Autobiographical details of my experiences as an English teacher in South Korea, Poland, and Moscow. These really are tales of romance, terror, and treachery. They provide insights into a very exploitative industry. Before you invest lots of money in a T.E.S.O.L certificate read this book, to get a taste of what the 'career' you are considering is really like. Cautionary tales for prospective English teachers. I don't try to rubbish anyone. I let the facts speak for themselves. Maybe you will judge me harshly too? Who knows. But it is better to be prepared, than caught off guard. You might get lucky. But if you, like the many people who responded to my web pages citing their own terrible treatment at the hands of overseas English schools, do get into trouble, you will be ready to deal with it. You won't leave yourself exposed and vulnerable to the worst. As a taxi driver I learned the hard way to ask for fares up front. So if you gain nothing else from this book, at least you will gain that. If schools will not agree to basic requests on your part, and insist that you 'trust them', then I recommend that you do NOT trust them. Read on to see what sort of pitfalls await the naive travelling teacher. This book is also a book about real life romance. Real life human relationships. Real life per se. It is honest. It is authentic. It is often embarrassing. I dedicate it to my real life 'Swan', 'Lilith', and to my source of sunshine in Moscow 'Sunny', and all the good people who were so nice to me. Things could have gone much worse than they did, if not for the kindness of strangers. O.K, so no noble savages to be found. But still some light in a dark world. A spark that, given enough air to breathe, and a little enlightenment, might actually issue forth a flame if we are courageous and patient enough. A flame to light the darkness. To bring light to the world. The light of truth, justice, and beauty.
