Category: HomeLife

Travelling around the USA – Part Two

Jemma Jones

Welcome to part two of my recent trip to America, we left part one with myself in Philly. It was only a day and a half but I loved every moment of it. I think that next time I will stay there for three days (or a week?!), so I can get everything in. I missed the “Rocky Steps”, maybe next time!

gp40ph-2bAny how; after Philadelphia I used the NJ Transit to make my way to Girl Scout Camp in Newfield, NJ. It was a rather easy journey – much nicer than I thought it would be. However; I wanted to hold some of my luggage in storage at the station but I was unable to as I was not using Amtrak – I will remember to check that next time I travel to the USA. The website that there was storage for luggage but it did not say for Amtrak travellers only. I left Philly early and the journey was very straightforward. The conductor was not happy when he saw me get onto the train. I had to travel to camp in my Guide uniform.

I used a car to make my way from Hammonton to Newfield; I just squeezed in!

The car is filled with items that needed to be taken to camp; I think “last minute items” they were called. I was glad to be sitting on a comfy seat with decent air conditioning. The NJ Transit train has a leak – it was not a pretty sight. I wish that I had took a photo of it, so one I could show all of you and also I could have sent it to NJ Transit themselves. That is another thing I need to remember to do – keep photographic evidence of things that are broken or incorrect.

Camp went too quickly and I made new friends and caught up with some ‘old’ ones. It was fab to be at camp in America again. Bring on 2020; that is when that next Celebration camp will be. I am already planning on what I am going to do. Crazy I do; I do not know where I am going to be in the world by then – but I will still be going to the camp!

While at camp; I tried my hand at driving an automatic – never again! Did not like it! I also took my golf buggy driving “test”; there were two buggies for the staff members (which I was kind of classed as) to drive around the site. 13934623_10153743348221500_7361974994854980582_n

 

Here I am with three other British attendees – one from Northamptonshire and two from Staffordshire. I had loads of fun while at Camp – I miss all the new friends I made and all the ‘old’ ones I re-met!

I used NJ Transit to get back to Philly, as this was where my Megabus was leaving from. I had the same problems with this train that I had with my first train. I did have the feeling that it was the same train – the conductor was even grumpier than the first one. He practically pushed me onto the train. img_3880This is why this photo does not really show me. I was not looking forward to getting into a leaking train. Sadly, I feel that I would not use NJ Transit trains again; this was due to the amount of water that was being leaked from the air cooling unit. I would like to try the bus system next time I am in New Jersey. I spent most of the journey trying to get myself all organised. I had packed away my ticket of the Megabus deep within my hand luggage. One more thing to add to my ‘do forget’ list – handbag with tickets etc. in always!

The Megabus section of my trip was reasonably okay – it was late by twenty five minutes and there was no proper shelter for us to stand under. I am glad that I have reserved my seat as I was able to get on first and sort myself out. I slept most of the journey and I was glad to get to my friend’s house. However; my Greyhound experience from Buffalo to Orlando was not good at all! 33 and a quarter hours (twice!!) on a bus (well, two buses) and with three lovely drivers and one horrid driver. I know that Greyhound are supposed to be the best way to see America, but I felt that it would have been better for me. The buses has WiFi and electrical sockets (outlets for the American reader); which worked intermittently. Also the buses were never on time. I tried to get my money back from my ticket before I left Buffalo, however, I was not successful. I am so flying next time!

Things that I need to remember when travelling around America:

  1. Always have an American number (which I now know I could have had my old US number re-activated instead of buying a new one)
  2. Flying wherever possible!
  3. Always have my camera to hand to capture photographically evidence!
  4. Definitely buy local sightseeing companies day pass tickets
  5. Always to have all my travel details in one place that is accessible!

