Tips: choosing an EFL language school to work at

When I apply for jobs, these are some things I consider - questions I ask of myself, of the ad and on the phone/ in an interview and obviously vary according to the job and location.

Russian Superstitions

In my early days in Russia, a friend, Vadim, called me to invite me over. Soon outside his flat. I rang the bell and the door opened. I had already learnt that the standard greeting between men is to shake hands. I duly extended my hand. He looked at it, then at me, “Come in.” I left my hand outstretched but quickly understood that the gesture was not about to be reciprocated. I was confused and wondered if and how I’d offended him. I got inside, unnerved, removing my outdoor shoes in the house, as is usual. Vadim then grabbed my hand and shook it enthusiastically. I was baffled. The explanation was a superstition, which I’ll explain, along with some others I’ve experienced.

An animated version of a domovoi, a character of superstitions, from a Russian film

Recipe: Russian Lace Pancakes

Ready to eat

Alcohol

Ask most people to name things associated with Russia then vodka and/ or alcohol are going to be high up on that list. This isn’t helped by those who remember Boris Yeltsin ‘leading by example’ as president, which included him standing outside the White House in his underwear trying to hail a cab to go for a pizza! So, I thought I’d take a look at whether this stereotype was fair or not.

refreshing...

It’s salad, Jim, but not as we know it.

When I grew up in the north of England, salad wasn’t unusual but it certainly was unspectacular. I’m not saying I’m common but salad was a couple of leaves of round lettuce, a tomato sliced into six and five or six slices of cucumber. The seasoning was salt. Posh people poured drizzled dressings over it. We didn’t, so salad for us was purely vegetables. In contrast...

Mushroom meadow

The Beginning

I don’t remember when my feet began to itch. I never had that sense in childhood that I wanted to travel the world, only a slightly peculiar interest in looking at maps and learning countries’ capitals.