GoMad Nomad Travel Mag » Europe

Photo of the Week: Santorini, Greece

admin — Thu, 08 Jul 2010 12:43:58 +0000

We needed to return our rented moto by 4pm, so we decided to visit Santorini’s white sand beach before leaving the island. However, there were some road signs that just didn’t make sense and we decided to follow any sign that said beach. To our delight, we found ourselves at the red sand beach. We had to park the moto and walk about 10 minutes (over red rocks and stones), but it was well worth it. The blue water and deep red sand was such an unexpected surprise! It was hard to leave the beautiful spot, but we did return the moto and caught our flight away from paradise and back to reality.

Text and photo by Cara Metell

The Night Porto Goes Wild

admin — Tue, 22 Jun 2010 16:08:32 +0000

Festa de São João, One of Europe’s Biggest Street Festivals

By Stephen Bugno

To experience Portugal at its most uninhibited, untamed and inebriated, don’t miss Porto’s massive, traditional annual Feast of St. John’s Eve.

For one night every year, the city of Porto, Portugal goes absolutely wild. The celebration—Festa de São João—or Feast of St. John’s Eve, takes place on the evening of June 23rd and goes to the daylight hours of the 24th. On this night, seemingly the entire population comes to the city center and surrounding neighborhoods to honor John the Baptist and partake in the evening’s numerous traditions.

Although relatively unknown outside Portugal, Festa de São João is undoubtedly one of Europe’s biggest street celebrations. No matter their economic standing, age, or race, Porto’s citizens come out as equals to generate an unrivaled atmosphere that erupts in the city’s public plazas, squeezes through the steep, narrow, cobbled streets, and surges down to the river.

Try the Food

Throughout the evening, folks stroll through the packed streets pausing at carnival games, shop-stalls, and performance stages. Perhaps the most looked-forward to pastime is sampling the festival’s food: fried dough such as farturas and churros and pork sandwiches called bifanas. However, these are all second to Sardines—grilled and salted to perfection. Wash everything down with a glass of wine or beer—beverages not difficult to find at any bar, sidewalk stand, or vender the whole night.

Traditions

Oddly enough, one of the stranger traditions of the festival is the hitting of each other over the head with plastic hammers that squeak; or if you prefer, dangling a leek for the initiated to smell. Where these traditions comes from, no one has an answer.

At midnight, all eyes temporarily halt to view to the huge fireworks display over the river Douro with the graceful Ponte Dom Luis I silhouetted in the background. Free concerts, complemented by spontaneous street dancing, continue simultaneously in various parts of the city. At some point during all this commotion, many stop to set off candle-powered, paper hot-air balloons into the night. At any given moment, a glance to the sky over the river will yield views dotted with the beautiful glowing balloons.

The Walk to the Beach

Lighting the hot air ballon

Traditionally, festival-goers slowly make their way by foot along the river several miles out to the beaches at the edge of Porto where a parallel, slightly alternative São João party is taking place. Here, out past the modern suburbs, young people continue dancing to the techno thump until well after sunrise.

The Portuguese like to say that “Lisbon plays, Braga prays and Porto works,” but on the night of Festa de São João, it is Porto that celebrates.

Stephen Bugno took part in the São João Festival in June of 2008 when he visited from neighboring Spain. For more than a decade he has worked, volunteered, and traveled his way around the world. He blogs at BohemianTraveler.com.

Volunteering in Spain with Vaughan Town and Pueblo Ingles

admin — Thu, 10 Jun 2010 16:15:01 +0000

Two Programs that Offer English-Speaking Volunteers Full Room and Board

By Stephen Bugno

An evening of jamon and vino tinto at Pueblo Ingles

I’m almost as exhausted as they are, but somehow they keep going. This is supposed to be easy for me, right? English is my native language.

They sun is about to set in our small “English Village” but the Spaniards stay positive, excited, and focused despite the long day. We are far from the urban expanse of Madrid, four hours by bus in the sparsely populated region of Extremadura. We are a group of English speakers volunteering at Pueblo Ingles for a week.

Free Room and Board for Speaking English?

That’s right. At either Pueblo Ingles or Vaughan Town, (two different companies that run similar English immersion programs for Spaniards) volunteering as an Anglo-speaker gets you a free week in rural Spain. But it’s much more than that. It’s a great opportunity to meet and form close relationships with Spanish people in a surprisingly short period of time.

