| Q |
Welcome to
the ajarn hot seat Barry. Tell us a little about life in America before you
decided to become an international teacher? |
| A |
Well, first off, thank you
for having me on.
I came from a middle-class family; youngest of three brothers. Grew up in
Seattle. Parents are both musicians. My dad's a retired music teacher and
recording artist. Picked up the drums at age 8. Was in numerous rock-bands
'till I 'retired' at 25. Started to travel in 1996 and never looked back.
I've been to 25 countries; lived in six of those: India, Nepal, China, Czech
Republic and Holland. Picked up Dutch along the way. So as a Yankee, I'd
like to think I'm not totally language challenged. |
| Q |
Impressive. You taught for a couple of years in Prague. I'll let you into a
secret - I'm hoping to take my wife there in October of this year. It's a
city I've always wanted to visit and it does sound like the most wonderful
place. What's the draw from a lifestyle point of view? |
| A |
Living in a
very old and classy city like Prague was great; very inspirational. Old
world. I was hired by Linguarama, a UK based business language school. They
paid their teachers very well. I taught one-on-one mostly, going to the
clients' offices. 15 hrs a week. But the winters are brutal. October is a
good time to go. But it can begin to get cold even then. Bring your mittens.
|
| Q |
But in
general how are the pickings for an English teacher? Can most teachers make
enough to survive? |
| A |
My school paid for our
flats too, on top of our salary. Other teachers were jealous. We made about
250 Pounds, free and clear, in 1996-8. So it was good money. We had other
bennies too. |
| Q |
I bet you
had a few run-ins with that world-famous Czech beer didn't you? |
| A |
The beer is great.
Gambrinus and Budvar were my faves. This is pretty amazing stuff. I really
wouldn't call myself a drinker, but a pint or two after slogging through a
few hard-core business English lessons tasted great. Cheap too. |
| Q |
My Prague
guidebook says to be wary of the taxi-drivers. Are they truly that bad?
|
| A |
Not my experience. Prague
has good public transport. Our school gave us tube passes, which we could
use anytime. So I didn't have to brave the taxis. |
| Q |
But you
eventually decided you'd had enough and decided to make the move to
Thailand. Why the land of smiles? |
| A |
Actually I came directly
from Mac Leod Ganj, India. The Dalai Lama has his residence there. I sat
Vipassana 3 hrs a day, everyday, for almost 2 years. This'll clear your
head! I came to Khon Kaen directly, because I have a friend here who is
management at The Hotel Kosa. This is my first visit to Thailand. March 3rd
2008 will be my one-year anniversary. |
| Q |
Did you
set up a job here before you came? |
| A |
No. Lucky that, tho. I was
sick for a month when I arrived; recovering from India you might say. I
stayed at Hotel Kosa, gratis. Nice friend, huh? |
| Q |
You've
spent the whole of your Thailand teaching career in Khon Kaen. Looking at
our ajarn.com region guide, it says that there is a growing demand for
teachers in this city, but admittedly the guide was written a couple of
years ago. What's the latest? |
| A |
Yes. There are jobs here
for sure. I have a new post here, which I am looking forward to. You can
also get part-time gigs too. Khon Kaen University is here. So there are lots
of kids who are thinking English here. I like KK because it's not really a
tourist destination. |
| Q |
Good place
for a single fella to make friends? |
| A |
Yeah, I'm doing ok there.
I had a nurse girlfriend for a few months. It all seemed to be going good
until she wanted a huge sum of money. It's a numbers game. Just keep
perspective on things and a guy like me will be fine. Lose perspective, and
proportion and it can get pretty messy pretty quickly. But in all, it's very
nice to be here! I think I'll be in KK for a while. |
| Q |
Well, if
you can't trust a nurse then who can you trust? You taught in two Thai
primary schools in a fairly short space of time. It sounds like you're still
looking for the perfect match there as well? |
| A |
Yes. As most of us know
it's easy to see where improvements can be made. This is how I got my second
primary school job, only two months after I began teaching here in KK. But I
encountered the same thing: lack of organization, even though I was assured
this would not be the case again. Wrong! The kids are great, of course. But
management is too "Thai-style" for me. |
| Q |
Tell us a
little about this English program you designed and why you felt the need?
|
| A |
I woke up one morning and
had an idea to approach the mayor of KK because things were still going the
same way. Drives me nuts. (In hindsight, it was a procedural mistake to just
go into the mayor's office. I would not recommend that a teacher just waltz
into a higher-ups office of your choice and start to make some suggestions).
In any case, I did. He was alarmed at what I told him. He called a meeting
for later that day. There were nine of us present; the director of my
school, other directors and teachers, etc. I had already scribbled out my
ideas. But now I had it all printed out with charts and so forth from my pc.
It was a three-year program where I took 100 students (25 per class, 4
classes day, which came out to 20 hours a week!) and followed these 100 kids
through three years, starting at grade 2, graduating at the end of grade 5.
I also asked for a whiteboard, and overhead projector, my own classroom and
a pay raise. |
| Q |
You did
well to get that far. How many appointments did the mayor cancel before you
got to see him? |
| A |
None. I saw him on the
first day I went to his office. Good karma, I guess. Or bad, depending on
how you look at it. |
| Q |
And he
liked the program? |
| A |
Yes. He verbally approved
the program, with everthing I was asking for; with everything I had laid out
in my proposal. |
| Q |
Unfortunately the whole thing got scuppered by someone who was present at
this meeting? |
| A |
Yeah. I didn't get the
original agreement in writing! The moral of the story here is, get it in
writing. Words are cheap. I got everything I asked for, even my own
classroom. But when I met with this certain director two weeks later, in an
attempt to assure myself that we will still on track with this program, she
didn't budge on the salary hike. I reminded her that the mayor himself
approved the whole deal two weeks earlier, so what's the problem? I think
they would have gotten a pretty good deal. Who ever heard of a teacher
signing on for three years at a primary school? As some of us know, they can
be a real circus. I like the school, the teachers, and the kids. But when
someone doesn't keep their word, who has had a history of this with me
(third time's a charm) I gave my 30 day notice. |
| Q |
So it's
pastures new for Mr Cowger? |
| A |
I have a new gig in town.
And I think this is going to be a better match for everyone. I've
matriculated into the higher grades. The school in question has a good rep
and I like the director. His English is very good and I hear that he looks
after 'his' teachers. It'll be good for me because I think I'll be going
home with a sense of having done something worthwhile. It'll be good for the
students because I think they'll be getting a decent teacher. The moral of
the story here might be: find an environment that will bring out your own
skills to everyone's advantage. I guess you could say my first year was
learning about this as well. |
