United States
US
Ivan Lo Conte
Teach Enrich Empower
Chalkboards and Culture Shock
I have always had this restless itch that told me the world had so much more to offer than my hometown. So, with my TEFL certificate fresh in hand and a sense of adventure buzzing in my chest, I stumbled upon an opportunity to teach English abroad.
It sounded like a perfect way to explore the world while still doing something meaningful. A few months later, I found myself on a plane bound for Jakarta, Indonesia, ready to start my first teaching job.
The moment I stepped off the plane, the heat and humidity slapped me in the face. It was like walking into a wall of warmth, a far cry from the chilly autumn back home. Jakarta was chaotic and alive. The street vendors were everywhere, calling out to passersby, and motorbikes zipped past in a frenzy that made crossing the street feel like a game of chicken. The air was thick with the smell of spices, exhaust fumes, and something sweet that I could never quite identify.
My first culture shock! The language barrier was real; my attempts at speaking a few words of Bahasa often left people giggling or confused. At first, I felt like a fish out of water.
But slowly, things started to click. Jakarta began to feel less like a foreign land and more like a place I could call my own and I started to appreciate the rhythm of the city.
My students were full of life, always eager to learn English but even more curious about my life back in England. Their laughter, their questions, their eagerness to share stories with me. I began to look forward to every class.
Unfortunately I had to leave prematurely as another opportunity came my way.
I accepted a new teaching position, this time in Kazakhstan. The city of Astana couldn’t have been more different from Jakarta. I arrived in the dead of winter, stepping into a world blanketed in snow. The air was freezing, and I had to buy layers of clothing just to stay warm. But there was something beautiful about the stillness of it all, the way snowflakes drifted down from the sky in slow, lazy spirals.
Astana surprised me in so many ways. It’s a city that looks like something out of a science fiction movie, with its futuristic buildings standing tall against the flat, snowy landscape. The winters are harsh, but the summers bring warmth, and long sunny days. The locals are a bit more reserved than the open, friendly Indonesians I had gotten used to, but after breaking through that initial formality, I find them just as kind and welcoming.
For now, Astana is home. I’ve fallen in love with its contrasts, its seasons, and the little routines I’ve built here. I know my journey isn’t over yet, there are still so many places to see, so many lessons to learn, but for now, I’m content to be here, in this city where I’ve found my place, at least for a little while longer.
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