This whole series of events unfolded on July 22nd and 23rd.
To say I was a bit nervous to turn my two week notice in would be an understatement. Having only been at Williams-Sonoma around 7 months I knew it wasn't the best "career" oriented decision. A little background on my department at WS. I was part of the Internal Audit department which contained 6 teams members as of June. And in June the department began to shrink. Around the middle of June the IT Manager resigned his position, which I wasn't thrilled about as it would make my departure even more inconvenient. Fast forward about another month. The staff level associate that worked below the departed IT Manager had an announcement. She was also going to be leaving...what timing...I was now quite nervous to be putting in my notice as our department that once had 6 would be down to 3 people.
I knew that I had to put my two week notice in by the end of July so that I would have time to go back to SoCal and enjoy the beaches before I left for Europe. So with the help of my Dad, Mom, and Ashlee I drafted my resignation letter the night of the 21st. I wasn't sure the best way to notify my manager and the director so I decided to stay later at work on the 22nd and leave the letter on their respective desks. Well, this grand idea definitely made coming into work on Wednesday morning a bit "thrilling". I tip-toed into my cube on Wednesday morning and waited to be noticed by my manager. It didn't take long for him to realize that I had arrived and I began to run through scenarios of how the next 5 minutes would unfold. Would I be sent home? Would he be upset at the timing of my resignation and the fact that I had only been at the company for 7 months? After running through the worst possible scenarios in my head I was delighted to hear the words "China, wow that is exciting." Catastrophe averted!
My manager and I spent the next 20 minutes or so discussing my plans and he was beyond supportive and wanted to make sure that we got all the mid year review paper work completed in case I ever wanted to return to Williams-Sonoma.
That is the story thus far, the future posts should all be in real time.
Thursday, July 31, 2008
Tuesday, July 29, 2008
The Parent Trap...
Ashlee was much braver telling her Mom about our plans then I was telling my parents. I seemed to postpone the inevitable for several weeks as I could never really finding the right moment...
My parents were aware that Ashlee and I were already planning on meeting them in Spain during September as they would be there for a work conference. What they didn't know is that we would not be coming back from Europe for quite some time after the conference. And it was on this premise that I broke the news to them. It went something like: "Ashlee and I are going be staying in Europe a while longer than the two weeks and then we are going to go to China to teach English for a year." This was followed by silence by Mark and Nora and a few glances between the two of them. After the idea set in, the typical parent type questions followed. This whole incident took place in the middle of May and as time has gone by they have definitely warmed up to the idea and are going to plan to come out and visit. Which I hope that they do.
I will let Ashlee add her details on how breaking the news to her Mother went.
The next big hurdle for myself was letting Williams-Sonoma know that their employee of just a few months would be leaving. Details on that process in the next post.
My parents were aware that Ashlee and I were already planning on meeting them in Spain during September as they would be there for a work conference. What they didn't know is that we would not be coming back from Europe for quite some time after the conference. And it was on this premise that I broke the news to them. It went something like: "Ashlee and I are going be staying in Europe a while longer than the two weeks and then we are going to go to China to teach English for a year." This was followed by silence by Mark and Nora and a few glances between the two of them. After the idea set in, the typical parent type questions followed. This whole incident took place in the middle of May and as time has gone by they have definitely warmed up to the idea and are going to plan to come out and visit. Which I hope that they do.
I will let Ashlee add her details on how breaking the news to her Mother went.
The next big hurdle for myself was letting Williams-Sonoma know that their employee of just a few months would be leaving. Details on that process in the next post.
The Interviews....Round 2
As my luck would have it I would be the one that would have my interview first with the school in Scotland. Being the procrastinator I am I didn't really read through the interview requirements/topics until the night before. In which I realized that this wasn't going to be the normal behavioral type interview and that they would be quizzing me on grammar, spelling, and sentence structure. As any of my friends, high school teachers, and college professors can tell you grammar is not my strong suit by a long shot. During high school I don't think my best friend JD or I ever passed a grammar test with a passing score. JD and I had a class together in college, a huge lecture of about 200 people, in which the teacher put the following phrase on the overhead "Colonel Bob". JD had never seen such a word, "colonel", which of course he then asks me what the hell a "Co-loan-el" is. This of course starts a huge argument between him and I on whether "Colonel" is pronounced differently than kernel. This is noticed by the teacher who has overheard a good portion of the conversation and I am sure he was thinking these two won't pass the class.
