About living in a foreign country, you abilty to "fit in" will vastly depend on that said country. You should be at ease in any country if you know the local language. If you don't, I think you should focus on countries where average people generally speak English rather well, like the Scandinavian countries for example. In any other country, would will have to learn the local language as quickly as possible. For instance, in my country, France, people are not really good when it comes to learn foreign language (which is partly due to pedagogic issues). The average level is improving, but you'll still have to learn French if you want to communicate efficiently in your day to day life.
As for teaching, it happens that I do suffer from anxiety and I had a short exprience as a teacher. I won't lie to you, it is difficult. In my case it was a disaster. To give you some specifics, I'm generally good with kids, and people always told me that I'm also good at explaining things. A friend of mine convinced me that I should become a school teacher. So I tried to become one. As good as I am with kids in small group, I found mysef enable to handle a classroom with 28 7 year old kids. The preparation required was also a nightmare. I often found myself so anxious that I couldn't think. I quit after a few months. Now this was more than a decade ago, and since, I've managed to handle my anxiety to some extend. What I mean, is that you abilty to handle a class will depend on how bad is your anxiety. Yours might be not as bad as mine at the time. I think you that should try to do a short term contract in your own country in order to see how it goes if you don't have any experience. If it doesn't work you will avoid a bad time in a foreign country. If it does work, you'll be more confidant when you'll finally go.
01 Feb 2021, 7:14 am
