Coleen

I #Travel. I #TEFL. I write. I #DIY. I don't really post here anymore.

In English, Français, Castellano, and Italiano.

[Coleen @CalineMunruo]

Fuzhou is impermanent https://t.co/qj7WsJUnky

[Coleen @CalineMunruo]

@thocpodcast Yeah we used to try to get the students to remember that. Even when you don't *want* to represent the USA, you can't not be from the States and that will affect your experiences and interactions.

[Coleen @CalineMunruo]

@thocpodcast For some people, the removal of "home" taboos/rules/structures can lead to psychological stress and acting out. It is super-predictable and one reason why "expats" can get a bad rep. But there's also responsibility on the part of the person abroad not to, you know, be an arsehole

[Coleen @CalineMunruo]

@thocpodcast I call it the "Three Month Slump" because that's when it starts to hit. I used to warn people about it.

To be fair, the longer one stays in a country, the deeper the relfection on the self and one's "own" culture/language vs. the local one and it can grate.

[Coleen @CalineMunruo]

@thocpodcast For sure! I was a study abroad advisor for years afterward until switching to TEFL/TESOL abroad and saw that over and over. Being abroad is also sometimes hard on people, in unpreditable ways. But this story is sadly extremely predictable.

[Coleen @CalineMunruo]

@thocpodcast It's very funny because I studied in Italy for a semester and it was life-changing. But this should be required reading for all prospective study abroad students as a cautionary tale. When traveling to Florence during that time, my (American) classmates and I...

[Coleen @CalineMunruo]

@jmzbeijing When people ask me why we decided to leave China, I'll tell them about this. It sure felt like a tightening loop while trying to teach (middle school) there last year.

[Coleen @CalineMunruo]

@JaredTNelson One of the more weird parts of covid is seeing all the social distancing and testing infrastructure worldwide just...weather and get old looking.

[Coleen @CalineMunruo]

@kakajusaiyou @FrancoisOuell15 People born to foreign parents in China are NOT automatically Chinese (my son was born there but he could not have ever gotten Chinese citizenship).

[Mitchell Byars @mitchellbyars]

Just got a note from a reader whose father had four of his six grandchildren on lockdown in four different schools across Colorado this morning. While nobody was physically injured, what happened today cannot be forgotten.

[Coleen @CalineMunruo]

@michaelegriffin One of literally thousands, I'm sure.

[Coleen @CalineMunruo]

@AcademicChatter I have a UK Master's which I was told "is not worth anything" when applying for PGCE.

[Coleen @CalineMunruo]

@AcademicChatter And then I have to still take GCSE Maths because I apparently didn't graduate from high school, even though the ENIC statement says I definitely have equivalent maths from the USA the universities say otherwise.

[Coleen @CalineMunruo]

@JaredTNelson I feel like there are so many repurcussions in China and elsewhere, but there's reticence to say, "Oh, probably this can be explained by something that happened in the (ongoing) pandemic."
Education, mental health, hospitals, culture...LOTS changed and remains undiscussed

[Coleen @CalineMunruo]

@JaredTNelson People stopped talking about the Pandemic elsewhere, too. It's disconcerting but unfortunately normal for people to draw a line under an experience that they had and never talk about it. Bizzare not being able to talk about Zero Covid China but also not about pandemic in general

[Coleen @CalineMunruo]

@K8JohnsonAuthor @anne_theriault Yes, the manual removal of the placenta after giving birth.

[Coleen @CalineMunruo]

@rabeshimself @rhokilpatrick Also lol because the Taiwanese authorities admitted the mistake, but ours in Fuzhou didn't! We kept getting hassled for the "entry stamp" and criminal record check every time we applied to renew our visas until we left China (nearly two years later).

[Coleen @CalineMunruo]

@rabeshimself @rhokilpatrick Our son was born in mainland China, just across the strait from Taiwan. We were repeatedly asked for his "entry stamp" in his passport, and he had to have a criminal records check from the local police at 4 weeks old in order to get registered.