It’s also a great way to extend your travels, add something different to your usual holiday, or just save some money on your expensive European vacation. But most of all, it’s an opportunity to do something out of the ordinary in our modern age of fast-paced living and working and just sit down and have a conversation. Well…have lots of conversations, actually.

The Model

in the village of La Alberca

So here’s the concept: pair about 20 Spaniards with 20 native English speakers in a village in rural Spain. Live together, eat together, and speak together about 14 hours a day. It’s exhausting, yes, but universal agreement in the success among the much-improved English of the Spaniards and the satisfaction of happily enriched Anglos.

The core of the program is the one-to-one sessions. During these 50-minute blocks, pairs have the opportunity to stretch past simple and superficial chats. You can sit and drink coffee or go for slow walks. After only five full days, it’s remarkable how open and close everyone becomes, not only with the Spaniards, but even with the other English speakers which come from a diverse range of countries including the U.K., Ireland, Canada, the U.S., Australia, and New Zealand just to name a few.

Besides the one-to-ones, pairs sometimes join up to form groups of four to discuss issues or solve mock problems. In addition, an hour a day is devoted to various entertainments. There’s even a special program one of the nights.

Requirements for Volunteers

Spaniards at Pueblo Ingles

Basically, Anglo volunteers need to be native speakers and have enough life experiences to keep them talking for up to 14 hours per day. They must also pledge that not a word of Spanish will be spoken by them the entire week; a promise that is taken seriously. An English-only environment is crucial to the success of the program.

Volunteers are offered a nice, private room and three meals a day in a beautiful rural setting in the Spanish countryside. Volunteers are required to take care of their own travel expenses to and from Spain and for accommodation before and after the program. Pueblo Ingles runs a seven-day course and Vaughan Town a five-day.

For More Information

Further information and applications can be found and filled out on-line at the VaughanTown or Pueblo Ingles websites. Programs run year round but most are available from June to September.

Stephen Bugno attended both Pueblo Ingles and Vaughn Town in the summer of 2008 and remained in Spain for another nine months teaching English. For more than a decade he has worked, volunteered, and traveled his way around the world. He blogs at BohemianTraveler.com

Photo of the Week: Basilica of St. Anthony in Padua

admin — Fri, 28 May 2010 15:24:44 +0000

Such was the popularity of Anthony that work on the basilica in Padua began immediately after his death in 1231. The site was already attracting pilgrims and it was deemed necessary to raise a proper monument. The exterior was fashioned without a precise architectural style. The elaborate mix of a Romanesque Gothic facade with an eight-domed Byzantine roof and several small belfries give it an eastern look.

St. Anthony was beatified by Pope Gregory IX less than one year after his death. Thirty-two years later the immense Basilica was completed, and the time had come to transfer the body to its new resting place. When the sarcophagus was opened, the body had turned to dust while the saint’s tongue was found miraculously intact and red in color.

Today in the Baroque Chapel of Relics, in the apse at the back of the church, you can see the actual tongue presented in a gold reliquary. Also on display are the saint’s jaw bone and vocal chords.

Text and photo by Stephen Bugno

Photo of the Week: Vineyards of St. Émilion

admin — Wed, 07 Apr 2010 15:10:15 +0000

On a Sunday afternoon my brother and his coworkers and I took a trip 35 km out of Bordeaux to the vineyards surrounding Saint- Émilion. The village, now a World Heritage site, was overrun with day-trippers (like us), souvenir shops, and wine stores. An easy five-minute stroll in one direction landed me in a quiet street with no signs of tourism and great views of the beautiful town and surrounding vineyards.

We toured and tasted at one of the many wineries on the outside of town and took a walking tour through the historic sites, most notably the hermitage carved into the rock of the 8^th century monk and travelling confessor, Émilion. The monks who followed him started up the commercial wine production in the area.

Before leaving, we visited a huge church carved into the limestone cliff which was reminiscent of the churches I had seen in Cappadocia, Turkey, the previous year.

Text and photo by Stephen Bugno

Photo of the Week: Copenhagen Cafe

admin — Wed, 17 Feb 2010 11:15:24 +0000

After a day of cycling and walking through a cold, rainy, gray December day in Copenhagen, a friend and I ducked into this cozy cafe for this artist creation of a sandwich. After an hour of trying to talk over rowdy, drunk English football fans in town for a match, we got back on our old bikes and continued pedaling through the old cobblestone streets.

