CIEE China Spotlight: Meet Erik - PART 2

Erik is back to answer more questions about teaching in China!

Where are you from? What was your academic background or career before teaching abroad?

I'm from Palm Springs, California. I had experience with tutoring and teaching assistantship, but my bachelor's was in environmental studies and my master's was in ethics.

What was the biggest challenge you faced? How did you learn and grow while abroad?

Challenges included coming to terms with differences in the society where I was working, facing the language barrier, turning assorted advice and expectations into appreciable work, and finding vegetarian meals. So long as time is set aside for such tasks, growth comes as they are taken on one by one.

What specific resources were helpful to you during the program?

Aside from Kelvin at CIEE, I've also been aided by International Affairs staff and fellow English teachers at Nankai, plus the odd friend made along the way. Teaching assistants can be helpful too.

Summarize your teach abroad experience in one word.

transformation

What kinds of jobs are you considering after teaching abroad?

I want to teach English in other parts of the world, hopefully picking up new languages as I go in case interpreting is in my future. My top choice for the next stop is Taiwan.

What does a typical day of teaching look like for you? What’s a challenge you’ve experienced? How was your experience in CIEE’s 150-Hr TEFL Course? What do you do in your free time? Any advice for those thinking about teaching in China?

Watch our Program Q&A to hear Erik’s answers to these questions.