This is a period.

Sorry for my crappy first sentence but I need a first sentence and I right now, I am having a hard time writing one.

They say, the first sentence is always the most difficult to write but I say, I never really had trouble writing the first sentence up till now and that because I have no practice.

Three months! Wow, that’s a really long time. I didn’t write a single sentence on this blog for three long months. But that’s over now, thanks God.

I left my day job and here’s they explanation why I finally came to this decision.

I got sick several times in the last few months. I blame it on the cold temperatures and on my weakened immune system. This made me unreliable work wise. You see, if you are a teacher, there are pupils and parents who are waiting for you to show up but before you judge me of being so irresponsible and unprofessional, read along.

In all those times that I was sick, I did informed my head teacher beforehand that I can’t go to work. I always informed her early enough but the problem was—she was not always able to find a teacher who’s able to take over my classes and because of this, she’s forced to cancel my classes. The parents, of course, are not so happy about that.

I have discussed the issues I have with my job several times across all my blogs and if you’ve been following my blogs, you’ll know that my work benefits doesn’t include getting paid sick leaves. To cut the story short, I wasn’t 100% happy with my job to start with and then boom! The third time I got sick, it struck me—I was sort of forced to work even if I am not yet 100% feeling well and that’s because there’s not enough teachers. That’s the main reason why I keep getting sick.

So it came to me—why would I sacrifice so much for a job that doesn’t really give back what I deserve?

I quit and decided to go back to writing.

I will probably earn less but I will probably be happier. I say “probably” because well, things could be different from what I imagine now. I am keeping my fingers crossed though.

I hope that quitting my job is not a mistake and that going back to writing will be a success. I am not wishing of earning lots and lots of money from writing but a decent income of say… at least 1000$ every month would be really nice.

I hope that going back to blogging and freelance writing will work out for me.

I remember telling myself that when we settle here (in Austria), I will just stay home and write because I know that my chances of getting a (teaching) job here is very thin. That was when I was earning around 700-1000$ each month from writing. But the financial crisis happened just when it’s time for us to move from China to Austria. The paid blogging industry was also hugely affected by the crisis. 200 words blog posts which were priced at 15$ in 2007 & 2008 declined to 1$ in 2009. There were still a lot of offers but a dollar for a post is just so disheartening.

So I had searched for a day job and I got one I like. In my first month, I got just 3 classes. Then I got 5 classes on my second month. I had plenty of time and was hoping that I could still do some writing on the side but since there was almost no income from writing, I concentrated on my day job. It paid off because right now I have 15 classes…just when the blogging industry is picking up again.

Here is where the problem lies. I want to write and I want to teach but time doesn’t seem to be on my side. They say you cannot serve two masters at once but I don’t think that that’s applicable here. Not one of the two brings me contentment.

Teaching is great. I really like what I do but the business model of the learning center where I work is not something I’d say ideal. I am a freelancer. I am just paid for the hours I worked. Hours and hours spent for preparation are not counted. I pay for most of the materials I use and I don’t get benefits such as 13th & 14th month pay. No Christmas bonus. No paid holidays. I don’t get paid when I am sick. And the most disheartening thing is; my status in the learning center will always be just a freelancer. It’s nothing personal; it’s just their business model. All of their teachers are just freelancers.

Writing is equally great. I really like it too. Sure, I am only paid for the work I do and I also don’t get bonuses and I have to pay for my own insurance BUT I get to stay home, I don’t need to pay for gas, I don’t waste time driving to my place of work, I don’t need to pay for parking tickets, I am my own boss. It’s all cool BUT the income from writing is not fixed.  This is what bothers me the most. I can pay for my own insurance but I want a sound mind knowing that I’d get a certain amount at the end of each month.

Now I am trying to do both but I always feel that I don’t have enough time for them.

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?!?

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.