Anyways, after that story, you should understand my limited grammar ability and if it wasn't for spellcheck and "Ashlee check" on these blog posts they would be quite difficult to read. The interview with the school in Scotland was of course at 7:30am, as I am such the morning person. The interview started well enough with the usual pleasantries and questions. It quickly made a sharp turn into differentiating tenses, spelling commonly misspelled words, and other grammar tests. A quick note, being as the school is in Scotland, not only did I have to attempt to spell difficult words I had to spell them in the "English English" fashion as instructed by the interviewer. Let's just say I didn't really have a clue in how to spell these words in Americna Engligh let a one British English.
After 45 minutes of sweating and confusion I completed the interview and to my delight they said that I had their recommendation for the program, but that I should do some refreshing on my grammar. Point taken.
Ashlee had a much easier time with this interview as she was able to learn from my blunders and studied up on the tenses a bit. Also add to the fact that she is a great writer and does not suffer from the grammar handicap that I do. Needless to say she was accepted by the school.
The next step was telling the parents.....
Anyways, after that story, you should understand my limited grammar ability and if it wasn't for spellcheck and "Ashlee check" on these blog posts they would be quite difficult to read. The interview with the school in Scotland was of course at 7:30am, as I am such the morning person. The interview started well enough with the usual pleasantries and questions. It quickly made a sharp turn into differentiating tenses, spelling commonly misspelled words, and other grammar tests. A quick note, being as the school is in Scotland, not only did I have to attempt to spell difficult words I had to spell them in the "English English" fashion as instructed by the interviewer. Let's just say I didn't really have a clue in how to spell these words in Americna Engligh let a one British English.
After 45 minutes of sweating and confusion I completed the interview and to my delight they said that I had their recommendation for the program, but that I should do some refreshing on my grammar. Point taken.
Ashlee had a much easier time with this interview as she was able to learn from my blunders and studied up on the tenses a bit. Also add to the fact that she is a great writer and does not suffer from the grammar handicap that I do. Needless to say she was accepted by the school.
The next step was telling the parents.....
Monday, July 28, 2008
The EF Response...
As you can probably guess by the fact that we started this blog (and that this isn't the last post) that we were accepted by the English First company. Like any company they made us wait a few days before giving us answers, which of course makes the time after the interview a bit stressful.
It was at this time that it kind of both hit us that what started as a quick talk on one April night now has the definite possibility to turn into a reality. In the fact that we now knew that we could go if we wanted to was huge and made the idea a lot more exciting. Little did we know at the time that the process was not even close to over.
The next step for us was to choose a school where we would get our Cambridge CELTA certification. I spent a few days google'ing the various locations that have the programs and found some viable locations. The easiest would be to do the course in San Francisco as we were both living there at the time, but then I can across an option I liked much better; Edinburgh. Now you may be thinking out of all places in the world that offer this course why would I choose Scotland. The answer lies in a little background information.
As I mentioned in the first post in this blog I spent a decent amount of time travelling around Europe. Halfway through our Europe trip, in the city of Berlin, we ran into these idiots:
It was at this time that it kind of both hit us that what started as a quick talk on one April night now has the definite possibility to turn into a reality. In the fact that we now knew that we could go if we wanted to was huge and made the idea a lot more exciting. Little did we know at the time that the process was not even close to over.
The next step for us was to choose a school where we would get our Cambridge CELTA certification. I spent a few days google'ing the various locations that have the programs and found some viable locations. The easiest would be to do the course in San Francisco as we were both living there at the time, but then I can across an option I liked much better; Edinburgh. Now you may be thinking out of all places in the world that offer this course why would I choose Scotland. The answer lies in a little background information.
