Jobless yet again

So, to explain my lack of blogging, I must confess it hasn't all just been because of Internet issues. I found out nearly a week ago, just two days after I got to Croatia (and about four days after getting to Europe), that I lost my job before I even started it.

The school e-mailed me to say that because of the current economic situation and how many businesses were canceling their contracts with the school to provide teachers for their employees, my contract would be cancelled as well. They simply didn't have enough hours to offer me and the several other new teachers who got the boot, they said. And the contract I signed gave them the leeway to terminate said contract before I started for unforeseen reasons like this.

It wasn't completely surprising, as I was one of their last hires for the season, so would likely be the first to go. And the situation across the board for language schools in Europe isn't particularly great right now. But it, obviously, stings quite a bit. To come all the way out here for the promise of a job and to not have it is pretty discouraging.

And I'm taking this as the second big sign in a year (the first being all the fruitless interviews I went on after finishing the Oxford course) that teaching in Europe, or at least in Prague, is not what I should be doing. Of course, I have friends in Prague who are on the warpath on my behalf and trying to pull out any connections they have. But, I'm just not sure it's worth it.

In a way, it's weird. I was excited to start teaching again. I was freshening up my skills, pulling out all the notes I had taken at Oxford. During the days leading up to the trip, I found myself idly pondering things I'd teach. I'd read a word like "photography" and wonder how I'd explain its pronunciation to students, how I'd show them the first "o" and second "o" aren't pronounced the same, where the stress fell in the word. And even now, nearly a week after getting the e-mail, I'm catching myself imagining teaching present perfect tense or irregular verbs.

Yet, when I got the e-mail, it was a bit of a relief. I had actually dreamt getting an e-mail like it, and I imagined what it would say if it did happen in real life. So, there was a moment of déja vu and, like I said, relief, because there was a part of me wondering if I'd really enjoy teaching business English to a bunch of professionals for a year in Prague and not getting paid very well for it. I had taken the job because it was the one offered out of the many that turned me down, and it was the only one willing to provide assistance with a work visa. Of course, there was the added bonus of living in Prague again and seeing my friends there again.

But I just didn't know if I'd be happy doing it. There are obviously many more subtleties involved, but that's the gist of it.

So, my move to Europe has become more of a vacation, it seems. I have to say, it helps to be on the Croatian coast when you get bad news like that. Kind of lessens the blow. I've been enjoying Croatia a ton, despite the heat and the tourists and the lack of air conditioning, and I wish I had more time to explore other areas of Croatia, and possibly go into Bosnia and Hercegovina and Montenegro. But I have a huge bag of luggage sitting in a flat in Prague, and I told the friend watching it I'd be gone about a week. I'd hate to leave it there for a month while I bounce about the Balkans carefree.

So, tomorrow, I'm going to start making my way back to Prague. I'm taking a bus to Trieste in eastern Italy, then figuring out whatever's the quickest route north to Prague. I'll stay there a few days and hang out with friends, then get things in order to come home.

I'll update you loyal readers if something changes or I end up finding a different teaching job in Prague or elsewhere. And I'll be sure to publish some more photos from Croatia as soon as I have a chance and a better Internet connection!

Life on the Dalmatian coast

Hey, bloggity blog! So, in about a week's worth of traveling Croatia thus far, this is the first place I've stayed that has wireless. And I think I'm stealing it from the neighbors. And this is also the smallest town I've visited. So, that kind of explains Croatia's attitude toward the Internet. Although, Dubrovnik claimed to provide free wireless across the entire old town. I don't know if that's true, I tried it, walking around with my laptop like I was trying to catch a radio signal. Didn't work.

The Interwebs aside, Croatia is a fantastic place. At first, when I was planning this trip, I was like, "Why don't you hear more people talking about Croatia?" That's because, I've discovered, they are all in Croatia right now. Seriously, it's jam-packed with people, at least in the bigger destinations. Dubrovnik especially. But that hasn't taken away its charm.

