Starz Angels

Here's another personal favourite of mine whilst travelling Singapore. Starz Angels, two DJ's from Paris highlighted the New Years Eve Sentosa Beach Party, with over 50 thousand people covering the beach, massive screens,a stage with live performances and plenty of beer tents. This place was full to the brim with people from all over the world. there were several foam parties letting out over a million gallons of foam, just like the famous foam parties on Ibiza. The stage was massive with more room than they needed but the Starz Angels covered the whole stage in between mixing electro from all the music spectrum. I hadn't heard of these two guys until I went to Sentosa but became hooked after they lifted the whole crowd with their style.

I think most would agree they were the highlight of the evening at Sentosa. Anyway i didn't realise they had worked with quite a few famous music artists and when reaching their website I noticed the albums or mixes they had covered, pretty impressive. I also noticed they didn't have that many fans in their facebook profile but that's gonns change if they keep up that kind of style. I spent most of the last hour in front of the sound engineers who cranked the sound up to a mind bending volume at the end of the evening. I haven't heard volume like that since the old rave venues in the United Kingdom back in the 1991. Even teachers have fun you know.

School Projects with Wonderful Memories

A curriculum can be more rewarding when projects are created for the students to go out and find answers, become more creative and venture into social studies. I worked on a major project in Thailand where students were asked to create an environmentally model, friendly city with new rules. Almost like Singapore was created over the years the students had to create a clean, safe city for the citizens to live in. The cities had to be named and built using materials from home and around the school. Classes in the school were separated in two sections in each year, an A class for the stronger students and a B class for other students. This worked really well with my students as they were always aware they needed to achieve higher grades to be promoted into the higher class. The project was a true reflection of how the students in each class could achieve.

Materials were collect over a few weeks and the students began their assignment to build a new city. Groups were formed for the project and a time limit was announced on the first day of the project. I allowed the students around three weeks to complete the course. I learnt over the weeks that a project needs to have a carefully considered time scale otherwise the students begin to lose interest. The time scale was a little long but I wanted to get some good photography in for the principal to use on open days for parents to view the conclusion. I managed to take hundreds of photographs that reflected the student’s feelings during the project. The photographs will be available on this blog when I get the gallery up and running.

The students from the lower B class seemed confused at times and the groups argued about who was to be group captain. I chose group captains from the beginning but some students said the captains weren’t assigning them to do group activities needed to build the city. Some students in Group B became upset with occasional tears. It became obvious that the upset students were upset and the high achievements from the higher class A. If I had to implement the project again students would be mixed from both classes to give the project a more balanced theme.

The final outcome of the project however was not far from amazing and the school principal was delighted with the model cities on display in the schools corridors. Parents were allowed to view the projects and leave comments. Each model city had a neatly written set of rules implemented on the cities finalisation. The rules were to reflect on how the city was to be run, who was in charge and how the cities people were to live. The girls constructed an incredible city with rules that demonstrated how a real modern city is controlled and run today. The building scales were accurate and roads had painted lines for traffic separation. Hospitals were constructed with clean and tidy playgrounds. Some groups were mixed with both boys and girls working together but several groups were of the same sex. Girls were more accurate but boys had more variation within the city, more buildings, and better improved rules. The winner of the project went to an all girl group from class A, who had demonstrated the project’s outlines with perfection.

The environmental project was a treasured memory in my teaching days in Thailand and I miss the students dearly. I had taught some of the students for four years because parents wanted me to follow them up a grade each year. From grade three I moved up to grade four bilingual, then to grade five and eventually grade six. The two years I taught grade three were also treasured moments with a fantastic Thai teacher assistant who loved the children so much. The assistant was a good friend who warmed to the children in beautiful way.

Students in the lower class, grade 5 one day became upset with their position in the lower class and complained they felt inferior to the higher class A. They were unusually quiet when I walked into the room and I wondered why. I explained to the students that they were capable of achieving higher grades even when in a lower class. The students complained that they had never been told they were doing well at school. My speech to them was warm and affectionate. I asked the students to think back about other projects about the Greek empire, the Egyptian pyramids and the Aztecs and Inkers and how well they had answered comprehensive questions. Some of the students were almost in tears but from that day on they began to achieve higher grades in some cases higher than the A class. The higher A class were also aware of this and began to over achieve making the whole year a race to improve for promotion the following year.

