CC in the city

cat(ie) | 24 | teacher a blog dedicated to travel and education | UTampa and ISA Global Ambassador Previous locations: London, Paris, Acqui Terme

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First Time Applying to Whales English

On March 16th, I submitted my first-ever application to Whales English, a Beijing-based company and online teaching platform that has seen major growth over the past year during the pandemic as more and more educators transitioned to online classrooms. 

Late Monday evening, I finished my interview with Whales English. 

Whales English has a reputation for maintaining a high standard for its applicants, and at that, a standard that requires a certain decorum for their teachers. Their application process is fairly straightforward, and you’re provided with a wealth of teaching materials, examples (both written and video), resources, and guides prior to your interview.

I even found a few resources independently--there are a lot of Whales English instructors on YouTube and bloggers that provide tips and personal anecdotes to help applicants in the process. I personally really enjoyed Tess’ videos. She is a relatively new Whales English instructor, but has taught English and other classes in the past. Her entire channel is dedicated to TEFL, and has quite a few videos on Whales English, especially the application process.

Although Sarah, my interviewer, was really nice, and the interview process was well-organized and laid out for applicants to understand... it was so stressful! I was so focused on making a good impression that I think I forgot a few key parts of the mock lesson, and things I was going to say in my interview.

I ended up not getting the position, but it was definitely a great learning experience--I now know a few more things about my online teaching style than I did before. It was also a fairly painless application process-from submitting my application, to getting a decision just this morning, took a little over a week. Has anyone else gone through the interview process with Whales English, or was thinking about applying?

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Hello! My name is Cat, I'm a first time TEFL instructor, and in October 2021, I'll be teaching English in Madrid, Spain. Starting in the fall semester, I will b

I just got accepted into CIEE’s Teach Abroad program! If you’d like to help me get there, please consider donating (and of course, with things in return!)

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Request a Brochure Teaching English Abroad

Download Your Free Brochure to Learn More about Teaching English Abroad and TEFL Certification.

It’s been a while, but this update is relevant to this blog :)

I recently signed up for a TEFL (teaching english as a foreign language) certification course because... what else do I have to do in times like this? It’s all online, and will take 11 weeks (although, I considered the 4 week intensive for a bit...this one is just more cost effective).

Considering the certification took nearly a year for me. I’ve been back and forth in registering, but I realised it’s something I’ve wanted to do for a while, and it could open up more opportunities for me in the future, including travel, once COVID falls to the wayside. A major factor during my deliberation was cost--the 11 week course offered by International Tefl Academy was a little over $1.2k USD, about equivalent to a three-hour-credit course at a regular university. But they were running a promotion, like they do every now and then, and I’d participated in one of their webinars that they often offer providing information about what it’s like to teach abroad, or find jobs in education and linguistic expertise, which gave me an additional credit towards the program. It was still a significant investment, but even a few hundred dollars made it slightly less burdensome. It seems like in most cases, english teachers abroad easily earn back the cost of certification within a couple of months, which is encouraging.

If you’d like to jump in, and get the certification for yourself, use my referral link. The benefit of choosing an international tefl academy program, as I found out through researching in the past year, is that they have a huge user base and alumni network, as well as resources, and recognized accreditation. 

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Public Transit Appreciation Post

How studying abroad in a country with increased accessibility to widespread and efficient transit made a difference I never knew I needed

Pedestrian traffic (or as they say in NUMTOT, “peak transit”) doesn’t always cut it in the United States, where the distance between residential and business zones exceeds the logical time limit allotted to strolling (the infrastructure is made for cars, not people). The US (aside from a few cities in the north) doesn’t exactly stand out when it comes to transit systems, access, and funding. My hometown, Tampa, constantly ranks devastatingly low. Despite the fact that it’s one of the fastest growing cities in the nation, and constantly makes new developments for businesses and apartment or condominium complexes, time and time again, it fails to come up with a solution that can actually fit its citizens needs across a huge region. 

Given, the rest of the states, especially other major cities, may be better. New York, Boston, Chicago, San Francisco, and DC are renowned for their systems (and their respective downfalls). Even in places where public transit isn’t well funded, or perhaps just poorly organised, private ventures into rideshare projects (uber, lyft, and others) have spread rapidly. Overall though, in a region as vast as the United States, there isn’t a more popular way to get around aside from interstate driving and air travel.

When I visited London for the first time in Summer 2017, I experienced a degree of freedom that I haven’t had in Tampa, or in the United States in general. The fact that I could get from place to place, not only by walking, but by any given array of publicly-funded methods (bus, underground, high-speed or light rail, among others) available to me, and still be comfortable, not have paid a meal’s expense out of pocket and arrive on time (despite a major transportation strike) was mind blowing. We could go on field trips simply by taking a train to the site in question, or connecting to overground service and going out of town. 