Travelling around the USA – Part One

Jemma Jones

As some of you all know, I have been away in the USA. I was attending a Girl Scout camp out there for a week; but I thought that I would make it more of a proper holiday by visiting my friend, Amy and her family. Very last minute; I decided to attend an International Conference. Therefore, I ended up travelling all over the Eastern coastal States. At first, I thought was going to be amazing; however, I am going to tell you all a different story…

national_express_7102_caetano_levante_fj08_knw_metrocentre_2009_pic_1I used National Express to make my way to the airport; I chose to fly from Heathrow as I know my way around the Terminals. The National Express bus journey was fine, I was going to reading but I was too excited. It was a 5.10am departure – I know that I am a crazy person; but I need to get this departure as my flight was at 12.45pm and I needed to arrive at the airport three hours before departure – I arrived a 8.15am. There is no traffic “at the crack of dawn” on the British Motorway; which I am very glad about.

heathrow_airport275-1024x768However, on my arrival to Heathrow – I did not have to wait awhile before I dropped off my bag. I checked in online 24 hours before my flight – I do recommend that you do that, as it made life much easier as it was rather busy at the airport – Top Tip #1.I am glad that I still had some British Pounds on me, as I knew that I would be hungry before boarding my flight. So, Top Tip #2 is have some of your “Home” Currency for the airport.

The flight was excellent; the staff were amazing and the people who sat next to me were good too. We didn’t speak much; so therefore, I thought I would catch up on some movies that I had missed at the Cinema. Seven hours were filled with six and half films. I think that is a record of my binge movie watching.

On arrival in to Philadelphia; I was going to use public transport to my accommodation for the next day and a half – however, I was a little worried as my Uber account was not working properly – I still haven’t worked out why?! – I found a cab that took me; sadly it was more expensive than Uber, oh well! I was using a AirBnB home for my accommodation. Pat, my host, was amazing. He made me feel welcome and safe, even though the neighbourhood did not. However, I found the links into the centre of Philly very good. I got myself a “Day Pass”; however I do not know if this it was it is officially called – it was only USD$ 8 and I was able to use it on train, trams and buses!

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Excellent buy I feel. I also used the PHLASH bus; a circular bus route that ‘visits’ all the tourist places in Philly – that was only USD$5 for the whole day – I was unable to use the NJ Transit train ticket on this bus. I found that this mixture of tickets I could see a lot of Philly, both the tourist side and the not-so-tourist side. a4fed877e046075266a113fd5d70348fI went over to Pat’s King of Steaks – I was introduced to this heavenly place in 2012. I helped an Asian customer with her order; I felt like a local. I had onions on mine; I forgot that it gets messing with them on it! I did have to walk in Philly, but I had not bought myself an AT&T sim card by this time, so I was using local WiFi hotspots.

Killing Time…

Jemma Jones

I am currently typing this post at my “Base”; it is the office where I am based out of (even though I have been at the same school of seven years?!). I have been asked to come here today and I have been here since 8.30am BST (this is my start time); however, my Line Manager has not yet arrived. Oh well!

I have completed three modules of some online courses I have been requested to do and now I do not know what to do?! I thought that I would have Jackie and her The Budget Minded Traveler podcast on and fill my Wanderlust fix.

It is not long until I finish for the summer and I will be able to ACTUALLY be travelling on my own in sunny USA. I have been packed for a few days now; I know that I do not go until the endo fo the month – I have been using Her Packing List and Jackie’s tips for my packing. I am so glad that I found those websites – if you have not already found them – head over to them now! I know that you will love them! I have also downloaded the HPL podcast ready for my trip; there are currently only 15 episodes.

I have been thinking about doing some blog posts for Bloggers Required for another blog – The Writing Rants; has anyone done any posts for them? How have you found it? I will let you know on how my posts go…

I have been worrying about my jobs prospects as a TEFL teacher – is it worth it? I know that does sound like I have lost passion, maybe I have but if I have, have I wasted my time on my studies, blogging and planning my Vlogging videos? Please guys, do you have any tips to improve my mood?!

Hello July!

