(upbeat electronic music)
- Good morning everybody, my name is Erin
and I'm going to be your host today.
Telling you about my life, living,
and teaching in Istanbul, Turkey.
I'm just leaving my apartment now
and on my way to my service bus.
We've just arrived at the school.
Our school is two in one, a kindergarten
and a secondary school, so this side is first
through high school
and over here we're gonna enter
the kindergarten section, Aduka Kids, 'cause this
is where I teach.
I've just arrived into my classroom.
My kindergartners will show up in about 20-25 minutes.
We'll have free play time, breakfast,
and then we'll get into all of our different topics
for the day.
They're here until 3:30 p.m.
Unfortunately we have a strict policy about showing photos
and videos of students on social media so
I won't be able to do that but I can show you
the classroom I share with a Turkish partner named Rhanna.
We are both full-time teachers and work together
throughout the day.
Before our chaos begins with the little ones for the day,
I wanted to tell you I am from the United States
and I did my English teaching certification online
since I was working full time before coming to Turkey.
And during our lunch break I'll tell you
a little more about why I picked Turkey.
Yes, schools do hired non-native English teachers,
but it is a little harder.
So what I recommend is doing a video application when
applying for jobs, so they hear
your fluency and your accent.
And that ask also set you apart from others.
I actually found my job on Facebook through
Istanbul English Teaching Green List.
This is where a lot of language centers and schools put up
job postings and where teachers can advertise for themselves
and put it out there that they're looking for a job.
It's a great resource!
Somebody asked me if I speak Turkish.
I do not.
I have not taken any classes.
My Turkish is very poor for being here for year,
but it does actually help in my classroom
because the children are forced to speak English with me.
Okay guys, I'm back after a long day of work
and we're gonna walk around the neighborhood.
I went home,
and I picked up my husband - Hi everyone!
- And our little puppers Dublin.
(speaks in foreign language)
and now, we're gonna take you
around where we live in Kadiköy.
Right now we are in Moda on Baharia street
which is a famous street for shopping, cafes, restaurants
and this is only about a five minute walk from our apartment
so it's very convenient to get anything done.
This is part of our fresh food market here in Kadikoy.
Only a 10 minute walk from where we live and you can find
anything from bread, sweets, cow tongue,
fruit, nuts, fish; anything you can desire you'll find here.
We chose to live in Kadikoy because of all the conveniences.
It is a Turkish neighborhood but there are a lot
of foreigners here as well and we don't need a car to get
around, we can walk everywhere.
And public transportation is widely available in this area.
Someone asked if as a woman do I feel comfortable
walking around in Istanbul and yes, I absolutely do.
I walk around day and night and I've never had any problems.
It's just a very crowded city with 15 million people
but other than that, no big deal.
Yes we are able to save each month.
On average maybe more or less, 1,000 lira
but we do like to go out and enjoy the evening
and have food and tea, shisha!
So if we cutback a little we could save a lot more.
I didn't have any full-time teaching experience
prior to completing my TEFL.
My undergrad wasn't in education nor was my Master's
but I was a tutor for a while and that definitely
prepared me for coming here and completing
the TEFL certification.
(upbeat electronic music)