It was a wonderful year that ended with a student thanking me at the school gates for helping him become the second highest grade winner in the class. I remember the student very well; he invited me to stay at his father’s beautiful hotel on the island Koh Phi Phi. The parents often expected too much from the students but never once bothered me during parent’s evenings about their grades or position in class. The parents trusted me to help the students gain confidence and motivation in the English language. The funny thing about the parents was that their children spoke much better English than they did by the time they had reached grade six.

Teach in Asia

Education in Asia as improved over the past five years with the Ministries of Education implementing new requirements to be able to teach in certain countries. Most improvements recommend teachers to search for higher qualifications in their chosen field to be able to offer a better experience for students. Some schools in Thailand require a degree and teaching certificates to become a teacher although some offer employment without. An ongoing project in Thailand, the Nonthaburi project offers positions without degrees. It’s interesting to find the project also offers work in bar jobs for foreigners without a degree.

The TEFL certificate isn’t necessary but gives new teachers an understanding of how to overcome learning problems with Asian students. Remember many Asian countries have a tonal sound to their speech and must be overcome with English phonics allowing the students to learn new sounds and phrases from the western English speaking countries. I was able to concentrate on teaching large classes at a government school after completing my TEFL course, thanks to the TEFL course I had taken a few weeks previous to the job placement. The TEFL course gave me motivation to teach in a business and school environment something I wasn’t motivated to do before taking the qualification. There are occasions when new teachers are natural at teaching and don’t require extra qualifications. Remember a teacher continues to learn from his/her experiences even if they have the BA in education. Most of my teaching skills come from teaching primary and business English. Teacher’s resource books offer great guidance on constructing a lesson plan and from these books I continue to collate new information for interesting, understandable lessons.

There are certain requirements to become a teacher in Thailand to enable the teacher to obtain a work permit. This is becoming more familiar in most Asian countries. The first step towards teaching is to apply for a Category B multiple re-entry permit which lasts for one year, this will allow the school or business enough time to process your work permit. The procedure normally takes around five weeks. A two month tourist visa in most cases covers enough time for a visa upgrade to a Category B multiple re-entry visa. The multiple re-entry visas allow the holder to leave the country and enter again for another two or three months depending on the visa requirements. It’s important to check from the country’s consulate website for changes to visas just encase you’re not aware of such changes effecting your travel or employment application.

If travelling by land in Thailand you’ll only obtain fifteen days instead of the original thirty days. If you fly into the country the thirty days still stands. These alterations to a visa can be damaging to your plans if you’re not updated with the information on time. The easiest way to avoid such changes to a visa is to apply for your sixty or ninety day tourist visa at a neighbouring country or your country of residence. The new visa requirement is sure to affect people without work permits. It’s either another way for the consulate to obtain extra revenue or to rid Thailand of the uneducated teachers. I’m surprised at this requirement which alternatively could have been handled better with authorities entering schools and asking for teachers work permits.

With your Category B multiple re-entry visa, your work permit and your certified documents in place you’ll now have to concentrate on taking a cultural awareness course. This course is applied for at the school you choose to work for by the school principal. The ministry of education implemented this law quite recently but it hasn’t stopped teachers from applying for employment, rather made them even more paranoid about the possibilities of becoming a teacher. When I was teaching in Thailand this course was available but wasn’t compulsory. It doesn’t bother me either as I know I’m already culturally aware of the need to respect others, speak their language and adapt to a culture. As mentioned on other posts, learning the language improves communication between other teachers and the countries citizens.

I’ve spent time reading other teaching websites and notice how none educated teachers in Thailand seem to get a better deal as they don’t have to concentrate on major improvements to their positions as teachers. Little is asked of them other than teaching basic grammar, phonics and conversation classes. The golden rule to remember in these cases is, if your students like you as a person and you have ‘jai yen’ a good heart or cool heart translated directly, your position is safe from the grasps of unemployment. I have maintained great communication with parents and students, something that has helped me concentrate on teaching throughout my teaching career.

