I spent one month teaching English in Romania, facilitated by Gotoco. Overall, the experience was great!
I submitted my application to Gotoco in December. They contacted me again in early April to say I had been offered an interview for a place in Romania. I heard a week later I got the position.
Once in Romania, we were given a day's training to prepare for the program (having done some preparatory work before). Once we were, it was really hands-on - we spent a few hours teaching each day, followed by several hours of activities. Although we were only teaching groups of children for a few days, it was lots of fun, and there was a real sense of community amongst the trainers, even between the English speakers, and those from Romania.
Overall, it was a great experience, but it's really full-on. It really teaches you to think on your feet, take the initiative, and dive in! But I, and the rest of my team, all had a great time. It gave me a lot of useful experience which I've since used for my future career.
While funding isn't necessarily the best, nor communication, overall it was quite straightforward and Gotoco certainly offered ample support if it was necessary.
What was the most unfamiliar thing you ate?
We got given all sorts of delicious Romanian food. At the end of the camp weeks, when we had the location to ourselves, we were served mamliga, sarmale, and papanasi. The mamaliga was a bit out there, but super tasty.