Jemma Jones

hello-july-20

Yippie! It is July and soon it will be the end of the school term. But; what I am going to do in September? Well; I have been told that on Thursday I will be finding out where I am going to be placed – I have a few days off as of end of play on Friday (nice little sporting reference for you all!) and I will be popping into the office to have a meeting. I am nervous as I am having this feeling that I am not going to be placed in Secondary, however; I still have until July 31st to make my decision. I do have some options, that will enable me to teaching more online and save my cash for moving abroad.

As well as making decisions; I have been planning my trip to the USA. I am pretty excited as it is only 28 days until I fly out there! A year of planning has been amazing! I have created a TripIt itinerary, so all my friends (here in the UK and in the USA) know where I am going to be and when. I felt that this would be a good idea, as I am travelling by myself and using public transport. I have also been sorting out what I am going to pack; I have already done a “dry pack” and I am currently underweight (Yippie!); which is good as I am travelling for 22 days – which 7 are Girl Scout camp and 4 are at Disney.

I have decided that I will do some VLogs of my trip and I will upload them onto my YouTube Channel – My TEFL Adventures – as I will be using A LOT public transport

What will I pack? I need some tips!

Jemma Jones
Image from Frugal Frolicker – many thanks!

Being a Guide (yes, I am still in the Girl Guides) I am always most of the time ready for anything; being a teacher abroad I will still be prepared for all that will happen abroad. I know that I will need to pack a lot of things; here is what I would pack in my suitcase (or cases):

 

 

I will definitely need some of this in my bag;

  • Aloe Vera Gel – I swear by it! Excellent for everything!
  • Factor 50+ Sun Screen – You can never know how strong the Sun wherever I go to teach; also I do burn even though I am a brunette.
  • My Jamberry Mini Heater, some wraps and Plug Adapter – I have got to have pretty nails wherever I am!
  • All my TEFL teaching resources – I have QUITE a lot of items; from lesson plans to Register Books and stationery.
  • Solar Chargers – I love my solar chargers; one of the best things I have ever bought as they work even in low light. However, I would to love to have more!

I found some posts called “Ways to save space, what not to take!” and “8 Essential items to pack when moving abroad” written by Amy of Teacher Traveller Money Saver. Both posts were very interesting and I have taken some tips from the lovely Amy – many thanks for sharing! I also read Claire and Anthony’s (of To Love, To Live) post – TEFL: packing for every eventuality and I watched their video TEFL: Travel Preparations.

I have been researching what other people have done when they have been moving abroad. I found Her Packing List; which is a travel blog/site that is aimed at women and gives us girls tips about traveling. Brooke and her team area amazing and I have saved it to my ‘TEFL Bookmarks’. I will spend some more time and work my way through the site. Of what I have found it is very interesting and informative. Another site I found was Frugal Frolicker; another female traveller, called Lindsey, who blogs about her adventures. The image at the top of this post is what she packed for one of her trips in Asia. I have also been using Jackie’s website – The Budget Minded Traveller and all of tips and itinerary lists for some ideas. Not forgetting her amazing Podcast that have hints and tips!

I know that packing “my life” into my 70ltr backpack and my “daysac” is going to be hard. I have already decided that my “daysac”; which will be my carry on, will have my Laptop (as it is designed for laptops), passport and all my paperwork (tickets, visas, cash etc.). I cannot go anywhere without them; in theory. Talking about paperwork; I know that I will be including the following:

  • copies of my passport – at least two copies.
  • medical prescription (as am an EpiPen carrier – Nut allergy) – at least two copies
  • a letter from doctor – I am thinking of doing a medical check; but as usual with the NHS here in the UK, there will be a charge.
  • copies of any visas I have – some will be in the passport but I will photocopy them just in case.

However; what about my things that are staying back here in the UK. Currently, I am still living with my mum and as time goes on my things are reducing. I know that what things I do have left will be okay; as hopefully my family will look after them. The house is fully insured as is the contents of it. I know that it will be mostly Guiding items (my camp blankets etc.). There are other options to be; for example putting all my things into self storage. However; I am a little nervous about that as you don’t know who has the Master Key and have access to your belongings. I have already started to reduce my clothes; I have been losing weight for the last year and a half – lost two dress sizes – and therefore most of my clothes do not fit me anymore. There are products in the market that can help myself and others protect their homes – for example like a Wireless Alarm System from Simplisafe; an American award winning company. With the Simplisafe Free Apps for iPhone, Android, & Windows smartphones we can take control of your security with a more sophisticated personal Command Centre. A fab idea right?