Remember there are a million rules out there for working abroad, until you venture out and talk to people, read a countries visa requirements, learn from other expatriates employed overseas and make that all important move to your chosen destination you’ll never fully understand what it takes to become a successful candidate for employment. This is a small contradiction but there are some businesses that employ from overseas thus allowing the candidate to be interviewed over the phone as I was several months ago. This isn’t unusual for international schools as they require educated teachers in education to be considered for a position. I had several telephone interviews highlighting my previous experience as a teacher overseas.I’ve been teaching for almost six years and spent most of the last eight years abroad so it was easy for the director to make a decision. The contract looked great, the living conditions seemed perfect and the salary bettered most in education. Previous employment in Thailand meant been in the country and been available for interview the next day and apart from my last position in Thailand the salary offered wasn’t acceptable to live a decent life far from home.

The teaching circuit in Thailand tends to be dominated with the male teachers at hand, this is why a female foreign teacher can ask for a better salary and improved living conditions. It’s not unusual to see foreign female teachers there just outnumbered by the male. Kindergarten schools tend to hire female teachers, the reason why there are so many positions available in Thailand. Female teachers of science can also expect a better deal due to a shortage of science teachers in the country.

The Practicalities of Working and Living Abroad

Travelling has made working abroad much easier through gaining knowledge of countries, people and their cultures. Without this knowledge it’s hard to imagine how we can begin to understand people from other countries. The experience I have gained over the past eight years has become a valuable resource for employment and has helped me maintain an interesting life away from my home country. Been away from home for many years does have an effect on your relationship with family and friends in some ways and must be approached carefully in the hope not to become to detached to the people you respect most. I have concentrated on various changes within my life over the years, something working abroad has assisted me with. I have been a home owner in the United Kingdom and also rented houses so I’ve been down the property avenue of life. Living abroad is different in the way that I won’t own a property or have a long term lease. Some countries such as Thailand allow long term leases but don’t allow foreigners to own land although the materials the home is built with are owned by the buyer, in many cases foreigners. I considered living in Thailand for many years but due to the visa regulations and new laws this was made almost impossible.

It’s important to have friends when working abroad, people you can talk with and trust to help you out with various situations that might arise. I once made the mistake of been lonely for a long time when working in Thailand mostly my own fault. I guess sometimes we become detached from people without realising and spend too much time alone. The situation grew worse for me as time went by and I soon realised I must venture out more, do some site seeing, holidays and nights out with new friends. As a teacher there are various ways you can meet people especially when teaching in South East Asia. There are hundreds of teachers in the same situation looking for new friends on internet forums and on local websites. There are lots of teaching forums in South East Asia that have membership for posters. There are organised nights out for expatriates on a regular basis that might interest expatriates. I’ve recently returned from Singapore where there is a large expatriate community all looking for people to hook with on a weekend. The internet can be a safe place when used correctly. The things I look for before meeting people from the internet when travelling and working is the amount of posts they have in the forums and their status as a member. The best thing about the Singapore Expatriate community is that people tend to meet in groups so you are never alone with one person. The groups have leaders and their names are well known in the community. These are just a few points that should make meeting people a safer more rewarding experience.

Learning a language is the easiest route to success abroad where communication improves enough to be placed above most of your competitors when attending a walk in interview. Been able to communicate in the country you live in will allow you to meet more people, become a member of more clubs, help you make new friends and most of all save you money when purchasing expensive items. I’ve learnt enough to be able to communicate a little. I’m living and teaching in Bangladesh, a new adventure for a couple of years where I must learn some local phrases and terms to improve my life here. Bangladesh’s seem to enjoy communicating with foreigners that can speak their language. At most they are quite well educated, many returning from America, United Kingdom, Australia and Canada where they have been studying for many years. Of course there is the poor side of Bangladesh, a serious problem that the new government promise to improve. I guess like most big cities the amount of people living in a small area just doesn’t improve matters.

Living and working abroad requires a lot of paperwork such as visas, work permits, health documents, tax numbers, in some countries regular three month consulate visits to check addresses, for teachers some countries require a culture course for licence to teach, a TEFL certificate for teachers, the BA degree for teaching in most countries, vaccinations and passport. Thailand now has a criminal record check up for travellers and expatriates wishing to work there. I remember thinking to myself when I started teaching in Thailand if the incident with the police when arrested for been a little loud and intoxicated after a nightclub would block my employment plans but nothing was checked. It’s ridiculous to imagine these small issues can effect employment but apparently in some cases they do. South East Asia seems to attract the more serious criminals for some reason. Thailand’s problem with serious sex offenders still seems to headline the newspapers from time to time. It’s not an attempt to make you paranoid it’s just a warning if you wish to work overseas to be aware of your past criminal record and the possibilities of been refused.

