looking back: 2009
Looking back at the previous year, I’d say that it is one of the years (2007 being the other one) that left a big impact on my life. There are a lot of things that happened in this year that changed the way I look at life and at people. I hope that all the experiences in this year have also made me a year wiser and not only a year older.
Here are the things I did last year that I think contributed much to the person I am this new year.
- Successfully completed my German competency course. It wasn’t easy especially because the interest to learn this particular language was not there. There was only the need to learn it. My attitude towards it was: I am learning it because I have to and not because I think it’s fun. I could have stopped sometime in the middle of the course if I wouldn’t have cared wasting the money spent on the course (it was expensive). But there came a time when I started to appreciate it and later on, I am really glad that I did it.
- Left China for good. I could say that in my three years of stay in China, a lot of bad things happened to me but I could not deny that the best thing happened to me there as well. So it’s like, one best thing evens out all the bad experiences I had in China. China has been good to me…to us. It wasn’t always easy (especially for my Austrian husband) but living there was very beneficial for us. In China, we experience comforts we could never afford here in Europe. I don’t know if I will ever go back there but China and the people we met there who became good friends of ours will always have a space in our hearts.
- Started a life in Austria. I had my doubts. I doubted if I ever could make it here. If I ever could get a job. If I ever could find friends. If I ever could call it a home. This stage of my life is still a work in progress. There are still a lot about this country and its people that I have to learn. I might not like or like what I’ll learn but so far, Austria has been good to me and I think that I am in the positive way to clearing all my doubts.
- Cut down on my blogging. This was mainly because I was busy with other things. I had to prioritize stuff and that means my blogging has to be given up to some extent but because old habits die hard, I am still here and blogging. In fact, I started another blog.
- Learned how to drive and acquired a driving license. I am from a country that sees being able to drive a car as a luxury not necessity. Earlier in my life, I gave learning how to drive some thoughts but I never considered it as something I must do. That’s until I married an Austrian. Understandably, it was not easy for me. The theory lessons were done in Austrian dialect so I have to record each lesson and listen to it over and over again so I could understand or, at least, have an idea what the lesson was about. Another thing that made it difficult was: I think I have no talent at all with driving. It is already more than four months since I acquired my license and yet, I still can’t drive well.
- Found a job in Austria. I needed three long months before I landed a job. Within these depressing months, my self-esteem hit its all time low. I am just so glad that I have a loving husband. Right now, I am very much contented with my teaching job. I am not teaching in a regular school but all the same, I am still teaching and that’s great. It’s really a huge blessing that I still can practice my profession in this country without going through the complicated nostrification (educational degree comparison and evaluation).
- Experienced a car accident. It didn’t do me any damage—no scratch. Nothing. It just left me a little bit of a shock. It was not a major accident but it left a major impact on how I look at life. I often hear clichés like life is too short, enjoy the things you have while you still can, and etcetera but I never really cared. I mean, I know they that these lines are true but I didn’t feel that they should also apply to me but that changed. After my accident, I value my life and all the persons and the things I have more.
Finally!
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?!?
Read MoreBeen a while again
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.
Read MoreSmall Project
I like simplicity so you’ll notice that in this project, I didn’t use a lot of paper backgrounds and embelishments.
Read MoreColleagues
In the beginning, you try to be nice to them to maintain a good working atmosphere. Then you start to hang out with them outside the office and this will pave the way for you develop friendship with them. If you are lucky, you might even find a real friend among them that you can keep for life. However, the world of work is tough and this drives most of them, even those you are already friends with, to stab you in the back specially if they see it as the only option to stay in the job. This is their way to look after themselves, their way to secure a regular flow of income, their way of survival. It’s sad but it’s a reality you have to face in life.
Read MoreJob Interview on a Sunday
Hubby went to the Formula1 race today. He did invite me to go with him months ago but I declined. It is not my thing and I refuse to spend that much for a ticket to something which I am not really interested in. So I told to just go with some of his colleagues and make it like a boys’ day out.
He and his colleagues left early this morning because they do not like to be caught up with the crowd. I stayed in bed and tried to enjoy my long Sunday morning sleep but I was not very successful because I got a call at around 9:00 am.
The caller was Mr. Kane.
We agreed to meet at 1:30 pm to talk about a possible teaching job for me. I showed up early and the place was not too far from where I live so I thought that it would be very convenient for me to work there. After a few minutes of small talk, he said that I have a pure accent and he said that that is something which is not very common to Filipinos. He said that he met a lot of Filipino applicants already and most of these applicants disappointed him (raised my eyebrows when he said that). So anyway, he said that the students will certainly like me because I speak good English and I have a face value (ahem!).
Here’s what he offers. 46 hours each month of teaching and 3500RMB of salary. That’s not a very high salary but because I like to teach, the salary doesn’t matter to me that much. I would have really accepted it if the classes were in the morning. Too bad. The classes are scattered between 4:00 to 8:00 pm and the schedule is where the problem is. I simply cannot give my German course up which is, by the way, in a school located on the other side of the city. My German course runs from 1:30 to 5:30 pm from Monday to Friday and after a 4 hour long class, all I want is just to be home.
Sigh* When can I teach?
Read More