This is a very useful ebook to anyone who is planning to live, work or spend time abroad. Bruce Pohlmann has been an international teacher for over 20 years; he has taught in Bali, Pakistan, Malaysia, Japan, Thailand and India. His ebook gives the reader all kinds of insights into how to find the right […]

The First Step toward a New Life in Australia
“Getting started” is a summarized must-read if you are planning to live or work in Australia.
Its five chapters analyze and offer information on what you must know before you move: cost of living, visa options, setting up during the first 12 months, job hunting and more.
Tips and […]

(Photo opposite: Antonio Graceffo) In a low-level English class, with children, we read a very simple story book called “Jim’s New Bike.” There were only one or two very simple sentences per page. If you transcribed the entire book, it would be about one and a half pages of text.
The way I teach these […]

(Photo opposite: Jurgen Klemann) I got to Uganda on 14 January. Which is to say that I’ve spent so far about five weeks in my new stomping ground. Over that stretch of time, things have slowly started to fall into place. The university’s vice - chancellor’s concurred that I can continue staying at the […]

(Photo opposite: Friends from Carnival) The first night of the Carnival was a good one. Panama City is quiet and most people have headed to the interior of Panama to celebrate Carnival with family and friends. The big celebration in Panama City is on the Transistmica. The Transistmica is a major commercial road that […]

(Photo opposite: Library at Kumi University in Eastern Uganda.) The library of a university in the boondocks of Eastern Uganda looks slightly different to the university library of the University of Munster, Germany (where I scraped through law school). The selection of books available is a little more limited than at the University of Munster. […]

(Photo opposite: Jurgen Klemann) You ain’t believe it. A few days ago, I could grab the opportunity and brush up on my Chinese language skills, in the countryside of Eastern Uganda. The opportunity arose over a dinner bash, which my new university gave. The dinner bash largely served as a welcome for a mission […]

(Photo opposite: Antonio Graceffo) Mulan and Shrek both stopped by my classroom to help me teach English to second graders. Man, I wish that had happened when I was a kid in school.
Picture story is an incredibly fun and useful tool which can be used in a foreign language classroom for teaching real speaking […]

(Photo opposite: Library at Jurgen’s university in Uganda.) I landed my teaching positions at universities in Mexico and China by responding to advertisements on the internet. The application process kicked off when I stumbled across vacancies listed on certain websites. Matt Atlee, for instance, mentioned www.higheredjobs.com in one of his articles. I wasn’t in […]

My university’s situated in the boondocks of Eastern Uganda. Every now and then the university has got some business to do in Kampala. It takes five hours or so to get from Eastern Uganda to Kampala. When enough business has piled up to make the trip worthwhile, someone does the trip to Kampala. A few […]

You’ve got to pass two exams to be a fully qualified lawyer in Germany. The First State Law Exam pretty much equals graduating from law school. The Second State Law Exam comes down to a postgraduate degree, which you obtain after gaining practical experience as a law clerk. When scraping through the Second State Law […]

(Photo opposite: Jurgen with students) In the past week a few students felt like having a banter with me about all sorts of things. They were in one of my classes in the past semester. Whilst having the little chat, we stuffed some food into our stomachs. I let the students pick the spot. […]

(Photo opposite: Jurgen with class in Changchun, China) A few days ago, “my” university gave a little welcome reception for the new international faculty. All in all, there are plenty new faculty faces around for the unfolding academic year. The university’s vice - president gave the welcome address in Chinese. It was fortunately translated into […]

(Photo opposite: Jurgen stands in center of photo) You see me in the photo with one of my classes in Changchun. The photo pretty much projects an ordinary class at our university. There are plenty more female students than male students in that class. Across the board, girls outnumber guys at our university by […]

(Photo opposite: Ak’Tenamint Clinic on Guatamala’s Rio Dulce) Crouched in the little wooden canoe whose put-put motor shimmered beads of water into gossamer wings, we skimmed over the water like a dragonfly. Leaving the thatched roof clinic of Ak’Tenamit in our wake, only we disturbed the stillness of a beginning-of-the-world dawn. Stark white herons […]

(Photo opposite: Santa Maria Inn) When I applied for the job as an instructor of political science at Allan Hancock College in Santa Maria, California, I didn’t really think I would ever get the job. I didn’t think I would get the job because I had been out of the U.S. job market for […]

(Photo opposite: Campus where Jurgen teaches in Changchun, China) My first semester in Changchun’s wrapped up. Since this week I’m on holiday until the end of August. You may guess three times what I’m up to on holiday. Yep, you’re right. I’ll spend the entire holiday in Changchun. Changchun’s situated off the beaten path. […]

My classes will sit their final exams in the first week of July. That’s reason enough for me to preach a little sermon in these classes before the exams. The sermon contains the message “don’t overdo gearing up for the exams. If you do, you rattle yourself and accomplish the opposite of what you’ve set […]

(Photo opposite: Antonio on resuce duty in Tondo)
“How do you shower on a twenty-four hour shift?” I asked, noticing that there was no plumbing in the radio shack, where I was told we would be sleeping.
“We can use the hose from the firetruck. Answered the chief.”
Suddenly, I wasn’t sure if EMS was really the […]

A few weeks ago, I spent about half a day in Jilin. Jilin’s a city in the province with the same name. But Jilin’s not the capital of the province Jilin. The province’s capital and largest city’s Changchun. The city Jilin can boast a population of about two million whilst Changchun’s population hovers around seven […]