Welcome to the new home of the Cultural Curiosity blog and podcast. My name is Rebecca, and I’ll be your host!
If you’re reading this post, it’s most likely that you already know who I am, but in the case that you don’t I’ll briefly introduce myself and what you can expect from me going forward. I am a 27 year old full time-student, mom of 2, new citizen of Canada, ESL teacher of 6 years, occasional volunteer, hamster-mom. Well I’m sure that list could be longer so let me list some quick facts:
- I live in Edmonton, Alberta in Canada
- I have helped over 600 students practice and improve their English skills
- I did a 1 year working-holiday experience in Japan from 2016 to 2017
- I love eating foods from different countries, but these days Indian food is my go-to
- I primarily study Sociology, Political Science, Spanish, and East Asian Studies at university
- I enjoy volunteering at the ESL club at my university, I also enjoy volunteering at events in my city
- This summer I am doing a study abroad program in Barcelona, Spain for 3 weeks
- I was born in London, England and lived there till I was 19 years old
- I moved to Canada when I was 21 years old
- I regularly attend different exercise classes 2 to 3 times a week
This is not my first rodeo, if you’re reading this it is also likely you may know me from my previous handle @britishenglishtutor or my previous podcast Tea and Chat. I started these in 2018 and ran them for over 2 years before having my kids and well, no explanation is needed for 2020.
So what’s different this time round? The key word for myself is CONSISTENCY. As someone with ADHD it is very tempting for me to jump from one project to the next out of genuine interest for trying different things. This newfound interest in one hobby can result in neglecting other hobbies. This is something I have been actively working to improve. Ultimately I chose to shut down all my previous projects to learn how to live more slowly and intentionally. Whether that be through taking regular exercise classes, practicing Spanish, or progress-tracking. I have made some huge strides in this department. Combining that with being a bit of a perfectionist does mean however that I can be hard on myself when I don’t meet my own standard.
That’s why this time round, I’m taking a different approach. The focus this time is on my guests, whether that be guest posts or guest speakers on my podcasts. Contrary to what you may think, I don’t love the sound of my own voice. Having a social media presence that involved showing my face regularly and making videos, was really draining for me, and honestly felt kind of narcissistic. But after taking a huge social media detox, and stepping away for a while I feel much more in control of setting my boundaries. For example, this time round I’m uploading the podcast episodes on Youtube, but adding animation as opposed to video. And I will continue to use social media for updates only instead of pushing educational or influencer-style content. Not constantly writing or speaking about my own experiences is really important.
The whole idea behind Cultural Curiosity is to share the opinions of people from around the globe. I have really loved teaching English these past few years, but I always say I have learnt so much from my students in return. This spurs my motivation to create a platform where people feel safe in sharing their experiences and journeys with others beyond the classroom. Whether that be to practice their English skills, or because they have something they’re really passionate about. With my previous podcast, it was a mix of things as the title suggested, including some interviews, but a lot of me talking about random things, so that my students had some way of getting additional listening practice. That is not the case this time round, Cultural Curiosity is for sharing experiences from different cultures, countries, and walks of life. I have not created such a narrow niche which restricts flow, as it is early days, I want Cultural Curiosity to naturally develop into what it wants to be. I hope if you have read this far, that you will join me on this journey, either way, I’ll be here.