What made you smile today?

I'm going to Melbourne to terrorise msolga! That'll stop her smiling!

Got another raise today, the second this week. Twas a small smile because it's not gonna last.

Met a neat Somalian guy in a taxi today. Had one of the most interesting conversations in a long time.

Danced in the bus, with a really big really drunk black guy who had a smile so big that I couldn't help but smile. He kept baning his head on the roof as we pranced around to "Sweet home Alabama".

At first I was wary of the guy, he was big (think the dude in The Green Mile) and kept drinking from his backpack. He was so big that even squished in his seat his arm was way way into my space.

He started leaning in towards me in a really odd way, I thought he was going to collapse on me or something.

He started rocking his head and then I realized he was listening to my music on my head phones.

He smiled at me and said "Sweeeeet home Alabama" with a huge grin.

We ended up dancing around the bus with half the bus singing along. even an old lady was singing and clapping and it was a surreal experience.

One of my weirdest days this year. I simled a lot today, despite it not being a good day for many other reasons.

It reminded me of old movies where someone makes a whole town break out in song and dance. So weird.

I hope I can sleep tonight.

Oh, I forgot another thing that made me smile, I got an email from someone in Brazil asking for English classes. It was from the sister of one of my favorite students that I'd thought of just a few days ago.

I was happy that the word of mouth I'd relied on to make a living was still at work after all this time, and was happy to contact my student again.

Did you teach English in Brazil?

Did you grow up there or go to Brazil specifically for that reason?

This intrigues me. For example, how did you manage to do that without a university education? I thought it was a pre-requisite to getting into english teaching programs - or at least it is here.

IronLionZion wrote:

Did you teach English in Brazil?

Yes.

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Did you grow up there or go to Brazil specifically for that reason?

Really long story, I grew up in 10 different countries and Brazil was one of the ones I spent the most time.

Quote:

This intrigues me. For example, how did you manage to do that without a university education? I thought it was a pre-requisite to getting into english teaching programs - or at least it is here.

The scarcity of native speakers abroad means just about any can teach ESL on some level. They need people who have native pronnunciation so as to sharpen their skills.

All ya need is coversational skills. I got paid for chatting up some of the most well educated segments of the society sometimes.

It's easily the best job I ever had, and I plan to return to it one day.

The scarcity of native speakers abroad means just about any can teach ESL on some level.....I got paid for chatting up some of the most well educated segments of the society sometimes.