TALKING ABOUT TRAVELLING THE WORLD TEACHING ENGLISH WITH ~ MYRA
Hi Myra can you tell us about yourself?
I was born in Zambia, then we moved around a little and settled in England where I’ve spent most of my life thus far. In the summer of 2017, I moved to China where I’ve been teaching English ever since. If I had to describe my social life in China, I’d say university and retirement had a baby. Will she be out dancing till 3am tonight? Possibly. Will she fall asleep on a deck of cards at 8pm? Perhaps.
What are you passionate about?
I’m still learning and discovering things but I’m passionate about ensuring my experience in this world is full of love, life, peace, joy and full of purpose.
I love people; understanding all the complexities and experiences that make us who we are. In my previous work in the Criminal Justice system and my work with kids now, it’s interesting to me that the very same skill of relating to people, having and exercising empathy, applies and is necessary to successfully achieving positive interactions.
I’d love an existence where I can help to make people feel seen and feel understood, and feel empowered and feel at home. I guess I’m passionate about using my skills to achieve this, daily.
Which countries have you visited so far and what have been your experiences?
I have visited 23 countries so far in Africa, Europe, Asia and North America. As a child travel was typically holidays to Disney World (usual kid stuff) or visiting family in Zambia and South Africa. In my teens and early 20s, travel looked more like friendship trips around Europe which was obviously great for the feeling of independence and agency on the where and the what! Traveling now is a transformative experience each and every time. Traveling (and living) in Asia as a black plus sized woman has been a ride to say the least. In some ways it’s made me more self conscious than I’ve ever been before and in other ways, I’ve fallen more in love with the things that make me appear different here. All that proverbial “finding myself” malarkey has actually been a beautiful journey.
I’m so grateful my mother packed our bags as much as we did, in doing that, she unknowingly gave me the gift of wanderlust I so treasure now.
What were the circumstances that led you to re-evaluate living in the UK?
I was never married to the idea of staying in the UK to begin with, so a move was inevitable. I wasn’t sure what my move would look like but a host of different factors were making the way my life looked at the time ugly so when the idea to pack up my troubles in my old kit bag was suggested, I hurried to the airport.
After university, I knew my soul wasn’t ready to jump straight into the 9-2-5-4-life crew, so I went to the USA on a work and travel program for 6 months which was fantastic. I came back home on a high and jumped right into my career. After 2 years, I felt the sort of jaded that only made sense for someone who’d clocked 30+ years. I was also experiencing some personal issues at the time which all culminated into a miserable 24 year old.
So off I went.
You're currently working and living in China, tell us about it? Do you plan to stay there?
Like with anywhere, anyone and anything, there is a the good, the bad and the ugly. Overall, I’ve had a positive experience living here. I have met some truly amazing souls out here, both local and from around the world. It took some adjusting to being something to be stared at, photographed and misunderstood but I’ve overall been received well and received China well in return. The first 5 months were tough on my stomach but I’ve found my gastronomical rhythm and enjoy some beautiful traditional dishes and family style of eating. Teaching was a new field for me but the kids made it easy to love doing. When you don’t understand each others language, you get to speak in laughter and cuddles. As for what’s next, I’d ultimately like to work for myself so until I work out what that will look like, I’m going to continue teaching. I’m definitely interested in living elsewhere and hearing the experiences of black women living in odd corners of the world.
What advice would you give someone who wants to move outside of the UK?
Do it!
The world is larger than we know or truly understand. It’s like a big perspective puzzle that is a joy to piece together. Similarly, our capacity to know and understand is larger than living in one perspective will give room for.
So do it.