The unconscious descrambling of the spaghetti balls of thoughts in my head - Part 1

I used to write a blog for my family whilst I was travelling, so the concept is not new to me. The process for me is simple too. Just write what you are thinking. So I hope rambles of my tangled thoughts are taken in a positive manner and maybe they can be useful to someone somewhere. If they are boring, then sorry for wasting your time :)

As with most people (I would imagine) coming into a situation where you are meeting 25 other people for the first time can be quite daunting. Now if you take the nervous energy of all the people and put them all together in one (Zoom) room, that feeling will be exaggerated massively. That is how it felt at first for me. I can’t commend the UKLC team enough for breaking down that barrier and making myself (and I presume others) feel way more comfortable and able to get involved. I do think that every session we have is breaking down those nervous barriers more and more, and my confidence is slowly growing about the task ahead.

The team appear to be pretty relaxed about sending a bunch of misfits to a different country to try and educate a bunch of kids that are probably more interested in the chewing gum under the table or Pedro’s new haircut. The calmness that Caro brings to the table is so reassuring. She has been here before and seen it all before, so therefore I know I am in safe hands. The pure enthusiasm of Fran and Emile and the positivity that they bring is incredible. They remind me that teaching can be made more interesting, engaging and enjoyable by bringing the passion that they have. It’s their big smiles, constant praise and their approachable manner that makes you feel way more comfortable.

Now I feel ready to go and can’t wait to meet up with the team and get to know everyone much better. I may have called us misfits earlier but I thinks that is what will make us great. Because of our different ages, backgrounds, experiences, interests etc etc, there isn’t a problem that can’t be solved by someone in the group. One of my favourite parts of travelling was the meeting of random people I would never normally get to meet. This gives the opportunity to learn different perspectives on life, different skills and most importantly, different cuisines. I look forward to the social part of the program as well as the improving of myself as a teacher. This will come through the hours of teaching practice and the collective efforts and help from my fellow Leonites. It’s probably only right to thank you all in advance then. Hopefully I can be helpful to you all at some point too. 

Vamos!