Mike O'Neill
Director of Recruiting - Taiwan & China
Mike is a big fan of the local cuisine
It was right after my Russian Literature course I saw a sign advertising positions to teach English abroad. I sort of chuckled it off, not terribly interested in it. I had lived abroad in France before, traveled through half of Eastern and Western Europe, and Canada, and therefore thought I had seen the world. Strangely enough, during my seminar on Nietzsche, that poster came rushing back into my mind when my professor ordered us to do something that betters us and the world in a positive way. It was at this point I realized that poster wasn’t just a joke, but actually a calling. Thus, I couldn’t imagine any better way to affect good change than by teaching abroad.
With both an Uncle and a cousin who lived in Taiwan, and both who married Taiwanese women, it would seem that Taiwan was the logical place to go. However, because I saw the poster outside my Russian Literature class, I am sure you can guess which country I originally looked into. After a number of interviews and frustrating recruiting companies, someone put me through to Reach To Teach. I had an interview with them, and by a stroke of luck and sense of adventure, I was on a plane just two weeks after my interview.
Ho! Ho! Ho! Christmas fun in Mike's class!
In the United States, I was fortunate to always hold some sort of educational job. For four years, I served as a Park Ranger, educating visitors on the natural resources of the New England forests. I even spent time in Boston Public Classrooms running mock United Nations Security Sessions. So, I guess you could say that teaching was a vocation of mine ever since I was very young. Interviewing with Reach To Teach was great, because it allowed me to expand on my previous teaching experiences by putting me in a qualified, comfortable school right in the center of the action. I am very eager to talk with you and share with you the illuminating experiences here, and guide you into making the best choices possible. Because, remember, I am one of the folks here that was also placed by Reach To Teach; so when I tell you about the transition period, you can relax knowing I went through the exact same thing!
You probably don't want to know what that is...
Since boarding the plane in Boston, I have had the delight of forming lasting bonds with students and friends from places nothing like my little suburb back home. Asia is a place that dazzles the senses, and mixes fantasy and fact on a daily basis. It’s not every place that you can wake up early in the morning with a casual corn flakes breakfast, only to finish the day off with a mouthwatering treat of BBQ snake in one of it’s famed night markets. And only here could you hop on a city bus and within twenty minutes be riding that same city bus through thickets of bamboo and jungle terrain. But more important than conquering a mountain or learning a language is coming to know the people that will be your friends for the next year or so. My friends were my co-workers, or people I sat down next to on a train, or those I met at Reach To Teach events. They are, and forever will be, what makes the Asian experience worth it.
But don’t count out the bus drivers, the taxi cabbers, the shop keepers, and the strangers you interact with on a daily basis. They have taught me some of the most important lessons about life, such as patience, tolerance and going with the flow. The experiences with them have fortified me with life long skills that shape my character and outlook on life. I would like to share eleven of them with you, because ten is just far too common.
- Negotiation - Bartering on (replica) designer clothes in the night market
- Staying cool under pressure - What to do when you discover a black widow crawling up your bare arm?
- Patience - Getting stuck behind a young couple taking up the entire sidewalk, making frequent stops for no reason
- Thinking on one’s toes - Jumping out of the way of an oncoming motorcycle driving the wrong way down a sidewalk
- Being flexible - Ordering no spices on your noodles. Getting spices on your noodles
- Giving orders - Directing a taxi cab at 4:00AM to your apartment, ending up near the zoo
- Crisis management - What to do when your boat flips over while whitewater rafting?
- Child psychology - Realizing you can get a child to do whatever you want with three simple words: “I’ll time you”
- Adult psychology - Realizing you can get an adult to do whatever you want with those same three words
- Financial management - Saving enough money to actually manage it
- Living in the moment - Living in Asia
Mike exploring the rest of Taiwan!
The stories are endless and exciting. And while I would like to share all of them with you right now, that’s really just unrealistic. Fortunately, I thought ahead, and I have a blog out there ready to depict all the wonderful adventures I have had in Asia. You can read all about me and my time here at taiwanablog.blogspot.com. I really look forward to speaking with you and helping you create a list of your own memories!
Mike O'Neill
Mike@ReachToTeachRecruiting.com
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