Photo and text by Stephen Bugno

The Parisian’s Paris

admin — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 19:57:33 +0000

By Gilbert Carlson

photo credit: Alessandro Trezzi

Paris is the mass tourism capital of the world. Every year 40 million visitors crowd its sidewalks and cafés. Most travelers have either been there or intend to go. Many are put off by the high prices of food and accommodation. If you are one of those, I suggest you read on. I have lived my entire sedentary life in Paris and have developed a skill for traveling cheaply around the rest of Europe. Now let me take you on a tour of my hometown with the advice that I would like to hear about yours.

High Season and Higher Season:

As a budget-minded traveler, you might look to travel in low season. This will not work for Paris. We have high season and stupidly high and crowded season. Prices often go up and never down, so go when the weather is nicest, anytime from May to September.

A Knife, Can opener and Corkscrew:

A few simple tools will save you Euros. First: bring a knife. You will need to cut your own baguette and cheese. Pack a cork screw to enjoy the wine and a can opener for your meals. A sleeping bag and a tent are a serious plus if you’re on a really tight budget.

Getting rid of Misconceptions:

If you think that Paris is the place to go for a romantic experience in French culture complete with berets and Boeuf Bourguignon, jump on a slow train to the provinces. Paris is a major European capital, not a larger-than-average French town. If there is one thing that Parisians and French can agree upon it’s that they are not the same.

With that out of the way let’s take a look at what Paris has to offer and how to sample it on the cheap.

Sightseeing:

Most of what makes Paris beautiful is right there in front of you: the buildings, the neighborhoods, the parks, the riverside walkways. Get a Velib bicycle rental pass (1€/day 5€/wk) and cycle around the city. There are bike lanes for safe riding. Stay off the sidewalks and stop at red lights or you’ll be dealt a hefty fine.

For an aerial view of the city you do not need to pay to ride to the top of the Eiffel Tower. The Printemps department store has a roof-top terrace and so does the Institut du monde Arabe. Both are free and more centrally located than the Eiffel Tower. If you insist on paying for a long walk up an historical monument I recommend you climb the towers of Notre Dame. It’s cheaper, the view is amazing, and you get to walk up eight hundred year old stone steps into the heart of the towers. If you want to picnic on the roof of Paris you can escape the masses that crowd the steps of Montmartre by moving over to Parc de Belleville. The observation point here offers the best view in town.

Museums:

Look out for ‘happy hours’ in museums. Some venues have deals for visitors that wish to come “from six to eight, on the third Wednesday of each month, on permanent collections” for example. Read the fine print and you might get lucky. The city-run Carnavalet Museum is free and retraces the history of Paris. All national museums are free on the first Sunday of each month; expect them to be swamped with tourists.

Taking a break:

Paris is full of great parks to sit in and picnic. Put 4€ into a fold-up city map, locate the closest park and head there with your own food and wine. Drinking in public is accepted and widely practiced. Every park is also a wireless hotspot so you can update your Facebook status to “wine and cheese time in Buttes Chaumont”. Every weekend night in the summer, the banks of the Seine host one of the world’s largest impromptu picnics. Join Parisians for free live music, dances, fire shows, and drum circles.

Shopping for food and wine:

One of the best places to get produce, charcuterie, and cheese in Paris is from the open-air markets. There are dozens of them, in all the arrondissements and most are biweekly. Here is the list of open-air markets from the city’s official website. Stay out of the ritzy neighborhoods for the best deals. If you’re not a morning person look for Franprix supermarkets and browse their selection of cheese. It won’t be straight from the farm but you can find a decent Camembert, Fourme d’Ambert or Bleu de Bresse for little more than 2€ each.

Get your vin rouge from small, independent wine shops. Most of them have a budget option that is only slightly more than what you would spend in a supermarket, but the caviste will stand by what he sells, and only sell what he drinks.

Accommodation:

The hostel scene in Paris is more about good partying than finding good value. Sharing a room with your travel mate at a hotel in an out-of-the-way neighborhood may cost you little more than sharing it with a dozen party animals who stumble in drunk and let their phones ring all night. If you are a group of three or more look for “Formule 1” hotels that are all automated. You can pile in as many friends as you wish and split the costs.

Sleeping outside is tolerated and a good choice if you have no valuables. The police will not arrest you for dozing off on a public bench and if you find a quiet place in the Bois de Vincennes you may be able to set up your tent and share the woods with the 200 or so homeless people that live in it year round.