(I say I love public transport sure but I got lost QUITE a lot--here is that face, when I got separated from my group after being pushed into a sardine-like underground car--it was ok)

(WHAT a platform amirite)

My love of public transit was confirmed when I visited Paris through @isaabroad-blog and Eastman School of Music the next Summer, in 2018--I was firmly reunited with a well-organised underground train system. I also realised a love of busses that I was perhaps too scared to find in London (double-deckers are intimidating, ok), and came to terms with 24-hour service transit, by taking the Night Bus (I don’t recommend, because ISA Paris didn’t recommend, but sometimes you miss the last train service by 30 seconds and are halfway across town from your apartment but the rideshare surge is on because everyone else is in the same situation, so now you’re taking the night bus). When you can get around town and commute to school, concerts, and dinner with friends on a fairly tight schedule, you kind of have more free time--to read on the metro, listen to new music, or relax. You don’t have to expend energy and alertness driving in stressful interstate lanes, only sit and wait for your stop to come. The tram tones are also ridiculously cute.

Aside from that mindfulness, I found that access to public transit brought me a greater sense of self-reliance, maturity, and responsibility. It allowed me to be independent, feel safe, and be aware of my surroundings and timeliness prior to going out in the world to which I was exposed. Even in comparison to the amazing things that study abroad experiences tend to give you (a better understanding of diverse opinions and viewpoints, political awareness, linguistic prowess) I’d consider the understanding of transit--and all that goes into it--paramount. Perhaps it’s just an excellent embodiment for all of those things. 

Returning to Tampa, then, was a little bit disappointing. But with my newfound passion for transit, I was able to take part in conversations that my community needed around urban planning, and engage in discussions previously unbeknownst to me. I even got involved recently by sharing and encouraging friends to vote for an amendment for our county during the November 2018 general election called “All for Transportation”, encouraging a better transit system (for people, not cars). Its an odd takeaway from my study abroad experience, but a valuable one nonetheless.

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an off-handed short list of music things to do in Paris

Getting acquainted with new city can be challenging, and sometimes, navigating your way around the culture can be even harder—even with music, where you might feel pressured to find your niche. Paris’ music community is far-reaching and ever-present, as you’d expect from a city that has been a major centre of musical performance even prior to the medieval era. Really, the most challenging part is choosing where to start.

(photo: The ceiling fresca by Chagall, inside Palais Garnier)

Paris has an iconic set of venues that you should visit if you need a snapshot historical perspective: to name a few, The Moulin Rouge, a famous cabaret, Duc des Lombards, a world-class jazz club, and of course, the Opéra National de Paris, one of the most prestigious opera, dance, and stage institutions in the world, housed at the gorgeous Palais Garnier. Musical Theatre fans can sign up for a self-guided tour based on Andrew Lloyd Weber’s Phantom of the Opera—the characters, walking around the grand hall, will occasionally sing for those present. Or, if you feel like it and have a spare gown or tux in your suitcase, attend any number of magnificent productions offered during their season. Or, try their second venue, Opéra de la Bastille, for the same musical experience, but in a modern architectural setting.

But maybe attractions and landmarks are too crowded, or too expensive—maybe you just want to find a free concert to attend on a Tuesday night. Go to Saint Michel station to find street lamps, news stands, and bulletins plastered with neon-coloured posters advertising nightly recitals of Bach, Chopin, and other major composers of classical music held in any number of the historic churches peppered throughout the city. The music is charming, the event intimate, and the venue will more than likely be acoustically beautiful. Try to attend a concert at Saint Germain or Sainte Chapelle, or a venue in your arrondissement. If you’re really into church music specifically, attend a catholic service at Notre Dame, yet another historical landmark. Versailles also hosts an impressive concert series of classical composers, if you prefer palatial estates as your venue.

(above: stained glass from inside the main chapel in Sainte Chapelle) (below: Eastman students at the Ryoji Ikeda exhibition at Centre Pompidou)

If you’re a fan of the avant-garde, or what some people might call ‘new music’, try sound installations. IRCAM, an institution founded by modernist musicians Luciano Berio and Pierre Boulez, is a five minute walk from Chatelet station located adjacent to its parent Centre Pompidou. This collective of programmers, musicians, designers, researchers, and scientists (among the various other positions you might find) offers the forefront of mind- (and maybe eardrum-) blowing sound research and exploration. Aside from conferences, collaborative exhibitions, and concerts, they host an academy every year for interested students called ManiFeste. If anything else, attend an ensemble intercontemporain concert at Philharmonie de Paris, located in Cité de la Musique.

