Hi again Mae. Glad to have been of help. Yeah I remember choosing South China as my option.  From what I can gather there are very few (if any) placements where interns are placed entirely alone so I wouldn't worry too much about that. But have a word with TTC anyway and see what they say.

As for me, well I'm here for the foreseeable future so you never know we may get to bump into each other soon!

Take care. Hope all goes well.

Denise x

Thank you so much Denise!!

I will take your advice and have a chat with them.

There is an option on my application form to chose North, Central or South China, but seeing as I can't decide I may go for the other option and say anywhere!! I just want to be somewhere I can be around alot of other TEFL teachers as I volunteered in Africa last year and lived alone for a month and had to travel every weekend to spend time with other volunteers!

When are you leaving China?

Thanks again, you've really helped! :)

Mae x

Hi Mae. Good to hear you are signed up for the August Internship. In my opinion its defintely the best time to come. I think it might be a good idea to speak to TTC about the internship though. Unless things have changed over the last 6 months, I believe that you will not get to choose where you are placed for your internship. I am in Sichuan but had no idea I was coming here until two days before I left Beijing. I think where you are placed depends upon different factors - the schools' requirements, your experience, your TEFL etc. You will think me very lucky since my placement fulfilled most the criteria you mentioned in your post - so much so that I chose to stay on! But again, the choice was made for me. If this is what you are looking for then I would think that the outskirts of Chengdu will really appeal to you. Having said all this, I have spoken to many of my fellow interns and they have been more than happy with their placements, wherever in China they have been placed. There is so much to see and take in that I'm sure you will feel the same. My best advice is to accept your placement with as much positivity as you can muster and go out there and make the most of it - this will bring its own rewards! And if you are intending to travel afterwards, you can make sure you go to the kinds of places that you really want to see.

Good luck with everything - not long now!

Denise x

Hi Denise!

I've really enjoyed reading your posts, and your top 5 things to love about China really made me smile! I am on the August 2012 internship and am struggling with which area to choose to live in. I had a quick google and saw that Sichuan is definetely the place to be if you love mountains and I really do - only thing is I don't want to be lonely and too out of it. I am just wandering where you live in China and if there is anywhere you could reccommend?

I would prefer to live in the outskirts or suburbs of a city so it is a little quiter but have easy access into a big town to stay in touch with everyone! My only worry is that my heart wants to be in a beautiful mountainous area, but my head's saying I'll miss out on being with other interns if there's only a few of us out there...

I'm really struggling to choose, but not overly worried as I will be travelling through China for a month after my teaching so I will have chance to see those mountains!

Thanks!

Mae

x

Alannah.  I'm sorry I am not able to answer your questions re being accepted for the internship. I suppose that TTC have their own criteria and I would imagine that how you do in your interview will lend weight to your application also.

As regards classroom resources, I did bring quite a lot with me but these were small items that I could pack around my case. As you have no idea what age group you will be teaching (you are not givn a preference for your placement), I would suggest a selection of things that could be used across the range of ages. I have since found certain things to be more useful than others; alphabet flash cards (are useful for a variety of activities and can be used with any age), alphabet fridge magnets, (will stick to blackboards and can be used for a great many games), pictures/items from your home country, (kids here are always keen to know about your country), small ink stamps (awarding a stamp or sticker for good work is a great incentive), sweets typical to your home country (which can be used as prizes in board-racing games). There are probably many other things you could bring also, but many things can be found here already. If you are an inventive teacher, you will find ways to use the things around you and you can certainly find 101 uses for the most simple of resources that you bring with you.

