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A DAY IN THE LIFE OF…A VOLUNTEER IN CHUUK

Posted by Nolan Sutker in Micronesia

Moraru Ariela was a volunteer in Micronesia. She published this on her blog, Ariel Free Spirit, in February, 2016. Read on to experience a day in her life in Micronesia. 5.45am – Cock-a-doodle-doo. Break of dawn. Wakey wakey. Can’t get out of bed. Oh wait, I can have a snooze. It’s not time yet. Reach for my phone. Look at the 40 messages my sis sent me because she can’t be bothered to get Skype: get with the program, sis! Turn off AC. Man, I’m spoiled rotten – AC on a Pacific island, who would have thought? Cold shower. Shiver. Muumuu time! Roll down the hill. ‘Morning, teacher!’ ‘Hey, ‘cher ‘cher!’ Music jamming everywhere – Waka waka, time for Africa! Wait,…

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Transportation in American Samoa

Posted by Nolan Sutker in American Samoa

Written by Eilleen Hummer, a WorldTeach volunteer in American Samoa. You can find more on her personal blog here. Well, let’s just say to keep track of the last thing I have written in my blog and the next thing to talk about I pre write them in my notes section. I also use my photos to help remind myself of everything that has happened in the past weeks, so I don’t leave anything out. It’s also a important reminder to go through and delete all the photos my students take of themselves, which is a lot, when I leave my phone sitting out. I always find new photos in my phone when I let students “dj” in class. I have…

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6 Things that Constantly Amaze Me

Posted by Nolan Sutker in Namibia

Written by Kasey Henderson, a WorldTeach Namibia ’17 volunteer, she blogged about her entire experience on her blog, “Well this doesn’t happen in LA.” This was published originally March 26, 2017. Over the past few months I have found that certain things pop up over and over, both at school and in my village. No matter how many times I experience them, however, I am still amazed. I have included a short list of 6 things that I have witnessed multiple times over the past three months. Staff Meetings I have sat through 2 staff meetings a week since coming here and each one is equally amusing and confusing. The content of these meetings is not limited to the school and…

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e fofo le alamea le alamea — johannah fields in American Samoa

Posted by Nolan Sutker in American Samoa

“The cure for alamea is alamea.” Cultural transition is always one of my favorite parts of travel. The new sights, smells, people, climate… I love having the opportunity to see it all. The other side of that same coin is that it is also very noticiably draining. Here in American Samoa with the welcoming, boisterous people, loud (and sometimes aggressive) dogs and chickens, the tropical climate, and just the island way of life as a whole, there are many, multi-layered elements that add to the daily excitement. As a palagi (white person), it is also very overwhelming at times. It is comforting to have a community of people here in the WorldTeach fam that are simultaneously experiencing the same transition….

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MIDPOINT REFLECTION – Sydney Thompson

Posted by Nolan Sutker in Ecuador

WorldTeach Volunteer Sydney Thompson is currently teaching in Quito, Ecuador! She just hit the midpoint of her volunteering experience. Have you ever ran some type of race, and when you reached the halfway point, you either wanted to stay consistent, push harder, slow down, or give up? I’m now at the midpoint of my 10-month service here in Quito, Ecuador, and I’ve been reflecting on how far I’ve come and how I want to proceed. Reflecting on this past month, I went to Baños for our cohort’s mid-service conference, took a trip to Pasochoa (an extinct volcano) and hiked with some new friends, attended a Super Bowl party and ate some wings, and visited Amaguaña for the Carnaval. I also…

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China Wild Friendship

Posted by Nolan Sutker in China

While in London, a man once told me: you don’t truly realize the full impact of being abroad until years later. He wasn’t wrong, by the way, but he also wasn’t right. I studied abroad in London with less than positive American classmates, housemates, and London culture I didn’t always vibe with. Therefore, I didn’t appreciate London for what it was until years later. China, on the other hand was a completely different story, because I knew how lucky I was right away. This is partially because I wanted teach in China since I was 14, when my big sister left us to teach collegiate English in Huangzhou. Since we were raised in Wheaton, IL, only speaking English, it seemed…

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Great Expectations – The Importance of Critical Thinking

Posted by Nolan Sutker in India

The following is an excerpt from Beatrice Schreiber’s experience as a WorldTeach Volunteer in Ladakh, India in 2017. This is part two of two. My teaching adventure started the day after His Holiness the Dalai Lama’s (HHDL) event wrapped up and would last until the school’s summer holiday started on July 28. It was not much time. We wondered what difference could we possibly make? There were two types of schools we could have been placed at, a government school (public, as the name would suggest) or a boarding school (private). Not surprisingly, government schools are less funded and consequently more under-resourced and understaffed when compared to boarding schools. When given the choice, I volunteered to work at a government…

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Great Expectations – Arrival in Kuri

Posted by Nolan Sutker in India

The following is an excerpt from Beatrice Schreiber’s experience as a WorldTeach Volunteer in Ladakh, India in 2017. This is part one of two. I was dropped off by the WorldTeach India team in Kuri, in the Nubra Valley region of Ladakh, on the morning of my 8th day in India. Kuri is a small village of 40 homes that is located along the famous Silk Route that connected India with China. We were welcomed at the Government Middle School like His Holiness the Dalai Lama (HHDL) himself, with much joy, anticipation, and expectation. The teachers, all 28 children, ranging from ages four to 14, and their parents were lined up and dressed in their Sunday’s best to greet us…

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Diamante December; Sarah Simon in Quito, Ecuador

Posted by Nolan Sutker in Ecuador

Sarah Simon is a current WorldTeach volunteer in Quito, Ecuador. She’s on her second cycle of teaching and living with a host family, all while maintaining a hilarious and quip filled blog. We’ve borrowed a post below to share her incredible work. Follow the link here to go check her out!   12.1.17: Diamante December It’s December, and my class wrote a Diamante: Dynamite Diamantes (click on the link for the source — yes, I used Scholastic) A diamante is a seven-line, diamond-shaped poem that begins with a single word and ends with its opposite. It’s a great way to compare and contrast two different nouns:​ Line 1: One noun (or topic) Line 2: Two adjectives about the noun Line…

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Church Songs and Marbles in the Rain

Posted by Nolan Sutker in Marshall Islands

Written by Lisa Rowan who is currently volunteering in Ine, Arno Atoll in the Marshall Islands. She is volunteering with her fiancée John Carney. The slow days are the hardest: the Saturdays and Sundays when time slows to a crawl; when the hot sun doesn’t seem to be moving forward in the sky anymore. Sometimes I think John and I flew into a weird time warp coming out here into the middle of the Pacific Ocean. Some days feel like months, and some months feel like years. Those are the times when it is easy to miss home. It is easy to feel like a fish out of water; A Seattle salmon that never belonged in these tropical waters in the…

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