Singapore

Visa regulations are quite tough for Bangladesh especially when applying from the United Kingdom the exact reason I originally entered the country on a tourist visa until a work permit was applied for a an upgrade to a business visa. I ran out of time with the tourist visa so booked a flight to Singapore to meet the directors of my school, apply for a business visa and to do some site seeing. The visa took one morning and I picked it up in the afternoon. I couldn't believe how easy the application was this time around. With that done I had a round three weeks to play with so I did the tourist thing and took lots of photographs and spent time talking with other teachers and travellers from around the world.

New Years Eve was a blast with 80.000 people enjoying a party on Sentosa Island with live DJ's and acts. I managed to meet the nights DJ's just by look at the end of the evening walking up the beach and took some photographs together. It was a great night apart from the drinks been expensive and the amount of people waiting to get served. Three weeks in Singapore in enough for anyone unless your adapted to the weekend lifestyle. I think Singaporeans work very hard and often late in the evenings, although they can party quite hard. I went to Clarke Quay which hosts a whole array of bars, restaurants and night clubs under one huge umbrella. It's a trendy place with fountains in the centre of the courtyard.

Singapore is the cleanest and safest city in South East Asia, something that real reflects the place when you arrive. There isn't much to do once the tourist attractions have been completed apart from hit the bars which are open until the early hours of the morning in Clarke Quay. I enjoyed my vacation there but wouldn't take a three week break there again. It's much better to spend a few days in Singapore and move through Malaysia and into Thailand. It's a cheaper alternative avoiding the big city tax. Thailand and Malaysia are much cheaper and seem to be catching up in terms of cleanliness.

Bangladesh

The United Kingdom can be a wonderful place if you have the financial resources to be able to maintain an interesting eventful life. One year back home in England made me realise why I'd departed for Asia in the first place. Employment wasn't easy and salaries were not far from the national Minimum wage. I'm not saying I dislike my country but find it hard to believe things can be as difficult as they were. I was however eventually employed and earning and average income and saving money for another trip abroad but it felt like eternity as my bank balance fluctuated from almost nothing to a little.

It was time for a change, so I decided to update my resume and upload some new photographs to my portfolio. Searching the internet I found a few interesting TEFL sites that had facilities for uploading resumes. With my resume completed I uploaded it and waited for a few days. In truth I didn't expect many replies but was overwhelmed with emails from South Korea, China, Vietnam and India. I didn't expect such a positive reply so soon even though I have lots of teaching experience in Asia. I read through most of the emails but nothing seemed temping enough to leave my job in England until one Saturday afternoon I received a call from Bangladesh. It was lunch time and I was in the pub waiting for the football to begin. The first call was a call of introduction and several calls followed until I agreed to an offer to work in Bangladesh.

Bangladesh isn't the easiest place to live and it takes time to adapt to the culture but when settled it can be a rewarding place to live. With a decent salary and comfortable accommodation it's possible to save most of your salary. I have the internet installed in my apartment with cable television and a cleaner. I'm lucky to have my accommodation paid for with just utilities to pay. Bangladesh people are polite and seem to have little problem with westerners staying here. The weather here is cool during December and January almost like a British October. Bangladesh cuisine can be slightly unhealthy although cooked in style tends to be tasty and very filling indeed. I’ve been in Bangladesh for almost three months with a three week trip to Singapore.

The Four Noble Truths (Buddism)

1. Life means suffering.

To live means to suffer, because the human nature is not perfect and neither is the world we live in. During our lifetime, we inevitably have to endure physical suffering such as pain, sickness, injury, tiredness, old age, and eventually death; and we have to endure psychological suffering like sadness, fear, frustration, disappointment, and depression. Although there are different degrees of suffering and there are also positive experiences in life that we perceive as the opposite of suffering, such as ease, comfort and happiness, life in its totality is imperfect and incomplete, because our world is subject to impermanence. This means we are never able to keep permanently what we strive for, and just as happy moments pass by, we ourselves and our loved ones will pass away one day, too.

