Posts made in July, 2009

Finally!

Posted by vienna on Jul 22, 2009 in Work and Career | 6 comments

This is about the time when I felt thankful that I can’t really fully understand German.

A few weeks ago, we went to visit my in-laws and while we were there, we were invited to a neighborhood gathering. A lot of people from the neighborhood came and I got acquainted with some really nice people but understandably, I got bored at some point because they were all talking rapidly in German (or Austrian dialect) and it was just so impossible for me to follow the conversation.

So I left the table and I am sooooo glad I did.

After saying my excuses, I joined the children. They were playing but I got their attention at once. They gathered around me and tried to talk to me in English. After a while I found myself playing and doing activities with them and they were all having fun. Then one of the mothers came to have a little chit chat with me. She told me that I am really good with children and so I told her that it is because I am a teacher and I really miss teaching. Then she told me that I should try applying in the learning center where her daughter gets her math lessons from. She told me that I have a big chance of getting a teaching job there. Then she gave me the information of the learning center.

I called the learning center and I learned that it is a really big organization and that it has learning centers all over Austria. They told me that there is a branch in Graz (where we live) and that they need teachers. I immediately called the branch and I got an interview at once. After the interview, I was told that I’ll definitely be hired after I complete the two weeks training.

And that’s what I am doing now.

I have successfully passed the first stage of the training (thank God) and the second stage will run until Sunday. It is quite difficult because the training is very intensive but I think I will be able to manage until the very end.

After the training I’ll sign my job contract and I will start to work in September (fall semester). It doesn’t matter that I can’t speak perfect German because the classes are done in English.

I am so glad!

For three months, I was constantly trying to get a job. There were times when I thought, I’ve no chance to teach here at all and it was in those times when I really felt emotionally down.

But right now, I am on the clouds! I have tons of demo lessons to prepare and I know that like the previous nights, I’ll spend the following nights making visual aids and teaching materials but I feel quite good.

I am going to teach again! What could be better than that?!?

Been a while again

Posted by vienna on Jul 2, 2009 in Work and Career | 3 comments

I don’t know exactly what took my appetite for blogging away. All I know is that I am now caught up with adjusting to living in a new country. I won’t say I don’t have enough time for other things because that would be a lie. In fact, I’ve been rereading all my Harry Potter books just to kill time.

In between my driving lessons and job applications, there’s nothing. Until now, I still don’t have a job. Sometime ago, I got a positive feedback from one of my applications and that made me so happy and excited but somehow the head of the institution I applied to changed her mind about hiring additional staff. And there was also the job offer I got from an older guy whose intensions, I am sure, are far from decent.

Thing is, it is easy to get a job here in Austria but it is difficult to find the job I want. I can’t practice my profession here simply because my degree is a foreign one and if I want to practice that here, I have to get it nostrificated. That means I have to have my degree evaluated. They’ll see if the subjects I took up are the same to the subjects they offer here for the same degree (course). That could mean further studying for at least a year or two… and I don’t want that.

So I said,… ok, I can’t teach but I know I am capable of doing office jobs and so that’s the kind of job I am applying to (office assistant, receptionist, and the sort) but I still have no luck.

I feel like even if I have enough education and job experience, I am still forced to take manual jobs simply because I am an immigrant in this country. I am not saying that people here are racist but being an immigrant means a lot of things like… first, my knowledge of their language is not sufficient enough for the jobs I want and my degree is not an Austrian degree therefore, I can’t teach here.

Sometimes I am tempted to accept jobs (janitress, dishwasher, etc.) just to have a “job” and there was a time when I almost accept one but my husband won’t consent that I do so. He said it would be a shame to waste my years in the university by taking such jobs. He wants me to get my degree nostrificated no matter how much and how long it’ll take but I don’t know. I don’t feel like I am up to experiencing college life again.

I don’t know how it’ll all go from here.

There’s the German course to look forward to. I am going to continue learning German because I want to further improve my German skills and well… that’ll give me something to do.