While I am abroad, I know that I will have to keep myself healthy and safe. I do some self defence moves and I am willing to learn the language so I am able to communicate with the locals.

Some job news…

Jemma Jones1 Comment

Every now and again I apply for some jobs on the i-to-i TEFL Jobs Board; sometimes I get an interview and sometimes (well, actually most of the time) I do not get a response.

However, recently I applied to three schools in China and one in Portugal. I thought that I would keep my options open just in case, I cannot save enough money for the Thailand Internship.

I have had emails from all four schools. How exciting? I have replied to all and two days ago I had an interview with Fun Language Viseu in Portugal. Sadly, I had been called into my current workplace, luckily the girls were fine for half and hour when I had my interview over Skype. I am now starting to find the Skype interviews easier and I am not as nervous when I am carrying them out. I try to be myself and answer the questions truthfully. I did not have to carry out a mock lesson like the last time I had a Skype interview. All that I was asked were the standard teaching experience questions. I have also replied to the three Chinese schools with some questions. Hopefully I will hear back from all four of them soon.

I am now an official Jamberry Nails Consultant. You may have seen the image appear upon the sidebar of the blog. It is very exciting. I am one of the first people to have this opportunity here in the UK; I hope that you all have a look at my website; just click the image and it will send you to my site. I may not be a ‘girly girl’ but the Jamberry nail wraps are amazing. I have never seen anything like them ever. I was introduced to them by my long-time friend, Amy, who I have known since 1999. She was in the Girl Scouts (the same area that I am going to camp with this summer) and she was my Host for the camp. She is a ‘sister from another mumma’! I am going to see her too this summer, can’t wait! Jamicures will be taking place when I am there for sure! Here are some examples of the wraps; they are cute right?

Supportive Family?!

Jemma Jones

Today I have been talking to my family; it is my sister in law’s birthday and we were spending some time together, about about doing the internship with i-to-i TEFL to Thailand. Firstly, they were all happy for me that I had *finally* (in their eyes) a decision. Then they asked about how I would get into the internship…I explained the process and the price. This was when they thought that i-to-i was not a legitimate company because I was paying to go on an internship. I directed my brother to the website; as I do with any inquiry about the company or any of the programmes that they have created. He saw the price for the current intake for Thailand and was shocked. I explained that I would get a reduced rate as I was already qualified (I am hoping that is still the case?!). I would need to pay the price given time and then I would need to organise my flights.

This was when he began to fully understand what was happening. However, my mum not so much. All she had to say was that I needed to pay off all my debts before I went! What does she think I have been doing for the last four/five years while I have been studying?!

On a brighter note; I have given up on Vinted as nothing was selling. I am going to donate all the items I had on there to a local charity. My Starbucks card collection is slowly going; which is a relief as it was taking up too much space (there are still some cards there if you are a collector?!). I am now reading more as it is now the Easter holidays here in the UK. I want to read as many books as possible and then I can sell them on (or BookCross them on, I haven’t decided on that yet!).

Also on April 1st, the first Camp NaNoWriMo of the year starting. I have currently decided to write more of my novel that I started in 2011; but recently I have been thinking about creating a book or resources for Teaching English as a Foreign Language. Has anyone else done this? I have looked around on Teachers Pay Teachers and seen what people have created and what they charge – it could be a possibility in the future. I will need to do some more research.

I just want to know that dates for the October intake now for Thailand. So, I know how much I need to get sorted as I don’t want to be rushing at the last moment!

Struggling once again…

Jemma Jones1 Comment

Now I remember why I found the first Grammar course hard; as what I see as “errors” in the text given to me to not “errors” seen by the Tutor. This saddens me a little.

