Christmas has swung around again. Get those elf hats ready, Santa outfits dusted down, hot chocolate on the brew, because this list of five festive TEFL destinations should have plenty to get any budding traveler and teacher excited for the coming season. Ho ho ho!
Prague, Czech Republic
Under a forest of Gothic spires and plumes of twisting smoke and steam, the city of Prague has long inspired writers and poets. Its cobbled Old Town and the Malá Strana both but up to the wide Vltava River. A maze of alleys that wiggles this way and that around historic castles and haunting churches, they create the perfect backdrop for enchanting Christmas markets. The biggest happens on the Old Town Square, sizzling with Central European sausages and bubbling with Czech hot chocolates. There’s another over on sprawling Wenceslas Square, topped with festive trees strewn with fairy lights.
If that sounds like your pick of December festive TEFL destinations, jobs in the Czech Republic can be bagged with a BA and a 120-hour English teaching course. Pay hovers around $800-1,200 USD/month, with schools usually hiring in September and October time.
Krakow, Poland
A stroll through the Krakow Main Square in the height of the Christmas period means delving into an enchanting mix of timber-built stalls and candlelit food makers. You’ll see steam rising off big pierogi – traditional Polish dumpling – pans and smell the smoked aromas of oscypek – a hearty mountain cheese from the Carpathians. There are Slavic wood carvers and blacksmiths, decoration hawkers and beer stands, all topped off with the occasional bout of traditional gorale mountain music.
Jobs in Poland are plentiful. One of the fastest growing festive TEFL destinations on this list, the country has major cities like Warsaw, Gdansk, and Krakow. Salaries can go up to $1,900 USD/month, while applications to schools should be made around September or in January.
Vienna, Austria
Ah, Vienna – the Baroque beauty of Central Europe. Enfolded by the Danube plains and the pine-scented rises of the Alps, this stunning capital comes laced with majestic Hapsburg palaces and an Old Town area where cafés clink with strong coffee. Festive markets have been happening on the main squares since the middle ages. The most famous takes place in front of the City Hall on Friedrich-Schmidt-Platz. It’s got strudel and mulled wine by the vat load, along with traditional candy makers and ad hoc carol concerts on weekends.
As the capital of Austria, Vienna has the highest level of TEFL job opportunities in the country. That said, there’s plenty who want to settle in this attractive metropolis of squares and palazzos. What’s more, earnings can peak above $25 USD/hour for lessons in these parts.
Frankfurt, Germany
Germany and Christmas markets go hand-in-hand. Topping the list of the very best for many is the city of Frankfurt. It’s not only one of the largest in the nation, but also one of the most photographed. A brightly-lit montage of soaring Christmas trees and snow-dusted stalls, smoking wurst barbecues and elegant Flemish architecture combines to transform the Römerberg square into a fairy-tale place each December. It all takes part in the heart of the Altstadt area, which is where you’re likely to be spending your weekends as an EFL teacher here anyhow.
Germany is a perennial favorite with English teachers. There are thousands of jobs to consider across the country, in both cities and rural spots. Pay can be generous and living costs affordable, though you can expect stiff competition for the top positions.
Copenhagen, Denmark
Every year, the Hans Christian Andersen-inspired wonderworld of the Tivoli changes from a fun-loving urban theme park to an unforgettable Christmas adventure. Santa’s grotto pops up between the twirling carousels. Elves inhabit the fairground games. There are cotton-candy stalls and reams of taste-bud-tempting Danish pastries topped with icing and sugar. If you happen to be sticking around for New Year’s Eve, the park also hosts one of the best fireworks shows in all of Scandinavia, which erupts right in the heart of the capital.
There’s a lot of EFL teachers who want to settle in Copenhagen. High standards of living and a rich history see to that, not to mention a Christmas market that makes the place a real standout among festive TEFL destinations. Pay is generally high, but places limited. So, apply early and ensure you’ve got a BA and a good language teaching certificate under your belt.