Croatia's coast takes a lot of influence from its neighbor to the northwest and across the sea, Italy. Split and Dubrovnik feel like Tuscan villages built on ridiculously blue water. All red roofs and stonework and polished marble streets. Palm trees, fishing boats, fresh seafood. All that. The only thing different on first inspection is the language. Then there's the Austrian-Hungarian influence in the interior, and the more recent connections with the former Yugoslavia, the Serbs, etc. It's got a lot of stories.

I'm on the northern coast right now, on an island and town called Cres (pronounced "Tsres," with a rolled "r" — which brings up another interesting connection, Croatian being a Slavic language, is very similar to Czech), and it's just lovely.

Anyway, I need to get some sleep tonight because tomorrow morning, I'm taking a bus to some hiking destinations on the northern side of the island, where there are a lot of abandoned medieval villages and olive groves. But I wanted to share some photos of the trip thus far.

Here's a few from Split:

There and back again

So, I find myself returning to this blog, as something interesting is about to happen -- in the teaching-English-in-a-foreign-country-again sense.

Oh, blog! So much has happened since I last clicked on you!

Yes, yes! Before I left Prague way, way, way back in May, I interviewed -- on a whim -- for a job at a really great-looking school in the city. It was actually just a few blocks away from my flat so, y'know, I didn't have to travel far in my business attire, and that kinda sold me on interviewing.

My previous entry from May explains a little about my feelings then about how the interview went and the prospects for fall. And so far, those notions have been correct. The school e-mailed in July to say they wanted to hire me for the fall. They sent a contract, I looked at it, over and over again. Considered. Questioned myself and those around me. All that.

The pay wasn't all that good, but this is to be expected in a saturated teaching market in Europe right now. The work schedule is under 30 hours a week, but that's technically considered full-time to the TEFL folks, and there's always the opportunity for part-time work (more about that later).

The biggest draw was that they were willing to help me apply for a work visa. That was enough to get me to sign the contract. After all the problems and stories I'd heard since the spring about Americans getting denied work visas and schools not even willing to entertain the idea of hiring Americans because of this, I was worried I'd hear the same mantra from this school. But fortunately, they seem to be pretty positive about the work visa situation for the fall, as I heard from other sources as well -- most people I talked to were saying the visa-approving bodies of the Czech Republic would start loosening their grip for the fall, when most teachers are hired.

And I've already sent the school all the documents they needed to start the work-visa-applying process. So, fingers crossed everyone's theories and expert opinions and analyses will be right so I can actually fulfill the year contract I signed with the school. They are called Caledonian School, by the way. I'll be teaching business English for them, going to different companies around Prague each day to teach on-site. Lots of running around the city involved. They also offer free Czech lessons to their teachers and have an excellent resource center and computer lab, so I can get all my materials together.

Oh yeah, the other exciting thing about all this is that I leave Monday. Like, three-days-from-now Monday. Holy craziness, I know! I think I'm ready, but actually, I have no idea. It's funny how, even after all this traveling, I still find myself getting outdone and mindboggled by the process of packing.

The next other exciting thing is that, even though I leave Monday (which was the day I booked to return way back in May because it fulfilled the required three-month leave from Europe to get a new tourist visa, plus a few days), school orientation doesn't start until two weeks later. So, two days after I get to Prague, I'm running off to Croatia for a week to squeeze in some Mediterranean sun and pretty coastal towns before I am banned from seeing the sun for a while. Expect pictures!

The some more other exciting thing is that my friend Shannon, who I met at Oxford TEFL Prague, got a contract with the same school and will start teaching at the same time, too. We're hoping to split the rent on a flat in Prague, so I'm very happy about that.

The and even more exciting thing is that, as I said, I may have time for part-time work. And I may even have some of that lined up already in the form of freelance writing. More news as that comes to fruition.

OK, I'll end this here for now. Good catching up with you, blog! I look forward to more frequent visits in the future, and more positive rants now that I actually have a job!

Edit: Spellcheck doesn't like "mindboggled," but I do.