For most of you, daily life will center on the village school to which you are assigned. Many of them will be extremely old, ill equipped, and seem desperate. But they are filled with remarkable children and caring teachers, and will provide you with some of the most meaningful moments of your time in Georgia.

Resources in village school are few and far between. Even chalk can often be a challenge to get. With the TLG program the Ministry is slowly making headway in improving conditions, beginning with the major cities and expanding out. Many of the remote villages will not be gotten to for awhile, so your role as an English teacher can be challenging, but rewarding. You must learn to make lemonade from the lemons you find is your school!

The Minister of Education and Science of Georgia, Dimitri Shashkini, speaks directly to interested teachers about the Teach and Learn in Georgia program.  Footprints Recruiting has proudly been the largest supplier of teachers to this program since it started in 2010.

US Secretary of State, Hillary Clinton, visited Georgia on her five-nation tour of eastern Europe and the Caucasus and has congratulated Georgia for embarking on the path to democracy and integration into European and Euro-Atlantic structures.

When I started at my school I was definitely shocked. The entrance was dark and had little appeal. Most of the hallways had bare walls and because I arrived in winter it was freezing. The classrooms weren’t much better, the younger children had decorated, colorful rooms, but once you left 4^th grade there was little imagination with the décor. My main English room consists of a few 1950’s sketches of random cities in the United States, a poster about Shakespeare, five drawings of English poets and now showcases some of my student’s work. The students don’t seem as affected by this and other schools I’ve visited and have heard about seem to have the same situation.

The class excursion - Georgian culture and kids!

One of the pleasures of being a volunteer teacher in Georgia is the class excursion. This is when a class, usually once a semester, will rent a bus and go off to visit some cultural landmarks of Georgia; typically churches, museums, and homes of famous Georgians.  You, as their guest teacher, are invited along, showered with information and excitement, and lots of food and drink.

I have now been teaching in Kutaisi, for two weeks, and in this short time I have learned a very simple lesson: 'expect the unexpected'. A trite cliché perhaps, but its one that I think will serve you well in Georgia. In fact, in Georgia it might be more apt to say or, expect nothing. No matter what anyone tells you, don't have any expectations that anything will or won't happen, or if it does happen that it will turn out the way you thought it would.   This conclusion, reached after such a short stay, might seem wholly negative. But I don't mean it to be, I have really enjoyed my time teaching here so far, and I think you will too. Its just that, if you keep this old saying in mind, then events might take you a little less by surprise.