Éamon & Jack’s weekly email

Hi there,

Welcome to the first of our weekly emails. You are getting this either because you already sent me an email saying you want it, or else I think you might want to be kept up to date on our travels. If you don’t, just unsubscribe (details below).

After Irish Life
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So what have I been doing since leaving Irish Life? Well, I had three weeks off at the beginning of January. That was probably the toughest time, because I really missed people. I didn’t miss work as such, but I missed coffee break and lunchbreak, and just talking to people. Anyway, towards the end of January I started the CELTA course.

I’m a student!
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The CELTA is the Cambridge qualification for teaching English. It’s a very tough course. Really pressurised and time-consuming. I wasn’t prepared for the intensity of it. And I’d very unwisely arranged to go away for a weekend in Westport in the middle of the course. It consisted of lectures, teaching practice with real classes in the college, assignments, and observation of experienced teachers. The teaching practice was terrifying, and I felt I got worse as I went along. I’m really poor on English grammar, and it’s scary when you’re teaching and learning at the same time. Anyway I finished up on 18 February, qualifying with a pass.

I’m a teacher!
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The college tutors suggested that I apply for a job in the college for a few weeks before travelling. So I started working there a week after finishing the course. It was fantastic experience. I started with an elementary class of mainly Chinese students. It was really tough at the start. I felt that I was boring them as I looked around at their yawning faces. I also found it hard to know how long anything would take in class, so my lesson plans were all over the place. However, by the end of week one I felt I was getting the hang of it, and was a little more confident. For week two I was moved to Upper Intermediate, but only had two students. This is a much easier level to teach, because they understand you, and can easily talk to each other. The third and final week, this class went to 11 students. Four Spanish, two Japanese, two Swiss, one French, one Portuguese and one Hungarian. I really enjoyed that week, and relaxed into the role. I was actually sorry to be leaving, and the students said they were sorry to see me go, which was a good confidence boost.

Pack and go
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So the big push now is to pack and go. We’re leaving on Tuesday 5 April. Flying to San José, the capital of Costa Rica via JFK and Atlanta. I’ve built up so much clutter over the years in the house it’s incredible. Bags and bags have gone into my grey and green bins, the recycling centre, the charity shop, and even a few things dumped in various skips around Rathmines. And still it’s not finished. The stuff I’m keeping is moving down to my mother’s in Ennis for storage, so we’ll have a trip down there this week

Farewell to Copeland’s
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While all this has been going on, Jack has been the breadwinner, and only handed in his notice in Copeland’s this week. He’ll finish up on the 30th. We’re going to have a few drinks on April 1st, venue to be advised, before we go.

Must rush off now, packing to do, etc.!!

Éamon & Jack