Neighborhoods:

Paris is a very safe city and as a tourist you will be safer in quieter neighborhoods than at the foot of the Eiffel tower, even if the neighborhood looks a bit rougher than what you would be comfortable with at home. Don’t be afraid to wander through any area of the city.

For a real Parisian experience, walk through the former town of Belleville, which is now divided between the Belleville and Menilmontant areas. The bars here are made for drinking, not being seen in, the bakeries cater to the locals, not busloads of tourists, and the parks attract a nice mix of homeless people, seniors, children just out of school, and workers on lunch break.

To experience the ethnic diversity of Paris, get off the metro at La Chapelle (line 2 or 4). To the north you will find the Algerian quarter and to the south you will get lost in the Indian sector where 5€ will buy you a large plate of curry.

Gilbert Carlson moved to Paris as an infant and usually resides there when he is not traveling. His wanderings have taken him around Europe and the Middle East. He likes to share his experiences in alternative low budget traveling by contributing to Gomadnomad.com

A Poor Man in Oslo

admin — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 18:31:20 +0000

By Stephen Bugno

European or Not, Here we Come

The Norwegian Opera House

A wealthy, sterile, modern, and homogeneous society. These were some of the misconceptions I had about Oslo before spending three days there.

Yes, Norway has one of the highest GDPs per capita in the world, but never did I see any ostentatious displays of wealth in the capital. And it’s much more ethnically diverse than I had imagined; our first day we spent wandering through a Pakistani festival munching on samosas while listening to live Pakistani music. Although Oslo was uncluttered and litter-free, it wasn’t overly sterile or modern.

Oslo doesn’t at all look or feel European. I was expecting a city similar to Copenhagen or Stockholm, two urban areas of cobbled streets and old architecture that are quintessentially European. But Oslo, with mostly 20th century buildings, pine-covered mountains surrounding the city, and industry in the harbor, I felt like I could have been in Russia or Canada.

Norway is geographically in Europe, but it’s not part of the European Union, which means it’s not in the Euro-zone either. Rather you spend Norwegian kroner, a very strong currency; one I wish I could earn at home and travel with abroad.

As everyone will tell you, Norway is an outrageously expensive country. Every travel article about Norway will undoubtedly talk about the cost. This is the reason I only stayed for three days. To put things into perspective, the advertised special at the convenience store for a coffee-to-go and a muffin was 25 kroner, a bargain US $5. The price of a beer in a normal bar is about $10 per pint. A ticket for the metro: $5. Even shopping at the supermarket was expensive, although economical compared to eating out.

Oslo is a very livable city. Nearly all residents have a high quality of life. I never saw any traffic problems as I zipped along on the tram to my friend’s house just 15 minutes out of the center. He lived in a nice neighborhood with a big backyard. It’s also quite uncongested: a capital city with under a million people!

What to See and Do in Oslo

I wouldn’t call Oslo a tourist city. Most people go to Norway to see its outstanding natural beauty; probably peering through little round windows to view the fiords, or visiting the smaller cities Bergen and Trondheim. But there are a few good museums and nice parks to check out in Oslo.

the ski jump at Hollmenkollen

I did enjoy my time in Oslo and would return. But I’m not big on touristy things. One of the great advantages of Oslo is its proximity to wilderness. I just rode the metro to the last stop, Frognerseteren station (at the end of T-bane line #1), and exited literally in to the middle of the forest and hiked for a couple hours picking berries. There are hundreds of signposted trails in the regions north of the city with great views of Oslo and Oslofjord. Alternatively, try Sognsvannet, located at the end T-bane #3 for an easy walk around the lake or a trail connecting to Frognerseteren. A lot of other people had their mountain bikes on the train. And in the winter the paths double as Nordic ski trails…wait let me rephrase that: the trails are primarily used for skiing and double as hiking and mountain bike trails during the short summer season.

Before the last stop on metro line #1, we exited at Hollmenkollen to check out the site of the 1952 Oslo Winter Olympics. The centerpiece is a huge ski jump and its terrifyingly steep landing platform. The Ski Museum is also located on the premises. The site offers fantastic views of the city and the islands of Oslofjord.

