After being asked to send a review to someone and having noticed the frequent traffic on the blog along the lines of "IH DNK Review" or similar I have decided to put a stand alone page anyone can read my review.
[If you want to check out another teacher's review, click here]
So let's start with the good points.
Having come to Dnipro as a new teacher with only a CELTA course of experience the other teachers here certainly helped me when I first arrived. I was assisted in lesson planning, had regular observations and feedback. After a while I did start to wonder if I was being babied and if, with the timetable I really had time to go over EVERY lesson but as soon as I started to feel like this I noticed that I was given more freedom and grew into that space.
Next there are the classes and students, even though my teenager groups can occasionally be...er...teenagers! I really enjoy teaching all my classes and like all my students. There is a slight hint of 1st language in the classroom culture that seams a hangover from previous methods but It generally isn't too bad.
My accommodation has been great, it is only 7 minutes away from the school and very close to the town centre. It has one bathroom, one kitchen, and one room that is a living/study and bedroom all in one. The only possible wish I could have to improve it would be an oven rather than just a hob to cook on.
We moved into new premises almost ass soon as I arrived here and they are located right in the centre on town as well. Each classroom is of a large enough size for all but the most boisterous of Kids groups and is equipped with a television and CD/DVD player and board. I have never used a OHP here but I have never desired to either. There are also facilities for tea/coffee, a fridge, microwave and for those late night lesson snacks, a vending machine.
The sallary is/was [depending when you read this] 600 us dollars (or given as 8 grivener to the dollar which is a very good exchange rate) not included the apartment whose rent is paid for by the school {there is a living allowance for some teacher who have houses from other origins such as Claire who is married to a Ukrainian.)
In addition I really love the teaching environment, all the teacher are friendly and have helped me immensely to both settle in and learn about the language and culture. When I have had problems with work, homesickness or any other issue there has always been someone there for me.
Okay the negative.
As I mentioned above my flat doesn't have an oven and for some reason, despite requesting, doesn't have internet access. Though most of the other flats do have internet access and some of the others also have ovens.
It took me a while, at first, to realise how the command structure worked and who to speak to about different issues. It is one of the problems with having a director who travels between two school and who was ill for a long period when I first arrived. However now I can certainly say that I understand who I need to speak to and that it does in fact mostly reflect the information I was given during induction week.
There was a transition period before everything moved across into the new school premises, this included a stag where we had to prepare lessons in a building 15 minutes away and then teach them in the new school. Luckily those days are over and although there are a few things that might make the new school a tiny bit nicer once it has been completely finish.
As for Dnipro and Ukraine in general:
The positives:
There have been several occasions when people have heard us speaking and invited us to share/have a drink on them and on one occasion even bought us food! The people here when they want can be very friendly and generous.
There are a couple of very beautiful parks around the city where you can enjoy the many fountains and even a train that goes round one!
There are some very cheap food places that serve some pretty good quality food and there is even a TGI Fridays if you want some more western style cuisnen.
The market is absolutely huge and it is definitely possible to get lost in there and in fact it was only 2 months ago when I did again get lost in there [after 8 months in this city]. The market sells everything from food to knock off cd's/dvd and everything in between. It can be a bit of a culture shock at first but it has quickly become one of my favourite parts of Dnipro.
Negatives:
Ukrainian people can be a bit more assertive than British people and more obviouse as well. There have been occasions where people have been obviously staring at me, and I don't look the most unlike a Ukrainian. {A sharper contrast would be people who have dramatically different skin colours and it appears they are singled out for even worse treatment here.)
Things [appart from nightclubs] do seam to shut down at 11 most nights and maybe 12 at the weekend. Having come from a suburb of London and use to somewhere being open all the time it was a bit of a system shock. Having said this one of the local supermarkets has just become 24 hrs so maybe this is a sign of times changing.
Also aside from the "essential" globalised companies don't expect to be that familiar with the companies here. This also means that clothes here are relatively quite expensive OR some are of dubious quality so being a intelligent shopper is important.
My final word on the subject is that I have indeed decided to stay at the school for another year, as has another teacher in Dnipro [who is from the UK] and all the teachers in Donetsk. I can not give a higher recommendation than that.