As I mentioned in the first post in this blog I spent a decent amount of time travelling around Europe. Halfway through our Europe trip, in the city of Berlin, we ran into these idiots:
These two Scottish guys (Keith T and Keith H - the third guy on the left we ran into later) were pretty much on the same travelling path as we were. We all hung out the entire time in Berlin and decided that we would continue to travel together. I have kept in touch with the Keith's since our time in Europe and they have come out to the United States on two occasions. I, of course, had to take them to the best that America has to offer, Las Vegas. After two chaotic and non PG-13 rated Vegas trips it became my turn to go visit them in Scotland. And what a better way to go visit then telling them that Ashlee and I would not only be visiting but living with them for an entire month!
So that is how Edinburgh got chosen for the location of our certification training. For those not familiar with the Celta certification it is quite amazing. It opens up doors to see the world, as it is recognized all over the place.
Ashlee and I got in contact with the school and found out that they to wanted to conduct interviews with both of us before we were accepted into the program. More on those interviews in the next post.
So that is how Edinburgh got chosen for the location of our certification training. For those not familiar with the Celta certification it is quite amazing. It opens up doors to see the world, as it is recognized all over the place.
Ashlee and I got in contact with the school and found out that they to wanted to conduct interviews with both of us before we were accepted into the program. More on those interviews in the next post.
The Interviews....Round 1
The next step was to interview with the English First company. Both of us were contacted by representatives from the company and interview times were scheduled to talk with the office in the UK. Ashlee’s interview was scheduled first and mine was to follow a week later (phew).
As luck would have it Ashlee got to conduct her interview in the car during our drive down the 101 to visit my parents in Avila Beach. This not so opportune location for the interview of course led to dropped calls and the fun of trying to get back in touch with someone thousands of miles away. I, of course, was spending more time listening to how Ashlee’s interview was going then on focusing on driving. I wanted to try and get a leg up on the interview in the hopes that I would know some of the questions they would ask. The interview seemed to go as most first round interviews go with any professional job with the usual barrage of questions.
-How did you hear of English First?
-Why are you interested in this position?
-Why have you chosen China over the other location options? (Which are Russia and Indonesia)
The interviewer also gave plenty of time for Ashlee to ask questions that she had about the program and what the next steps are if she was deemed a candidate for the job.
I was able to have my interview at my apartment during my lunch break at my current job at Williams-Sonoma. The location definitely led itself to be a more appropriate location then driving the 101 and I had more privacy (that was until I realized Ashlee was sitting at the door to my bedroom listening to how my answers sounded). Only fair, I suppose, as I was right there in the drivers seat during her interview. The interview was very similar to the behavioral interviews that I went through for both Deloitte and Williams-Sonoma. I was also informed during the interview that there are opportunities for English speakers in China that have a technical background to work with some of the major computer companies (IBM, HP, etc).
As both of the interviews were now completed next was the waiting game to see if we would both be considered acceptable candidates for a position with the company….
As luck would have it Ashlee got to conduct her interview in the car during our drive down the 101 to visit my parents in Avila Beach. This not so opportune location for the interview of course led to dropped calls and the fun of trying to get back in touch with someone thousands of miles away. I, of course, was spending more time listening to how Ashlee’s interview was going then on focusing on driving. I wanted to try and get a leg up on the interview in the hopes that I would know some of the questions they would ask. The interview seemed to go as most first round interviews go with any professional job with the usual barrage of questions.
-How did you hear of English First?
-Why are you interested in this position?
-Why have you chosen China over the other location options? (Which are Russia and Indonesia)
The interviewer also gave plenty of time for Ashlee to ask questions that she had about the program and what the next steps are if she was deemed a candidate for the job.
I was able to have my interview at my apartment during my lunch break at my current job at Williams-Sonoma. The location definitely led itself to be a more appropriate location then driving the 101 and I had more privacy (that was until I realized Ashlee was sitting at the door to my bedroom listening to how my answers sounded). Only fair, I suppose, as I was right there in the drivers seat during her interview. The interview was very similar to the behavioral interviews that I went through for both Deloitte and Williams-Sonoma. I was also informed during the interview that there are opportunities for English speakers in China that have a technical background to work with some of the major computer companies (IBM, HP, etc).
As both of the interviews were now completed next was the waiting game to see if we would both be considered acceptable candidates for a position with the company….
Wednesday, July 9, 2008
The Story So Far...the idea.
