Cultural Embrace by API

I have made the decision to teach English in Chile through Cultural Embrace so that I can work on my Spanish while imparting wisdom upon the niños there. Although I was a little nervous about the prospect of teaching English since I've never done it before, I was comforted by the fact that I will be working alongside a Chilean teacher in the classroom; basically it's like having teaching training wheels. My dealings with Cultural Embrace have been great. They were in constant communication with me to help me figure out any problems that may occur with the recent Chilean earthquakes. Their mission statement of 'discover the differences, share the possibilities' is something that I have found to be true in all of my travels abroad and is something that I can't wait to apply to my time in Chile!

I am on my third day teaching now and I have been busy with creating lesson plans and well, teaching. My day is set up is with a homeroom class from 8:30 to 10:20, then a picture dictionary class from 10:30-11:20, Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. After that class I have a two-hour break. At 1:30 I have an oral English class, then another one again at 2:30. Usually, at night, there are optional activities that we can do with the kids. Yesterday, we took all 200 kids to a field and had a little competition. The events were a three-legged race, wheelbarrow race, balloon toss, and a relay. We got 1st in the wheelbarrow and relay. For the relay, they had to balance a balloon on a badminton racket, run to the other side, and hand it off. My kids pushed the tied part into one of the crosses of the racket's string. I know almost all of my homeroom kids' names, and they are all very well behaved. I am pretty lucky to have them. In one of my afternoon classes, there are two younger girls from Korea. They are adorable and their English is very good. I'd say they are about 7 years old. Today, we stayed an hour extra to have 'conversations' with the kids. We got to choose our topics, so I just chose sports. Probably not the best subject for me since they all love basketball, and then baseball, the two I know the least about it. Everything here is going really well though. It's very tiring teaching all day, and my previous thoughts that I could never be a teacher for a career are being confirmed. I am getting paid a fair amount more than I thought I would for teaching, so that is awesome!

Everyone is so friendly. There are so many cute dogs! My student wrote a poem about the meaning of equality; it was so good. People really know how to save water here. I can play soccer everyday if I want to. My sewing teacher can make anything! She is a magician and never tires! The Chinese doctors have healed my injured knee. I feel no pain. I giggle and rejoice with my fellow foreigners: Oh my god, did you read her shirt?! It says 'Sadistic Teddybear'! Hahaha. I love ice crrrrrrrrream. It is 13 cents AND delicious. She asked for 100 bucks, but I paid 30!

Things are going great here. The staff at the pub are really nice and I've gone out about every night. I just back from a ski trip in the French Alps with one of my flat mates and its was quite incredible, this was a great placement. Thanks.

I taught Oral English at Baoji University of Arts & Sciences in Baoji, Shaanxi, China from March 2001 - Jan. 2002. Baoji is one of the 'smaller city' in China at about 2 - 3 million people! It is about 2 and half hours drive west of Xi'an.. Despite the two or three million locals (No one seem to know the exact figure of the local population), when I arrived in March 2001, I was only one of four non-Orientals/ thus upon my arrival I had an instant 'celebrity/human freak' status! Most people in Baoji don't speak ANY English... but they were all so sweet to me. I think I will always look back at my year in China with fond memories of an interesting job, very sweet and kindhearted people, great Chinese food and EXCELLENT TRAVELLING OPPORTUNITIES!!! THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU Cultural Embrace!!

Life in Poland is good.... I can not believe I will be finished this semester in 6 weeks.... It has been mostly a wonderful experience AGAIN! So thank you! Mark and Kasha are pretty good employers but then again I am a pretty good employee!.... I am going to travel some in the summer, so I am looking forward to it!

I really had a great time in England though, and I am so glad that I found Cultural Embrace because I don't think I would have done anything like this or had the same experience without CE.

I really did have a great time working abroad with Cultural Embrace! My goal was to work, and then take that money and travel around Europe. Every week I went to a different country or city on my days off, and that is what made this experience so wonderful. My roommate Roxanne and I got along very well, and I had a few other friends at the hotel who I enjoyed being with. The job was decent. I enjoyed decorating and setting up for the weddings more than anything, even though they were also the longest days. While in England, I lived and worked with the same people. Needless to say, that can be tedious and arguments and frustrations occur. I stayed in a hotel room the entire six months, and did feel the full room and board was a good deal.

I arrived safely in Puerto Cortes and began teaching classes this past Monday. I can already tell I will enjoy teaching the 10th grade Physics & Chemistry and the 9th grade Physical Science. All of the students I teach speak good English... I have made good friends with two other English teachers and we have had the opportunity to do a bit of sightseeing with local people we have met. I am very happy with the position. Thanks for all of your help.

Well, things are going great, as whirlwind is a good way of putting it. We had dinner at Michela and Sasha's the day we arrived, and they have been wonderful. We both thought it was interesting that their next door neighbor is the President of Serbia (totally not joking). We signed a lease for six months (with a chance to renew) on a great apartment (furnished) in the Center of the city, which is the most exciting part of town. Honestly, there is as good a night life here as NYC. It is about a 25 minute walk to the school or shorter by bus, which is good. The TEFL course will be a huge advantage, and will be very helpful when being trained. We worked out a deal that we will get free Serbian classes if we give placement exams when people want to take classes. Everyone has been wonderful and very helpful with our questions. Thanks again for everything!

Everything is going so well. The internship is great, and will really give me a lot of experience in preparation for a graduate degree program. My co-workers are incredable friendly and helpfull. I felt right at home straight away... Thank you for all the work you did, this really is turning into a great experience.

Everything is going well. Housing is perfect. I have my own room and bathroom. I started working yesterday at the orphanage and everyone there is very friendly. The kids are adorable. I think Cuernavaca is beautiful and I cant wait to do some sightseeing some more this weekend. Take care!

England is great. I love the pub I was placed in, the managers are great and I am really liking the work. Thank you for all your help and I will keep you updated with any exciting stories or adventures. Thanks again.

I highly recommend Cultural Embrace to anyone looking to see the world. The staff makes sure you are set up before you leave and that you will be taken care of once you reach your destination. I have researched competitors' offers and yes, Cultural Embrace does indeed give the best value. At the same time, what you see and experience really can't be measured in monetary terms. This has been a rewarding opportunity for my fellow volunteer teachers and me. We have explored various parts of Chile and Argentina; been aired on local TV; and even had the privilege of meeting Michelle Bachelet, President of Chile. I wouldn't trade this experience for anything.

My host family has been warm and caring, I have met and worked with wonderful people, experienced the Chilean culture, struggled and improved with the language, and seen students just as excited about my culture and language as I am about theirs.

I could not have imagined all that I would receive from my students, host family and other volunteers. They have opened my eyes and my heart to another culture and allowed me to share in their experiences; experiences that I will never forget.

I do have a few students that show enormous potential - enough to be speaking better English than I do someday. I can't help but think how fortunate these children are to be learning a foreign language from a native-speaker at such a young age.

I can honestly say that I love coming to school everyday... In a month and half when I have to leave these kids, it is going to be one of the hardest things that I will ever have to do. The only thing that I wish is that I have made the same impact on my students as they have made on me.