinary people and turn them into extraordinary people.
How do I do that? I know you hear a lot of promises and a lot of bragging about how much money YOU can make, but that is not really the issue. The issue is I know every person I introduce to the guys over at SFM has the chance to go from a worker ant to an entrepreneur. Granted not everyone does, a lot of people stumble, a lot of people fail and a lot of people are too scared to really take the first step into something new.
I wanted you to let me ask you a question way back at the beginning of this post so now let me ask: Do you think you have the will and the vision to make a start on changing how you see the world and how you live your life?
If you are not serious and if you have no interest then please turn back now. Go back to your T.V. show or the report you have due tomorrow and forget I asked. If you are interested though and if you want to hear some more of what I get to do everyday then put your email in the box and we will send you out a free week of videos that ought to give you a better idea of what I do and what SFM does.
So, are you interested? Get the videos here.
What Kind Of Education Do You Want?
We have all heard that information is money, but do we really
understand what that means? Why is it that some people seem to make
money at everything they do and the rest of us seem to simply stumble
along making enough to pay rent or the mortgage?
The answer is information. Those we think of as entrepreneurs are not any smarter, nor are they any luckier than the rest of us but they do have something most of us don't. They seek information. They drink in new knowledge. They open their minds to the changing economy and society around them.
Ask any successful entrepreneur what sets them apart and I am sure several words will come up again and again. Words like drive, passion, need and determination. While all of these words describe the personality of the successful they still could not become successful without the knowing how to.
Education is an often forgotten side to entrepreneurship. Many of the greatest successes in our history have been made by people we could well think of as "under-educated" but that is I believe an unfair label. It is true that people such as Bill Gates, Richard Branson and many others including those as far back as Henry Ford and Andrew Carnegie were not what would traditionally be called well educated. That however depends on what education means to you.
The traditional school and especially university education systems are proving incapable of keeping up with technology. They do not seem to be capable of teaching the skills and mindsets needed for this digital age.
When many young people are putting themselves into crippling debt to pay for an education that not only doesn't guarantee them a good job, but which actually now almost guarantees them a bad one* we know we are in troubled times.
So what is the solution? How do great entrepreneurs make it big? They still make sure they are educated they just choose a different more hands on form of education. They learn to use the tools they need to make themselves great. Take for example an online learning course such as this one. It costs no more than a college degree but instead of four years learning something that will have little impact on your job in the future it teaches you a wide range of skills you can apply to an even wider range of possible income streams.
I believe Alan Watts said it best:
You see the internet should offer us more choice not less. We should be broadening our horizons and seeking to better ourselves not plodding along blindly at the same desk job we hate for years. We should be making the future better doing what we love and sharing what interests us.
No matter what you want to sell, no matter what you are interested in someone else will be too so why not make yourself and the world a more vibrant knowledgeable place?
It is up to us to choose our future, and you only get one life, so make it count.
The answer is information. Those we think of as entrepreneurs are not any smarter, nor are they any luckier than the rest of us but they do have something most of us don't. They seek information. They drink in new knowledge. They open their minds to the changing economy and society around them.
Ask any successful entrepreneur what sets them apart and I am sure several words will come up again and again. Words like drive, passion, need and determination. While all of these words describe the personality of the successful they still could not become successful without the knowing how to.
Education is an often forgotten side to entrepreneurship. Many of the greatest successes in our history have been made by people we could well think of as "under-educated" but that is I believe an unfair label. It is true that people such as Bill Gates, Richard Branson and many others including those as far back as Henry Ford and Andrew Carnegie were not what would traditionally be called well educated. That however depends on what education means to you.
The traditional school and especially university education systems are proving incapable of keeping up with technology. They do not seem to be capable of teaching the skills and mindsets needed for this digital age.
When many young people are putting themselves into crippling debt to pay for an education that not only doesn't guarantee them a good job, but which actually now almost guarantees them a bad one* we know we are in troubled times.
So what is the solution? How do great entrepreneurs make it big? They still make sure they are educated they just choose a different more hands on form of education. They learn to use the tools they need to make themselves great. Take for example an online learning course such as this one. It costs no more than a college degree but instead of four years learning something that will have little impact on your job in the future it teaches you a wide range of skills you can apply to an even wider range of possible income streams.
I believe Alan Watts said it best:
You see the internet should offer us more choice not less. We should be broadening our horizons and seeking to better ourselves not plodding along blindly at the same desk job we hate for years. We should be making the future better doing what we love and sharing what interests us.
No matter what you want to sell, no matter what you are interested in someone else will be too so why not make yourself and the world a more vibrant knowledgeable place?
It is up to us to choose our future, and you only get one life, so make it count.
Friday, 23 October 2015
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)