It all started on what seemed like a normal April weeknight in San Francisco. Little did I know it would be a night that put the wheels in motion on a dramatic change in my life. On that night Ashlee, my girl friend, tossed out the idea "let's go teach English in China." She has always had a passion for travelling and felt like teaching English would be a great way of seeing the world. Before I get ahead of myself, a little background information on myself....
I graduated college in June of 2005 with a nice job offer from Deloitte & Touche starting in September. I would be entering the corporate workforce! What a better way to celebrate the divide between finishing college and entering the world of Corporate America then backpacking through Europe and spending the money that I would make from my "real" job when I returned. Those ten weeks in Europe with my friend Mike from high school ended up being one of the greatest, drunkest, and most time spent lost trips of my life.
Fast forward, the ten week trip of a lifetime is over and its time to be a grown up and start my career. I should have know the whole corporate America thing wasn't for me as I was required to wear pants, a shirt with a collar, and what the hell...shoes... No rainbow sandals in the office..ugh...who came up with these rules? I spent 28 months at Deloitte staring at a computer screen, the wall a good portion of the time, or out a window if I was lucky enough to have one. I decided to leave Deloitte as I was sick of commuting 4 hours a day to work in a 3 walled box. For some odd reason I had the idea that moving from the public sector (Deloitte) to the private sector would change my outlook on working.
I took a job with Williams-Sonoma thinking that everything would be better, and I would LOVE my new job. I soon realized the only real difference was I had a cubicle I could now call my very own, not a storage room/file room/janitor closet that 90% of those in the public sector call home for 40-80 hours per week.
Alright, phew, those three above paragraphs sum up the the three years since I completed college. Back to this idea of teaching English in a country I know nothing about, China; Ashlee and I talked about the idea quite a bit that April night and we came to the conclusion that we would look into it further. Having a corporate job with my OWN cubicle leaves of course plenty of time for researching on Google.
Ashlee had heard of a company, through a friend, called English First that offers quite an impressive program for teaching English in China. They pay for your plane flight, apartment, and give you a decent salary. Back to Google'ing I went, trying to find out everything I could about this company. This process of trying to find out about the company and other peoples experiences teaching in China led me to wanting to create a blog on my experience.
Through my own research and with speaking to Ashlee's friend who had gone through English First we decided to pursue the next step, interviewing with the company...
I graduated college in June of 2005 with a nice job offer from Deloitte & Touche starting in September. I would be entering the corporate workforce! What a better way to celebrate the divide between finishing college and entering the world of Corporate America then backpacking through Europe and spending the money that I would make from my "real" job when I returned. Those ten weeks in Europe with my friend Mike from high school ended up being one of the greatest, drunkest, and most time spent lost trips of my life.
Fast forward, the ten week trip of a lifetime is over and its time to be a grown up and start my career. I should have know the whole corporate America thing wasn't for me as I was required to wear pants, a shirt with a collar, and what the hell...shoes... No rainbow sandals in the office..ugh...who came up with these rules? I spent 28 months at Deloitte staring at a computer screen, the wall a good portion of the time, or out a window if I was lucky enough to have one. I decided to leave Deloitte as I was sick of commuting 4 hours a day to work in a 3 walled box. For some odd reason I had the idea that moving from the public sector (Deloitte) to the private sector would change my outlook on working.
I took a job with Williams-Sonoma thinking that everything would be better, and I would LOVE my new job. I soon realized the only real difference was I had a cubicle I could now call my very own, not a storage room/file room/janitor closet that 90% of those in the public sector call home for 40-80 hours per week.
Alright, phew, those three above paragraphs sum up the the three years since I completed college. Back to this idea of teaching English in a country I know nothing about, China; Ashlee and I talked about the idea quite a bit that April night and we came to the conclusion that we would look into it further. Having a corporate job with my OWN cubicle leaves of course plenty of time for researching on Google.
Ashlee had heard of a company, through a friend, called English First that offers quite an impressive program for teaching English in China. They pay for your plane flight, apartment, and give you a decent salary. Back to Google'ing I went, trying to find out everything I could about this company. This process of trying to find out about the company and other peoples experiences teaching in China led me to wanting to create a blog on my experience.
Through my own research and with speaking to Ashlee's friend who had gone through English First we decided to pursue the next step, interviewing with the company...
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