2. The origin of suffering is attachment.

The origin of suffering is attachment to transient things and the ignorance thereof. Transient things do not only include the physical objects that surround us, but also ideas, and -in a greater sense- all objects of our perception. Ignorance is the lack of understanding of how our mind is attached to impermanent things. The reasons for suffering are desire, passion, ardour, pursuit of wealth and prestige, striving for fame and popularity, or in short: craving and clinging. Because the objects of our attachment are transient, their loss is inevitable, thus suffering will necessarily follow. Objects of attachment also include the idea of a "self" which is a delusion, because there is no abiding self. What we call "self" is just an imagined entity, and we are merely a part of the ceaseless becoming of the universe.

3. The cessation of suffering is attainable.

The cessation of suffering can be attained through nirodha. Nirodha means the unmaking of sensual craving and conceptual attachment. The third noble truth expresses the idea that suffering can be ended by attaining dispassion. Nirodha extinguishes all forms of clinging and attachment. This means that suffering can be overcome through human activity, simply by removing the cause of suffering. Attaining and perfecting dispassion is a process of many levels that ultimately results in the state of Nirvana. Nirvana means freedom from all worries, troubles, complexes, fabrications and ideas. Nirvana is not comprehensible for those who have not attained it.

4. The path to the cessation of suffering.

There is a path to the end of suffering - a gradual path of self-improvement, which is described more detailed in the Eightfold Path. It is the middle way between the two extremes of excessive self-indulgence (hedonism) and excessive self-mortification (asceticism); and it leads to the end of the cycle of rebirth. The latter quality discerns it from other paths which are merely "wandering on the wheel of becoming", because these do not have a final object. The path to the end of suffering can extend over many lifetimes, throughout which every individual rebirth is subject to karmic conditioning. Craving, ignorance, delusions, and its effects will disappear gradually, as progress is made on the path.

Cambodia & Laos

It was at this period of time of decided to continue my travels to the Koh Mak, Koh Chang, Trat and into Cambodia for a couple of weeks. It was here I learnt one important rule when travelling. Don’t always depend on visa cards to cover your travel costs. I had travelled to , the capital Phenom Phen Cambodia where I visited the famous Ankor Wat and lot’s more temples in Siam Reap where I eventually landed on the border of Laos in a guest house. I was unable to pay my guest house bill and ended up in a full scale argument about how I should pay as they didn’t except visa cards and I’d ran out of cash until I could get to a money changer kiosk. After a full scale argument that almost blew out of all proportion with a coach driver several policemen, the guest house manager and myself all in a circle in the middle of the road waiting for a fight. This was something that will never leave my mind when I dropped my bag thinking they were going to start on me. This craziness would have seen me in hospital. The guest house manager was able to trust me travelling back into Phenom Phen , only if I left my expensive digital camera with him at the guest house. I agreed to this compromise and returned to the city in a free taxi with six other travellers sat in the car. I was sat in between the gear stick and the front seat passenger and the driver. The whole journey took half the time the bus had taken on the way there and in some ways really freaked me out with worry. We travelled along a new route which was a recently completed new road, so you can imagine how fast the journey took with no other means other than getting all six people back into the city as fast as possible. We arrived at the city; I changed some money from my visa, booked into a guest house for the evening and slept. The morning after I did the tourist thing around the temples and finally returned to pay the guest house manager up on the Laos border. My camera was returned and apologised for the inconvenience.

The journey into Laos was amazing as I managed to get off the tourist track and walked along the Mekong River in search of a boat. I managed to find a local barge and hitched a lift into a small village where I was able to continue in a four wheel drive vehicle laid on at the port of entry. The Mekong is amazing experience meeting the locals on the boat. I remember the one old man having a whole set of gold teeth. I didn’t ask him where I he obtained the gold but I remember reading gold was once a major mineral resource of Cambodia. I laughed at the forty eight inch television at the back of the boat and wondered where it was heading.

Laos was a wonderful experience although there wasn’t much to see until reaching Veng Vienne, a small town in the foothills of the Laos Mountains. There was a beautiful river flowing through the town where travellers partied and swam throughout the day with loud music and plenty of beer flowing. I spent Christmas in Laos which was incredible sat by the fire in a bar listening to Christmas songs throughout the night. The guest house was clean cheap and had lots of facilities such as television, pool table and a bar. The manager was a young British guy who had decided to stay on for a few years to work there. On Christmas day I purchased a Christmas meal ticket for around ten dollars and had a great party with lots of other travellers. I was now coming towards the end of my trip which took back through Thailand to Bangkok and eventually home to the United Kingdom.