If you’d like to add in any other awesome festive TEFL destinations with Christmas markets to write home about, we’d love to hear your thoughts in the comments below. Or, if you think it’s time you got qualified and exploring these enchanting spots, be sure to check out our range of courses.
Being away from home in the big wide world for the festive period can be hard, especially for those newly-qualified TEFL teachers who’ve only just broken out of the comfort zone for a life of grammar lessons and explorations on the road. However, Christmas in TEFL destinations can also be darn fun! Yep, with a kaleidoscope of different traditions and customs to sink your teeth into (sometimes literally), there are plenty of new and exciting Yuletide treats in store. Check them out…
China’s Sheng Dan Jieh
No discussion of Christmas in TEFL destinations could ignore one of the biggest EFL markets on the planet: China. This vast country of over one billion people might not be overwhelmingly Christian in faith, but there’s still a significant contingent of an estimated eight million folks who attend church regularly. That translates into the festive period of Sheng Dan Jieh in December, which sees the usual pine trees decorating homes, all lit up in twinkling fairy lights, along with swinging red paper chains and red lanterns (red is thought to symbolize good will and enjoyment). In bigger cities like Shanghai and Hong Kong, you’re also bound to spot the usual festive lights and paraphernalia in the department stores and streets – you never know, it could feel just like home!
Chocolates and carp in Poland
Christmas in Poland starts early, with the celebrations of Mikołajki on the 6th of December (a date that’s also an important part of the advent calendar in other countries across eastern Europe and Catholic and Orthodox states). This is when children all over the snow-dusted nation wake up to presents and selection boxes of chocolate, and when the gift-giver Santa Clause is thought to deliver his goods. And while that’s perfect for those who simply can’t wait to receive their presents on the big day, there are more parties waiting on the 24th. Yep, Christmas Eve is the day of the big feast, which is when local families cook up traditional carp dishes with sauerkraut and stew, pickled veg and piles of beetroot. We hope you brought an appetite!
The Posadas of Mexico
A heart-warming tradition amidst this list of the various customs of Christmas in TEFL destinations, the Posada processions of Mexico are sure to cheer even the most homesick of teachers – and not least of all because of the scorching, beach-worthy weather that dominates in December! These charming rituals are performed by local children over a series of 12 days leading up to Christmas. It sees groups of kids flitting from house to house to perform carol songs in honor of Joseph and Mary’s search of somewhere to sleep in Bethlehem. The houses are decorated with evergreen trees and lights too, and the culmination of the period comes with the big piñata parties on Christmas Eve (yea, that does mean whacking a papier-mâché toy with a baseball bat – what more could you want?).
Solemn masses and oodles of tapas in Spain
Spanish Christmas is unsurprisingly heavy on the Catholic ritual. One of the main traditions is the Mass of the Rooster, which is held at midnight on Christmas Eve in the local churches. Folk gather to see the turning of the clock to Christmas Day, and then return home to enjoy a huge smorgasbord of traditional foods, ranging from truffle-packed turkey to salty seafood fresh from the Atlantic – that is, if they haven’t opted to eat earlier in the day! Meanwhile, the gap between Christmas and New Year is riddled with other saintly days, like the 28th December, which is Spain’s version of April Fools – be prepared to be tricked and tricked again by your students!
Thailand is sun and parties
Okay, so while Thailand might not have the deep-set Yuletide traditions of a number of the other places on this list (although there are some), it does offer something that can make Christmas in TEFL destinations all the more bearable: sun. Yep, Thailand is in the midst of its best high season from the months of November to March, which means dry days and top temperatures for any teachers eager to escape the classroom for a spot of sunbathing on the beaches of Koh Samui or Phi Phi in the Andaman. And then comes New Year: a mega blowout of epic proportions, with fire shows and an estimated 80,000 revelers a year when it comes to the infamous Full Moon parties…
Are a veteran TEFL teacher who’s spent plenty of festive periods away from home? Where have you enjoyed the most, and which Christmas in TEFL destinations do you remember most fondly? We’d love to hear about it all in the comments below…