Graduated
from Widdifield Secondary School, North Bay, Ontario in June of 1991
Graduated
from Concordia University, Montreal, Quebec in October 1997, with a
specialization in Anthropology
Graduated
from University of Ottawa, Ottawa, Ontario in April, 2003, with a bachelor
of education
Both
high school (76%) and university (3.96 GPA) grades were good
After
high school, spent a year in Europe working and traveling
Lived
for three and a half years in Montreal
After
university, lived in Taiwan for four and a half years, where I taught ESL, studied
Chinese, and met my wife
Skills
and Experiences
I
have done a lot of traveling in Europe and Asia, as well as across Canada,
all of it done on the cheap. This has fostered a wide world-view, experience
in verbal and non-verbal communication, and a respect for the value of
efficiency and frugality
Have
taught myself a satisfactory command of conversational Mandarin, can read at
about a 40% level, and have about the same command of the written form
My
university studies have introduced me to many theories about cross-cultural
learning and understanding
The
interdisciplinary nature of my degree has helped me to see connections not
only within the world, but within theories and subjects as well
Having
lived in Taiwan for four and a half years, I have hands on experience with immersion in
another culture, the difficulties with this, and the strategies of
adjustment
Having
taught ESL for four and a half years, I have a lot of classroom experience, dealing
with children, and - particularly in the case of teaching ESL - with
instruction through play
Interests
Played
badminton in junior and senior high-school, and for the last three and a half years
Intense love of a wide range of musical styles, from the purely pop (Oasis) to
the challenging (Gyorgy Ligeti)
Range
of reading interests, from extensive studies of Buddhism, Kafka, and Hesse,
to China/Taiwan history, and children’s books in Mandarin