South Korea

South Korea

I had two options at this point, one was to take up a position as a teacher at an Australian Phonics school and the other was to take up a position in South Korea. I had already attended an interview at the Australian school which went really well and they offered me the job although the money wasn’t great the business seemed stable and could have lead to better things as I was asked to run one branch of several schools they had in Thailand. The problem here was I’d already booked a flight to Korea which was paid for by the school.

Korea was a clean, well organised country but the school I worked for didn’t turn out to be an honest outfit after holding back some of my salary on the second month. This worried me been so far from home and in need of cash. The manager of the school was a decent guy who took me out almost every night to a local bar and restaurant but he seemed to have his hands in other business ventures away from the school that distracted him from doing a proper job. It concerned me but I was happy to give it a couple of months until I had the problem with retrieving my salary. I had to contact the police in the end but they couldn’t do much as the school principal was absent on the day we went around to talk to him. It was all too late and knowing I had money in the bank in Thailand didn’t hesitate to book a flight back to Bangkok.

Working and Living in Asia

On my return from an 18 month travel holiday trip through Australia, Thailand and Vietnam I had decided Asia suited my lifestyle and contacted several training centres in Thailand to take my TEFL certificate and become an English Teacher in Thailand. I eventually returned from Asia to the United Kingdom and found employment for around five months, enough to save for the TEFL course I had chosen with Text and Talk academy, Thailand. The course was something I needed to gain confidence to teach.

The teacher trainer for our particular course was called Carmeta, from Canada who became a good friend with a great attitude to training new teachers. I remember the first few days of training when she taught us Japanese in order for her to help us understand how easy learning a language can be. She had chosen Japanese after working in Japan for several years. Carmeta’s method worked and we soon began to understand how to learn again after so many years out of college, University and school. It was now time to illicit information from students in order for them to learn English. The whole experience was exciting and secured all teachers on the TEFL course employment after the course.

After the course I secured several teaching positions within the school teaching on Saturdays and soon became familiar with the needs of Asian students in an English teaching environment. I eventually secured several more positions teaching business English in Bangkok, something I really enjoyed. Teaching business in and around Bangkok was rewarding and looks great on a resume. I worked for a television production company, a graphic design, re-touching advertising company and a travel software company. The management always took care of my lunch and often invited me out for dinner and social gatherings. I became very familiar with the requirements and problems businesses were facing and later went on the teaching business letter writing and application form completion. I remember on one occasion I was asked to retrieve exhibition fees from a French company with success. Teaching in Asia is rewarding and your student’s often become friends especially when teaching business English. It was at that time still working for an Agency and found it difficult to finance the travel in between each job and eventually decided I needed something more secure with less travel. I sometimes wonder where I’d be today if I had continued teaching Business English but even though I loved it, I couldn’t afford to continue. Maybe I should have taught private business English.

I was soon offered a full-time position at Saint Francis Xavier, a Catholic school in Thailand’s second largest city, Nontanburi. I moved near the school into a condominium that overlooked a huge lake. My condominium, a one bedroom with separate kitchen, bathroom and living room only cost around seven thousand baht. With Internet installed, electric, water and council funds, the whole package cost around thirteen thousand baht. Living and teaching in Thailand can be financially rewarding if you can live and eat where the Thai’s do. I was paid around fifty five thousand baht at Saint Francis Xavier and was able to live a good life for the four years I was employed there. It all sounds a little lonely at this point doesn’t it? To be honest during my first few months teaching in Thailand I was very busy and had no time to socialise but later that year I began dating a Thai girl who I stayed with for three years until it was time for me to depart. Sometimes overseas relationships work, sometimes they don’t like any I guess, mine didn’t but I was happy to see her grow into something really special after working for the USA embassy and later moving overseas, something she had always wished to do. At the time of leaving Thailand I had spent almost five years in the country and decided to leave during holiday time when I was able to obtain my holiday pay of one month plus the end of the month salary.

Most importantly I must mention that Thailand is a none confrontational country and I have never witnessed assaults or crime of any nature. The local paper, The Bangkok post covers stories of crime but if you remain calm and become familiar with Thai culture you’ll soon understand where to go, what to say and how to keep out of trouble.