About
Having escaped an evil chain gang of paper-pushers and desk-jockeys and ventured out beyond the white cliffs I now find myself within shouting distance of Krakow.
So, welcome to a written attempt at taming the energetic butterfly that lives in my head. Maybe Poland will prove to be just the flower that’s needed.
I hope you enjoy your visit 
A bit more about me…with pictures.
I’ve always thought of travel as an excitable child with a bubble-maker: The bubbles tumbling out in a captivating cascade before popping in glistening showers of emotion. As every traveller knows, with any trip there is a very real necessity for Carping The Diem, as Stephen Fry once put it but what of trips of a less specific duration? What of working abroad and the relaxing of time pressures that brings?
Having committed the grievous crime against the self of graduating with a degree in Economics I was sentenced to an indeterminate sentence in the financial sector wing of the English hard labour market. What followed were five long years of digging through the seemingly solid rock of debt that separates most graduates from freedom or, more accurately, freedom of choice.
After many Sunday nights of stomach turning dread, a sickening amount of debt repayment and much brow-furrowing, I stumbled across the perfect job: A job that would provide me with a steady flow of exciting experiences and ample avenues for child-like awe and all all far from the shores of dear old Blighty. What was this perfect job? Why, the teaching of English as a foreign language, of course!
So, on a brighter than usual day in September 2005 I escaped from the chain gang of paper pushers and desk jockeys and ventured out beyond the white cliffs to Kokura on the north eastern point of Kyushu, Japan’s third largest island.
Looking back I’m not really sure what mental preparations can be made for a place like Japan. There’s certainly no social kit bag or emotional Swiss Army knife to help your adjustment to this very different and very wonderful place. The same is true, to a certain extent, of Poland, as whilst it is European its customs and people have been etched with a very different tool from those of the English speaking nations who seem to share some commonality.
Like time, the bubble machine never stops so how do you ensure it keeps churning out happy, energetic and exciting bubbles? The best way I have found is to make friends with the locals, as at the very least, it provides anchorage and prevents you from drifting into the windless waters of an expat lifestyle. No man is an island but unfortunately TEFL can be Tenerife if you allow it to be. However, that’s not to say that a dose of homeward-looking chat about, amongst other things, how much better the English are at roasting potatoes isn’t welcome because it is!
I’ve lost count the amount of times I’ve said ‘Wow!’ in the past two and a bit years and there are memories enough that I don’t think I’d get bored even if I were shipwrecked on a desert island for years.
In Japan, among other things, I enjoyed Chūhai-fuelled barefoot piggy back racing, numerous 5am ramen sittings (yum!), Hanami (cherry blossom), all manner of interesting foods from crab brains to horse sashimi, shared a hiker’s hut on Yakushima island with about 20 snoring Japanese, danced New Year’s eve away in Tokyo before heading to Meiji Shrine to welcome in the New Year, temple-hopped in Kyoto, shindigged in Fukuoka and, of course, took part in numerous sessions of loud and talent-free karaoke one of which included a duet to Love Shack in Arnold Schwarzenegger accents (surprisingly effective actually).
And my time in Poland has, so far, been just as fun with Polish versus Foreigners snowball fights in the streets of Katowice (we won although only after resorting to viciously dirty tactics), roller coaster tram rides, the supping of fantastic beers, skiing in Poland and Slovakia, hiking in the Beskid Śląski mountains, and trips to Krakow, Bratislava, Vienna and Prague whilst the whole time enjoying the company of the incredibly warm and funny Polish tribe.
So, first Japan and then Poland (and Italy for a little bit) but what happens when it’s time to settle, time to commit to a place and its people with all their quirks and mystery? Most teachers settle in one place because, well, they fall in love and I am no exception. I am, however, doubly lucky to have done so in a country that is so perfectly positioned for exploring the surrounding countries should you want a break from the forests, lakes and castles that fill this very rich country.
One further (and warming) benefit of living abroad is that you come to appreciate the beauty of your own country every time you return there for a visit. For me England is a land with incredibly diverse scenery: From the breathtaking Lake District with its pools of crisp waters nestled in amongst mountains to the purple heather drenched moorland of Exmoor, which drops dramatically where it meets the sea. The scenery, traditions and even the weather become somehow enhanced when you live abroad. England isn’t soaked in rain everyday its beauty is frequently cleansed. So perhaps T.S Elliot put it best when he wrote of knowing a place for the first time upon returning to it having explored other places.
I love England but I love it all the more because I don’t live there and so whilst the good bubbles keep on popping I think I’ll stay here, happy and contented, in the middle of Euroland. I’m very lucky.