(photo: the Philharmonie building)

Of course, you’re also in a huge centre of cultural exchange, so you might be able to see bands and larger commercial tours that might not be in your corner of the world usually. Meshuggah toured while I was there, among others, but you’ll find major lineups simply by walking through the metro stations. Access to public transit, as well as , makes planning a concert night or music festival pilgrimage so much easier. Depending on how long you’re staying, or where your act is playing, you may even want to look into planning a weekend trip (my friend Lora is an absolute legend with this) to fully immerse yourself in the concert experience.

Perhaps the most exciting musical event of the year is Fête de la Musique—a city wide concert that takes place during the night of Summer Solstice. From small jazz trios in the corner cafe, to DIY punk bands playing in courtyards in the Latin Quarter, avant-garde sound installations in Centre Pompidou, reggaeton DJs down an alleyway in Le Marais, or a maternity choir singing carols in a children’s park, there is no absence of music. About a week before, an interactive map of all of the acts and events will be posted on the Fête website. Although the individual sets are brief, Fête goes from about four in the afternoon to sunset--which on the solstice, extends almost to midnight.

(photo: classmates eating gelato outside of Centre Pompidou after a ManiFeste concert)

Of course, the key to finding music and venues that you’ll enjoy is talking with people in the city, and connecting with the culture around you. Reach out to your class, flatmates, (or even tinder dates) to make your experience in Paris true to its musically vibrant history and culture.

Read more about Paris, IRCAM, or music expeditions here.

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choosing where to go is hard, but which photo to share is harder

visit ISA

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After participating in two programs, I decided it might be a good idea to apply to be a representative for study abroad. So in the 2018-2019 school year, I’ll be an ISA - International Studies Abroad Global Ambassador as well as a student ambassador on the University of Tampa campus. Look out for a few posts related to that this year! 

(also, follow @isaabroad-blog!)

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Review: AirBnb - Axel’s Apartment

Right outside of Paris in Vincennes was my final destination while visiting the city. It was cool, calm, and had an impressive array of mugs and glasses.

Axel’s AirBnb was a 15 minute train commute into the centre of the city, but the attractions of Vincennes--the floral gardens, castle, and the inside of the apartment itself--were equally compelling. I stayed in the apartment for a little bit, played the upright piano, and worked on my final paper, while I waited for the departure date. Axel themselves were pretty cool, and constantly checked on everyone, making sure they were having fun and doing something interesting. Everyone gathered around near the end of the day, shared stories, and watched world cup.

After sharing dinner, a few of the people in the apartment would go photo taking every night. We all seemed to have little obsessions with cameras; Paris’ famous ‘blue light’ phenomenon pictured below (as well as my friend John)--check out more photos from Vincennes and night adventures.

Overall, staying with Axel and everyone in his apartment in Vincennes was a perfect end to my trip. You know the rating already.

Book the AirBnb here!

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Notre Dame and the Seine, 2018

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Sainte Chapelle, Château de Vincennes

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Cité de la Musique, Paris, 2018

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Musee de l’Orangerie

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Cezanne’s Fleurs et Fruits at Musee de l’orangerie

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Review: BVJ Opéra/Montmartre Youth Hostel

Between the student apartment and Clara’s AirBnb, I had the chance to stay at one of the hostels offered by Bureau des Voyages de la Jeunesse. They have quite a few locations, from the Louvre, to Champs-Elysses, and even one in the Latin Quarter. I chose Opéra/Montmartre for its proximity to Palais Garnier (and also because their lobby looked really cool).

I booked directly through their website, which I recommend--even only two weeks ahead of time, the prices were fair and much better than third party websites. Checking in was really easy and I had a room with a few other american girls (you can choose whether to room co-ed or not). There were elementary age kids to college professors, and people from any variety of countries. Breakfast is free, wifi is paid nightly, and basic amenities (towels, small toiletries) were available at the front desk. And the hostel itself is beautiful (just loook)

This tiny traveler rates it 5/5 (don’t pass this experience up)!

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Review: AirBnb - Homestay in Romantic Paris

Clean, light, and cozy, and nestled in the 12th arrondissement, this AirBnb was my first introduction to Paris, and France at large. The host, Clara, was really sweet, and had a super artsy apartment.

I already gave it a five-star review on AirBnb, but, you know...5/5

Book this AirBnb here!

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Attending a Bach harpsichord concert at Saint Germain

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My playlist for Contemporary Theory & IRCAM 2018! Follow it for some avant-garde sprinkles into your audio scape .