The exceptional site of Oslo is the Vigelandsparken, or Vigeland Sculpture Park, a part of the larger, Frogner Park which contains an extraordinary series of statues by Gustav Vigeland, who lived from 1869 to 1943. The open-air park contains more than 200 nude sculptures in bronze, granite, and cast iron. The climax is the 20 meter high obelisk which depicts humanity playing, fighting, teaching, loving, eating, sleeping, and climbing over each other to get to the top.

For me, the Kon-Tiki Museum was definitely a highlight. It features the Kon-Tiki, the balsa-wood raft on which Thor Hyerdahl made his famous sea voyage across the Pacific Ocean in 1947. Hyerdahl was a Norwegian who spent his life researching and proving the feasibility of pre-historic contact between the cultures of different continents. Also check out the Viking Ship museum nearby.

Nasjonalgalleriet, the National Gallery is Norway’s biggest and best art gallery holding a collection of Norwegian art from mostly the 19th century to 1950 by the likes of Johan Christian Dahl, Thomas Fearnley, Gerhard Munthe, and Theodor Kittelsen. Most familiar to foreign visitors is the museum’s Munch collection, including the famous The Scream. Entry is free.

My last stop was the The Norwegian Opera House, Operaen. Built in 2008, it is an imposing structure: stylish and confident. The 500 million Euro budget outraged Oslo’s citizens and they demanded that it be used for ballet and a variety of musical genres in addition to opera. But you can’t appreciate its brilliance until you walk all over it. The slanted roof allows visitors the opportunity to walk all the way up to the top level and look out across the city and harbor.

When I return to Norway, which I hope will be sooner, rather than later, I will either bring my own tent and hitchhike the length of the country, or have an unlimited expense account.

Stephen Bugno’s writing has appeared in The San Francisco Chronicle, The Philadelphia Inquirer, Transitions Abroad, and the Matador Network.

The Parisian’s Paris

Basque Country

admin — Mon, 19 Oct 2009 17:10:30 +0000

Bilbao, Spain

Guggenheim Bilbao

In Madrid, when I learned my brother would be going to Bordeaux, France in a few days on business, I immediately ditched my plans to go someplace warm and sunny in favor of visiting him.

The next day I was on a bus five hours north to Bilbao, the largest city of Spain’s Basque Country—a region and people defined by their ancient language, Euskara. A city so proud, they’ve never fielded a non-Basque on their football club. They even refuse to keep corporate sponsorship on their jersey because they regard it as their national team.

I sat down with a young Basque. It is her generation that was one of the first to be educated in Euskara from primary school. Born in 1978, she speaks it with her peers and her pupils at school. She speaks Castillano (Spanish) with her parents, who are part of a generation that was persecuted under Franco. Then citizens could have been imprisoned or even killed for simply speaking Euskara.

Over a glass of tinto and pintxos, in which Basque Country is said to have the finest in Spain, I got a language lesson fit to survive around town, and more importantly, adequate to order the next round.

I inquired more about the Basque ethnicity and what it takes to consider a person Basque. To further prove her point regarding the vital association between ethnicity and language she responded, “The Moroccan immigrants I teach at school—they speak Euskara—they’re Basque.”

What really makes Euskara of special interest is that it’s classified as a language isolate; which means geographically it’s surrounded by Indo-European languages, but isn’t related to any of them. Today it’s estimated that one million people speak Euskara.

***
In 1997, the city of Bilbao put itself on the map with what is arguably the greatest building of our time. The incredible, unforgettable, flowing titanium curves of the Guggenheim Museum Bilbao are just as impressive (if not more, in my opinion) from the inside and the building alone is worth the €12 admission price.

The spaces Frank Gehry has created inside, allow the visitor to be easily propelled around the glass-walled atrium through the 19 galleries on three floors. Unfortunately, most of the installments and exhibitions throughout the museum, pale in comparison to the space that was built to house them.

***

San Sebastian

After a couple hours sleep I barely caught a 7am Sunday morning train, transferred at Bordeaux’s St. Jean, and another at the border, and by 2pm I was back in Spain’s Basque Country walking around center San Sebastian.

San Sebastian, my travel guide told me, was the “undisputed Queen of the Basque resorts”. Complete with a nice old town, excellent tapas bars, and a magnificent crescent- shaped harbor with beaches to match.

After enjoying a stroll up and down the promenade, I caught a 4pm bus back to Madrid where I arrived just before midnight and faced the question of what I would do until my job started on the 30th.

