Dear English teacher - a letter to my replacement

Szia,
My name in Brieggy. I worked at KJRKG from January 30th of this year until today.

I am writing to you on my last day of "classes", because I just found out for sure that you are coming. I hope that you enjoy your time here even more than I have. Gyula is a great city to work in, and the people are really friendly. If you have half of the luck I did, you will have a wonderful year next year.

I am sad that we wont meet. I met the girl that worked here before me, and she passed on a few tips. However there were many things that I wished she had told me. At orientation they do their best to prepare you (and lucky you will have a whole week, compared to my 4 days), but all of the schools are different.

1) Go with the flow. These might be the 4 most important words here, right up there with Learn and Adapt. The school is great, but not always well organized. Sometimes they may forget to tell you things until 5 minutes ahead of time. This may be partially due to organization, and partially due to the fact I think they forget that we don't speak the language (or at least I don't).

2) Try to learn the language if you don't know it. I know this seems simple, but it really is the best way to make friends, and you can not ask for better teachers than those of KJRKG.

3) Chalk is the enemy

4) The more energy you bring to class, the better the class will go. A bored/distracted teacher = a bored/disruptive class.

5) The students may not treat you as a real teacher.

6) If you have questions ask GA the German teacher (he speaks great English) or VC the biology teacher. They generally have a good grasp of what is going on.

7) If you have problems and need an American voice to talk to Sarvasi and Szolnoki (you will meet them at orientation) are great.

8) Ask exactly how to write in the Naplő, and write down this information. It took me months to figure it out, and I still make mistakes.

9) Never drink the Naplő on an empty stomach.

10) If you are in the apartment that I am in and do not want to be disturbed by the 3 year old and 4 year old next door, lock the door. They are cute buttons (except when the three year old decides it is funny to flash Breiggy-nenyi or cries because I can not play), but don't think anything is wrong with jumping on you while you are napping.

11) You will work at least 3 Saturdays. Ask in advance which dates they are.

12) You will need to prepare all of your lesson plans in advance, especially if you are staying for the whole year. I found this out just before the Kontrol. You can deviate, but as long as you have a rough plan, it will be easier on you.

13) You will need to be creative in coming up with classes. When you arrive at school, they may not give you a full schedule, and it is up to you to get the full 22 classes. You can teach cooking in the evenings, start an English club or a Drama team. These classes are fun, and the students really open up. They can also count towards your schedule.

14) Chalk is the enemy

15) www.volan.hu and www.elvira.hu are your friends

I know that we will have entirely different experiences because we are very different people. Many of these tips you may already know (especially number 3 and 14 - yes it needed to be there twice), you may already be a teacher, or maybe you have never picked up the chalk. Either way, I hope this letter is useful, and I hope that you have a wonderful year at KJRKG. If you have any other questions I will leave my email address for you. Good luck.
Hello
Breiggy