Blog #6
Recharge, reset and relax
Friday 21st June 2024, Alice Callender
I'm ready for a break, anyone else? I don't just want but need to completely switch-off from tutoring, teaching, coaching and my routine. A change of scenery would be nice. Not because I'm bored or not enjoying everything I’ve been doing lately—quite the opposite. It's been incredible so far with living in a new place, my business and working with so many different people, Hungarian classes and making new friends. But it's time for a holiday, a real break. I love the idiom "recharge my batteries" because that's exactly what it feels like, I've been running off limited power of 30%.
Next week is my final few days working with schools as they close for the summer, and also my final week with some of my private students before I go on holiday. I'll be returning, of course, with entirely new summer programmes and working with more students for this, which is fantastic. But right now, all my mind is focused on is eight days away with my boyfriend to switch off and relax. I'll be eating tons of pasta, pizza, ice cream, and walking for miles until my feet hurt. Can you guess where I'm going? No other than Italy. The land of pesto, carbonara, gelato and many more things that aren’t just delicious food.
Visiting Italy has been a dream of mine for a long time. I actually worked in a summer camp in Bologna, Italy a few years ago, and it was fantastic. Although not exactly a holiday, this experience inspired me to work more with non-native students and support them with language goals. I supported Italian children on this experience where many of them didn't speak English well, so at the time it was new for me to work with others who couldn't speak my language, and vice versa. It was in a beautiful setting up in the mountains, in the middle of nowhere, with no TVs, computers let alone Wi-Fi connection —just peace, quiet and nature… until the kids arrived!
Next week, I will be returning to Italy for a road trip from Milan to Florence, Rapallo to Venice, etc. It's going to be amazing - I’ve never done anything like this before. I'm promising myself to leave my computer at home, put all social media and WhatsApp on do not disturb, and take every moment to enjoy the things I've been craving for a long time.
I learned this the hard way when I worked in the UK, both at the university and in a corporate company. Once I got stuck into a project I really enjoyed, because I'm quite a perfectionist and like to be organised and ahead of the game, I would work and work, sometimes over my allocated hours, into the night or early morning. Even though I was enjoying it, it took its toll on my well-being, and I was exhausted after a few weeks in that routine. That's how I feel now, even more so because I work for myself. There aren’t as many people nowadays to tell me to stop or have a break.
All my students are lovely and have holidays planned too, so I’ve realised I deserve time off as well. It's even nicer because this is my first official holiday since moving to Hungary— not including going back to the UK or travelling within Hungary, but somewhere else in the world with new things to explore. This makes it very special.
Let me tell you about the last few weeks and why I'm feeling so drained. This week, I helped organise an English-inspired sports day and treasure hunt for a local school's English camp. Imagine doing this in 30 degree heat!!! Nevertheless, I was thrilled to work with this school because it's in a beautiful place, the kids are lovely, and I got to work with a fantastic teacher. It was a lot of fun yet a lot of work. For the sports day I was Coach Alice, not so much a teacher. I was propped with a whistle, sunglasses (the thick rimmed kind), and head to toe sports gear. I planned games like the egg and spoon race and a English word pair relay, bean bag no-hammer throw and football. We also had a treasure hunt. I arrived very early, running around a huge plot of land hiding small puzzle clues. Students had to decode English riddles and run around like crazy finding these clues. It was great to watch. The prize at the end? Is there anything better than ice cream - and yes, ice cream lady Alice then showed up. It was a great week with so much talking, laughter, and smiles all round— totally worth every second.
Besides this, I've been working with my 16 regular weekly students, each and every one fantastic. But ultimately, I've been working full-time and over my allotted hours. If you can’t tell already, I’m a bit of a yes person. Once the schools close next week and I finish the final part of the English camp, I'll be onboarding six new students over the summer for my summer programme. I love this because I'll still have some time to myself during the summer, but I can put even more focus on my private tutoring and run with many ideas that pass my mind on a daily basis. To give you an example, I've incorporated designed a "word jar" into lessons. To get conversational English flowing, I put random relevant topics into the jar that people may know or are interested in. They pull out a card, and off we go with interesting topics to get the conversation flowing. I love this because, one, I like to talk, and two, everyone feels comfortable discussing these interesting topics.
Anyway, enough about work. For me, I'm counting down the days until we get in the car and set off on our eight-hour journey to Italy. It's going to be fabulous.
What about you? What is the thing (the trip, the dinner date, the picnic, the hike, the family get-together) that you have in the diary that you’re looking forward to? Make sure you're also looking after yourselves, planning nice things. Remember, the three R's are super important: rest, relax, and recharge. I'm not always great at this day to day, but when I have a block of time in my diary assigned for this, it's totally worth it. You come back with a better perspective, new memories, fresh ideas, a healthier mindset and maybe just a little bit of the holiday blues, but that's okay - it means the occasion was a wonderful one.
That's all from me for this blog. I have lots more to share with you soon.
Szia!
Alice