Posted by Stephen Bugno (June 2008) for the Blog of a Modern Nomad.

Teaching English in Madrid

admin — Fri, 02 Oct 2009 17:38:21 +0000

By Emolyn Liden

an English language summer camp outside Madrid

With job opportunities, decent pay, and a fun atmosphere, Madrid is hard to top for an ESL teacher.

For ESL teachers in Europe, Madrid is an appealing city to base yourself for a year or more and there’s no denying it’s an exciting place to live. Add to this: fantastic weather, friendly locals (known as Madridleños), abundant cultural events, world-class art, and unparalleled nightlife.

But take a moment to think. Take a real moment. The first thing to consider is if Madrid is right for you.

Knowing it is possible

The minute you start speaking about your interest to teach English abroad those hearing you will pipe up, “Oh my friend’s daughter just went to Peru to teach English” or “I know someone who is teaching English in Japan and loves it. She just decided to extend her stay.” The fact is teaching English as a second language is the way to make a living abroad. Once you have chosen your location, like Madrid, you have made the most important decision. Location is key because in essence you can teach virtually anywhere. You may only stay there for a year, a glimpse of time in regard to a lifetime, but this place is going to be your home, a base from which you can travel.

Is a certification necessary?

Language academies will expect teachers to have a TEFL degree or at least a certification. You may have decided to live abroad for the experience and to travel, but academies want to see that you are serious about teaching. They won’t be fooled. Many academies will hire with a few years experience in lieu of a certificate. Keep in mind, organizations may choose someone with a certification first.

EBC International is one of the many programs in Madrid where you can receive proper certification. Like most programs, the EBC course lasts four weeks. Upon completion you will receive a dual certification in TEFL and TESOL, and as an alum will have access to EBC’s lifetime, world-wide career support service. This means that EBC will send your resume to academies and be your primary reference. If later you decide to move to another city, they will provide you with the same service, and get you connected to academies. The dual TEFL and TESOL allows you to teach anywhere worldwide. If you stop teaching and begin again in five years, EBC will connect you with academies wherever you choose.

Another credited program is the Canterbury English TEFL Course which claims to be the most affordable option whereby you work for Canterbury after ending the program as a way to cover some of the cost of the course. They advertise that you are guaranteed a job with Canterbury which is enticing in today’s job market. This arrangement is both liked and disliked by those who have completed the program. Some feel it is a way to begin teaching immediately while paying less to become certified. Others feel it restricts the openness and flexibility of their schedule since the main teaching hours are devoted to the service of the agreement. However, this agreement can be viewed as a trial run for a class. Once the hours have been completed you may be able to keep the class which could lead to other opportunities.

None the less, completing a certification program is a guaranteed way to get experience organizing lesson plans and teaching and is recommended for any one who has no experience teaching.

The interviewing process

Once you acquire a certification, the job hunt begins. EBC and other programs will send out your resume and language schools are quick to call. For this reason it is important to have a cell phone to schedule appointments. Academies rarely schedule through email and you want to avoid just dropping by. English teachers are in high demand and what you may find is that academies are eager to hire. Prepare yourself by doing a number of things prior to the interview.

Think about your rate of pay. Depending on the interviewer, pay may be negotiable. Consider how far you will travel to teach a course. Weigh options of working block-hours as opposed to scattered hours with breaks in between. Do you want to work freelance or sign a contract? The two most important items to bring with you to an interview are: a calendar and a city map. The worst scenario as a new teacher is agreeing to teach a class in the north and another in the south with not enough time allowed for travel in between. You do not want to discover the hard way, by running from the metro to the office door, skidding into the classroom with sweat dripping down your face to greet your new students, that thirty minutes is an unrealistic amount of time to cross the city. Not a good first impression.

If you have numerous academies that call to schedule interviews accept as many as you can fit in. You may feel like you are running around but you will learn so much when able to compare work situations. Observe the atmosphere of the office and imagine yourself working among the rooms, making copies, and preparing lesson plans. Does the academy offer teaching resources? Do they provide a book or curriculum? Pay attention to the mood while the interview ensues. Have them describe a typical class at their academy. Are they large or small? Are the students young business professionals? Children? People learning English out of pure interest? All of these things will influence your work and differ from place to place. It may be the style of the academy to approach you like a bookie, listing class size, location, level, etc. and you may never see your co-workers while other schools create a peaceful work atmosphere where the teachers get to know each other through meetings, outings, and holiday events planned by the academy. Think about what situation works best for you.

