I know, I know…. no blog posts for a month. As a newly-minted teacher, all of my spare time for the past month has been devoted to prepping and lesson planning. I knew all along that I was overdoing it, but I figured the prep-time-to-class-time ratio would adjust in time, and it has.

Now that I am an old pro of one month (I laugh when I think of my friends Marci and Wendy, with 20 and 30 years’ experience, respectively), I feel I have the mindspace to think about something other than my next class. “One month in” seems like a good time to reflect on my experience so far as an English teacher abroad.

My school, ICI, teaches 12 languages and employs native speakers, which means I have the good fortune to work with teachers from all over the world.  The ones I socialize with most are German, Swiss-German, British, and American, plus a few Mexicans. They all speak English and Spanish. I am the only person I know who doesn’t speak Spanish (yet). I have two hours of private Spanish instruction and one hour of group class each week, but until now, I haven’t made studying Spanish a priority. I was too busy over-preparing for my English classes. Now that I feel more comfortable in the classroom, I plan to schedule study time each day  — and stick to it.

ICI offers private and group lessons at the school, and also contracts with local companies and international corporations to teach English at the client’s location. Many of ICI’s 143 teachers work full-time at companies like HP, Intel, and Hershey’s. I currently teach a group class at Herbalife, plus I have a handful of private students. It’s kind of ironic that I find myself back in a corporate environment, albeit in a very different capacity (and at the tiniest fraction of my U.S. salary). The thing is, I feel like I am actually doing something here. I am helping real people achieve real goals. My students are smart, appreciative, and motivated. I adore them all. And, I am not sitting at a desk all day. I can come back to my apartment between classes and chill out, or go the grocery store, or take a bike ride. Those two factors alone make it worthwhile.

I needed a job. I needed a change. I needed a challenge. Check. Check. Check.