Starting a new job is always an exciting but nervy time - what will your new colleagues be like, will you enjoy the work, will your unique brand of zany humour be welcome?
But for international teachers this change comes with a whole host more thoughts: will I cope with a new language, will I adapt to the culture, which side of the road do I drive on again?
We asked international teachers of Twitter for their most memorable culture shock moments or the realisation that “wow, I’m living in a new country...” really hit.
We received a raft of great replies and have rounded up some of the most interesting and eye-opening below.
1. Lizards
When a monitor lizard took a stroll through the back garden in a storm whilst the we were having breakfast. Or the moment we began to co-exist with the ants intead of battling them, comes with a tropical climate, everything goes in the fridge.
- Dan Lyng (@lyngphysics) August 1, 2020
2. Cockerels
The morning I had a live cockerel running round my classroom because one boy in my tutor group caught a feral cockerel on the way to school, intending to take it home to have a cock fight between this one and another. #CaymanIslands
- LGray (@Gray14899675) July 31, 2020
3. Call to prayer
Being awakened by the call to prayer in Pristina. It doesn’t take long, though, for it to become a natural part of your daily life.
- Laura J. Taylor (@LJTaylorMSEd) August 2, 2020
4. Ramadan
Experiencing Ramadan for the first time in the UAE having previously lived in central Scotland. 10 years on, I’m still learning about culture every day!
- Niall Statham (@NiallStatham) July 31, 2020
5. Wai Kru celebrations
Sitting in my first Wai Kru celebration @SHBriverside where the whole school took and oath to respect all teaching staff and behave well. Quite a moment.
- Chris Seal (@lessonflipper) July 31, 2020
6. Post-lunch cleaning
When I watched as all of my students cleaned the school after lunch. Very different, very Japanese.
- George Evans (@kruevans) July 31, 2020
7. Crazy traffic
It was during my first motorbike food tour ride in the crazy traffic of Ho Chi Minh City, and I realised it wasn’t just a holiday and I would get to eat this incredible Vietnamese food all the time if I wanted to. I built up the courage to buy my own motorbike 18 months later!
- Miss Markham (@MissMarkhamMCR) July 31, 2020
8. Communications
At the local wet market, trying to buy and identify food in a language I didn’t yet speak at all with none of the locals speaking my language either!
- Jenni (@Jenni35790461) August 2, 2020
9. Transport options
That the most reliable, traffic-free commute option was to take a train that felt more like a cattle car (no doors), followed by a tuk-tuk (auto-rickshaw?) driven by an assortment of boys young enough to be my children ?
- Asma Saloom (@SaloomAsma) August 2, 2020
10. A moment to reflect
It was half term, October and we were sat on a Thai beach watching a sunset, pinching ourselves that this was our life. From August to that moment, we barely had time to think, let alone sink in that life had truly changed what with starting new Sch, finding a house etc;
- Jules Knight Williams MCCT (@KnightWilliams) July 31, 2020
Dan Worth is senior editor at Tes