Once you agree to teach with an academy

Once you agree on a class with a language school, be sure to get proper information to get you started: size, level, and location. Some hire to teach in their facility and provide block hours. As a new teacher you may not have that luxury. It is very likely you will be traveling to a company or household. Companies offer classes before work or during the lunch hour. Get the address and contact information of your students. Look up the address and if you are at all nervous about finding it, make a trip to the location beforehand to see where you will teach. Some larger companies may require you to have an identification tag and code to enter the building or have you sign in with the receptionist. Keep a time sheet and your own records so you can always double check your time.

The ESL decision

When you decide to become an ESL teacher in Madrid you have two options. Do you want to work for a language academy or teach privately? Working with an academy is the perfect way to learn how you handle the ESL life, manage your schedule, and how to organize your teaching agenda to better fit your life.

After some time you may decide you would rather teach privately. There are a number of ways to advertise your services. You can put up fliers around town, post on websites, or sometimes get the word out by simply telling people what you do. Going to one of the many language exchange nights around the city at pubs and bars is a great way to meet foreigners who may hire you to become their official teacher. Judge these situations carefully. Perhaps the person is acting more optimistic after they’ve had a beer or two. First make sure the prospective student is serious about wanting to learn English. Private students are also more likely to cancel if life gets hectic. If you are working solely for yourself, you do not receive any benefits an academy may offer. Consider this when deciphering your rate. Establish early how you would handle canceling a class or rescheduling. Some teachers make a twenty-four hour cancellation requirement. If the student cancels less than twenty-four hours in advance they must reschedule or pay you for the lost class. This policy goes both ways. If you as the teacher cancel you must hold up your side of the agreement.

ESL calendar in Madrid

Many Madridleños take time off during the summer. Whether they are staying in Madrid or traveling, life slows down during July, August, and the beginning of September. During these months you can find work at day camps in and around Madrid. Organizations based in Madrid will hire and place teachers in camps throughout Spain. Generally these camps last two weeks with the chance for a teacher to work two to four sessions.

Children go back to school in late September and locals return to a regular work schedule. In October, life settles back to the normal pace. Companies and families are usually ready to begin English classes again.

Plan on steady work from January to June and October to the end of December. This provides the ESL teacher ample time to travel during the summer. However, be aware that the numerous holidays and long summer break add up and may put stress on your finances.

Wages and living expenses

Most full time English teachers make between 15 to 25 Euros per hour for private lessons or 1,000 and 1,500 Euros per month with a full-time contract at an academy. Rate depends on how much experience you have, if you work in the heart of the city as opposed to traveling an hour to the outskirts, and if the class is through an academy or a private one-to-one. An average contract at an academy might be 1100 Euros per month for 25 teaching hours per week.

Expect to pay anywhere from 300-500 Euros for a room in a shared flat.

The economic crises

The economic crises of 2008 has had its obvious effect on English teachers. A country-wide increase in unemployment and lower wages means less money for non-essential English lessons. So consequently, the job market has been more competitive since then.

Do I need a work permit?

Most language schools will require you to have work permit. Some schools are willing to do the paperwork for you to get the documents in order. That process usually starts in June, and you must be in your home country. Once the academy or school decides to sponsor you they will fill out their portion of the paperwork which you must present with your portion in your home country. Even without a work permit, it’s still worth arriving to Madrid in early September for the best pick jobs. You might find some academies willing to hire you with plans to help you obtain a work permit in the future.

Volunteer

If you’ve only got a week and still want to check out the English-speaking scene, volunteer at Pueblo Ingles or Vaughan Town. These are unique opportunities to spend a week in the Spanish countryside speaking English with Spaniards. But beware: you might be conversing up to 14 hours per day! Don’t worry; its lots of fun and your room and board is taken care of in exchange for your volunteering.

Resources on the web

Madrid Teacher is the city’s definitive website for the English teacher. Check it out to start the job hunt: read in-depth about Madrid’s countless English Academies and browse job listings.

Once you’ve arrived in Madrid check out the free English monthly, InMadrid. It has more job listings and other helpful social insights.

Emolyn Liden spent 2008 teaching English in Madrid. She has lived abroad in England, Denmark, and Spain. While not traveling she enjoys writing and knitting for emolynknits.blogspot.com.