Has anyone else who has completed the Advanced Grammar Course had problems with the course? I am on the final part of the course; the checkpoint and I have already done one attempt (we are given only three attempts!)

Overview

You will complete an error analysis of a student’s piece of writing.

Assessment criteria

  • All task requirements are met
  • Twelve errors are identified.
  • All twelve corrected forms are accurate.
  • Rules are described with sufficient accuracy.

Task instructions

Read the following text written by an advanced student of English. It contains fifteen grammatical errors. All the errors reflect rules you’ve studied in the Advanced Grammar course.

This is the start of the Checkpoint; simple enough right?

Mobile Devices and Language Learning

Most young people use the mobile phones in their everyday lives, and now they want using them to learn English.

Do we can learn that way? I think we can learn that way.

There are many uses of mobile phones technology which can help us improving our English.

Some learners use them to look up and translate words, that they see. This is much more convenient than carrying dictionary around with you.

Some learners record English on the street so that they listen to the recording later. Because they can replay it to understand every word.

Other learners enjoy to use mobiles to practise reading and listening, or even to connect with other English users and practise communicating. They ask other students where can they find the best sites for this.

Some teachers think that mobile phones are a distraction, and so do not let students to bring them to class. I ask them to stop thinking: mobiles can be a great way of practising English. Students will love English because of love technology.

This is the text; there are TWELVE errors; the feedback from the Tutor says that out of the twelve I found two are incorrect. *sad face* Also two of the suggested corrections for two items are not accurate.

There are to parts to the question; finding the errors and correcting them is the first part of stating the rules of six of the twelve errors. The tutor stated that all six of the rules I stated were incorrect.

Anyone willing to help me out here?! I don’t want to waste £50 for extending and £35 on the module!

I’ve finally extended….

Jemma Jones

I have finally got round to extending my TEFL course (once again!) I was halfway through the Advanced Grammar course and I had just received my Checkpoint feedback from the tutor. I cannot wait to get back into the swing of things.

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As for my Internship/Job hunting; I have been looking in Europe and focussing on Thailand as my Internship choice. Sadly, both the China and Vietnam Internships both start on the same day – 20th August 2016. This is the day after I return from my trip to America and I would have to leave on the 19th to arrive in China/Vietnam on the 20th. I do not think that I would be able to get all that I needed for six months (or thereabouts), leave the airport and return within three or fours hours. So, fate has given me only one choice – Thailand. I am excited about this and I am just waiting for the closing date to arrive for the May intake to come and then I will start applying! I need this in my life. At my current job; I do not know where I am going to be based in when September arrives. The worst case scenario will be one Signer and one Teaching Assistant (TAs). There are six TAs and about 15 Signers; where will our jobs be? I think that it is time that I stop thinking of others and get myself happy. I am never going to achieve anything unless I push myself.

Making me think…

Jemma Jones

politics

I have been thinking…yes I know, a dangerous idea! Why there are so many students within my current workplace that are classed as “English as a Additional Language”? I understand that since the borders open for Romania and Bulgaria to join the EU; the number of people arriving into the UK has not really changed that much. I read during my Teaching in Poland module that English is taught from a young age (around five years old). Is this the same with other countries within the EU? When it comes to European Politics, I don’t fully understand (to be honest, I don’t actually understand any politics?!). I have found that these children are intelligent beings and are treated differently because English is not their first language. As you all know, I am currently working with Deaf children and most teachers keep placing my self (and my student) upon a table full of EAL students. I am shocked of the amount of them. They do have intensive classes of English and some are improving – however; there are a few who are not.

I have found myself, helping the EAL students more than my own student – which currently the school do not pay me for. A few years ago, the school “removed” all the EAL Teaching Assistant (they were multilingual!) and since then, the number of EAL students has doubled.

Has anyone else noticed this?

If an ‘native’ English student; who is taught abroad; for example are they placed in a school where they are taught in a second language? An interesting thought right?