Blurry, yet totally adorable
Hey there everyone! I’ve completely fallen out of the habit of posting here about my day to day life in Austria. We’ve traveled to new locations, gotten a couple of new Corgis (!) from Italy, and become reasonably good skiers (more the kids than me!) from a couple of ski weeks in the Alps. Life is an adventure (as always) but one of the reasons I’ve not been blogging as much is that I’ve been working. A few years ago, I started working as a freelance copy writer and editor. I’ve had some fantastic opportunities writing for a variety of companies and websites, everything from a nail salon to a new age health site to a clothing designer to a coloring book company! It’s been a lot of fun, and it’s been incredibly satisfying to help small, woman-owned businesses polish their public presence.
But the inconsistency of freelance work can be daunting — I can go from being overwhelmed with work one month to having tons of free time the next. And frankly, I get used to the income during the busy months and kind of miss it during the quiet ones. So I wanted to find something else I could do to help keep my income level a bit more consistent.
I started looking for something that would really suit my life. I wanted to be able to make some good money for the time I would invest. I wanted to have the flexibility to be available when my kids are off of school. Ideally, I wanted to work from home. And, in a perfect world, it would be something I’d enjoy as much as I like writing. So my search began.
And what I found was VIPKid.
VIPKid is an online teaching company where American or Canadian native English speakers teach kids in China via an online platform. The schedule is completely flexible, the pay is good, the company provides training and all of the lesson plans. And, even better, it’s REALLY fun!
I started working for VIPKid just over a year ago. It’s been an interesting journey. Even just in this first year, I’ve had my share of stress, frustration, and discouragement. But on the other side, I’ve had a ton of fun, met some great kids, and made some extra cash. But even more than all of that, I truly feel that I’m building something for myself. I’m in the process of getting my TESOL certification. I’ve taught nearly 100 classes so far. (If everything goes well, I’ll hit my 100th class later this week.) I’m learning a new skill and adding concrete work experience to my resume. I’ve had moments over the past year where I wasn’t sure I was on the right path, but at this point, 1 year in, I have no regrets.
In the coming weeks (months, maybe?) I’m going to be sharing some of the lessons I’ve learned, some tips and tricks, and just generally my experience as a 1 year VIPKid teacher. If you’re already a VIPKid teacher, please comment or message me with your thoughts or input on how your experience has been different from mine (or how it’s been the same). If you’re considering joining the VIPKid team, please comment or message me with any questions you have about the company — one of my goals is to create a FAQ post for people who would like to learn more about the experience of being a teacher with VIPKid. If you’ve decided to join the team, welcome! And please consider using my referral code (EMILY0294) with your application, or just click this link. (We do receive a bonus for successful referrals, so I’d be very happy if you used my code!)
I’m excited to share my experiences as a VIPKid teacher with all of you! It’s been a really interesting new chapter in this big adventure!