Good Luck

Denise x

Hi Dave

The short answer to your question is, 'yes'. I was never good with crowds anyway and coming here was, at first, like all my hells rolled into one. I was fortunate to be placed just outside the city where there is some escape, but my first foray into the city centre was a living nightmare! There is probably nowhere else in China that you will experience people squeeze like you will on the public transport system. Imagine if you will, a 30-seater bus being used to carry 70 or 80 people at a time. Factor in the lack of patience, 'good manners', bags of chickens/vegetables/recycling, oversized cases and bags, temperatures of 25 degrees + and you get a good idea of the scale of it all.  I have spent many a journey with my face pressed up against the windscreen, whilst attempting to navigate the gear stick below me AND keep someone's celery from disappearing up my nose!  Believe it or not you do get used to it. This is China and the scale of the population means that if everybody queued or sat back, no-one would get anywhere!  The Chinese don't complain so why should we? If anything, living like this has taught me to be less 'polilte' and put myself right in the middle of things. I've become much more forceful and resourceful and I like this new side of me. I get things done and I get what I want. It's the only way to survive out here and sooner or later you will come to embrace it as one of the quirks of living in this fabulous country.

Good luck with the internship

Hope to see you in Beijing!

Denise

Hi Denise,

I'm planning on the August TTC and i'm very curious of what to expect. I've read your '5Things to love about China blog' and  can see you really love it over there.

I'm wondering how you found the people squeeze when you first arrived in China. I'm reading 'China Road' at the moment and Rob Gifford descibes a scene where he goes jogging and it is like human pin ball. Was it a shock to the system for you?

Dave.

Hi Denise :)

Thanks for your response. Happy Chinese New Year! 

I'm kinda worried now as I've read in a few places that some people don't get accepted for the internship. Have you heard of anyone who didn't get accepted and why that may have been the case? 

Ahh ok...that's not too steep for overweight luggage. I'd cope with that aslong as I didn't have to get rid of any of my clothes. I'm a bit worried because I'm not a small lady so I doubt very much they have clothes for my size when they women in China are so tiny. So I would need to bring over whatever clothes i needed. Did you bring any classroom resources with you? 

Do they give you a preference for where you teach? 

Thanks again for the info. I appreciate it.

Alannah. 

Hi Alannah. Glad to hear you're considering the internship here in China. You will have the most fantastic,liberating time here so I would say, "Do it!".  As for the application process, it was fairly simple really.  TTC conduct the application, including the telephone/Skype interview.  Questions were fairly straightforward and didn't contain any hidden horrors (which I thought they might). You know: Why China? What will you do if you get homesick? What if one of the kids plays up? That sort of thing.

As for luggage, well, it's a moot point really.  I was told to bring only a rucksack too but considering I'm not able to carry one I elected for a large case. When I turned up at the meet point I was worried I would be the only one with a huge case.  I needn't have worried because I actually had less luggage than most!  You will also find that with such cheap prices out here, you will be buying lots of clothes.  And discarding some of the ones you brought with you because you have lost so much weight!  My only problem was that I was lucky enough to be given a flight to Chengdu from my school (instead of a 42 hour train ride), but my case was packed for a 30k international luggage allowance and the internal flights only allow 22k. I ended up paying an extra 170rmb - which amounts to approx' £17, so it wasn't too bad.  Just remember when you are packing that you can get most things in Beijing so you only need pack for what you need immediately.  Once you know where TTC are sending you, then you can buy what you need (including another bag) before you go, or, if its a city, you can just get it when you get there.  Please refer to my last blog for a list of essentials that are hard to find in China - wherever you end up!

Good luck with your course and hope to see you in China soon.

All the best and Xin Nian Kuai Le!

Denise x

Hiya lotti :) 

I came across your page after viewing the posts on the China Internship. Are you in China at the minute?

I'm seriously considering the internship, just trying to get the money together at the minute!

Just wondering how the application process went for you? Is there much involved and does i to i help with the application process? Do they conduct the interview over the phone? and what kind of questions did they ask you? 

I'd also love it if you could give me any tips on what to bring with me etc..I actually plan on going to SKorea after the internship so I'm wondering if I should take more with me but i've seen people advising only to bring rugsacks but I don't think I could fit everything I need to into a rugsack :/ Did you have to pay anything for overweight luggage?

Any information would be great!

Take care :)