September is a half step away...
Well, September is next week. I can't believe it for two reasons:
1. It feels like I left Saint John and school only a few weeks ago
2. I am jobless :(
My colleagues at Forest Hills have gone back to work. I am feeling a mixture of emotions. A few weeks ago I began to really feel down on the fact that school is starting up and I don't have a classroom. Now, I feel a little left out... like a distant memory. I'm thinking from the prospective of myself and my students..when I was in elementary school, my teachers from the previous year were always there when I returned to school in the fall, so I'm not really sure how my students will feel next week when they return and I'm not there. No where near being close by. I have had dreams about them in the last little while.
The flip side to all of this is teaching in BC. I have no idea what it will be like. For some reason, I have it in my head that it will be very different. Teaching won't be the same... how? I'm not sure. Perhaps it's not having a group of teachers I can fall back on when I have problems. Can't really explain how important it was for me this past year to have fellow teachers I could go to for advice and to just vent! Anyhow, I'm sure all of this is just my mind playing games with me and making things worse than they are so that I'll be so psyched out that when I actually start supply teaching, I will be super freaked out.
Speaking of supply teaching, I'm also dreading the unknown. Receiving a phone call to go into an unknown school of an unknown teacher to sub for a group of unknown students. To not know the physical layout of the building, the structure of the classroom and the school and probably not even know how to GET to the school! I'm naturally quiet when I don't know anyone so for me, going into such a situation really really sucks. I really hope I don't have to do it for a long time. (Actually, I'd prefer to not have to supply teach at all! Perhaps just walk into a job .. that would be great!)
In the meantime, I'm planning on taking some online courses to tie up my time. I'm probably going to take one course from the University of Western Ontario as I already paid for my Ontario college of teachers dues this year (you have to pay your membership in order to take any teacher courses in Ontario.. it's so stupid!) and maybe another one at UBC (this one depends on whether I get fully licensed in Alberta.. because BC can't make up their own minds! If Alberta does not require that I take English courses, BC won't require it either. That means, I don't need to go to UBC's online course department!!). Anyhow.. part of me is looking forward to taking courses because it means I'll actually have something to do. The other part of me just thinks it's pathetic because I should be working right now rather than reverting back to this student lifestyle. UGH.
Alright. That's it for now. Ciao (YC :P)
Olympics..
I haven't mentioned anything about the Olympics.. and what a milestone Olympics it's been! I guess I've avoided the topic because of all the "controversy" surrounding it.. it's exhausting to think about it.
I got up at 4am to watch the opening ceremonies.. the result of that was feeling jet legged for the rest of the week. Anyhow, it was amazing and I'm astounded and mind boggled at how they must have organized that! I always have some semblance of how much organization is involved in events (or I think I do), but this one - I can't imagine how much planning went into it. To think of just crowd control for the performers is overwhelming! They did a fantastic job and I really think they are not getting enough praise from the media.
I did not get up to watch the closing ceremonies but did see bits and pieces of it through replays and on the net... *cough cough*. I was super excited to see some celebrities that I knew on global television - no, not David Beckham but Lee Hom, Andy Lau, Emil Chau (!!!), Karen Mok, Jacky Chan... and I think that's it (didn't recognize the rest). I was pretty ticked off with CBC for focusing in on the woman in pink who I didn't recognize and cutting out parts that would have been nice to watch. Anyhow, I did manage to find it online later, so I'm happy now.
The games is not meant to be about politics but about coming together for a common reason and to compete in atheletics. At the beginning, I was only a tad irked that the media kept going at it and picking on things such as the Tibetans and human rights issues when this really had nothing to do with the Olympics. I can understand to a degree why they would bring up things like protests and whether they were occuring or not, but why do so many of the commentators need to be so freaking sarcastic!? I read a piece on the closing ceremonies that really made me annoyed. CBC has really tarnished themselves in my mind. Do they really need to include things like "Somewhere, the ghost of Mao Zedong is really, really pissed." or "If you're a fan of digitally enhanced fireworks and lip-syncing nine-year-olds, well, hold on to your hat." WTF. Can you not think of how much effort was put into this Olympics?! They cleaned up the entire city for pete's sake! In the history of the Olympics, what host has ever gone to such lengths!?
I am not saying that China is perfect. By no means. I just believe that there is a time and place for criticism. Yes, there are things that need to be changed. There are things that need to be changed in ALL countries of this world. I believe I heard it from BBC, but they said that one thing Beijing will take away from the Olympics beyond the new construction and being able to open the doors to the world is the learning experiences of some of the areas they need to work on. (It was worded differently, but you get the idea). Perhaps I'm biased when I judge the media as I'm Chinese (but believe me, this is another complicated issue - Chinese Canadian vs. Chinese from China vs. Chinese from Asia excluding China), but really, I'm so sick of how rude people have been in regards to the Olympics. Some of the comments on the CBC forum made me just sick (hence why I've avoided writing about the Olympics altogether!).
Anyhow, I think I'm going to split up my entries today. Easier reading :)
That was .... interesting?
YC - I think you are the only one who reads my blog. So this blog has basically become a public email to you?! HAHA!!
Anyways, in the case that I do have other readers (HELLO!!!!), here goes the follow up to the interview. I arrived at the school and the principal greeted me. She started off by asking me if I had any questions. So I asked her if the english teacher had their own classroom or whether the teacher went to the students? To answer, she took me on a tour of the school - my first thought was that didn't she have another candidate lined up after me? Shouldn't we hurry up?
So that took probably about 30 or so minutes. We finally got back to her office and she semi-interviewed me. A lot of the questions were really odd and actually looked for negative scenarios.. like "tell me about when you saw something illegal or unethical - what did you do?" .. I had a hard time answering questions like that because I have not seen anything like that!? Anyhow, she realized the questions were odd as well so she didn't really bother too much. I think at that point she already wanted to offer me the position anyhow, so she really didn't care too much. At the end of the question period, she asked me if I was interested in the position - I said yes. I suspected that was the job offer, but didn't think it was official as we had not really gone through the entire interview - I still had to do the written component and they needed to check my references.
Anyhow, after the whole thing was finished (2.5 hours later), I left the school with a very bizarre feeling. The principal had talked to me a lot about the things I could do and was really enthusiastic about some of the things I had talked about - Tribes for one. She called me later in the afternoon saying that HR had called my references and gave her the OK and that she was "happy to have me with them"... I was thinking OMG!!!! She had even gone to the Tribes website to read more about it and called the centre to find out about getting a person in to train her staff.......
So here I am, freaking out because she assumed I accepted the job offer when I was still flip flopping all over the place. You are probably wondering why I didn't want the job? Well, it's a 0.18 position which means it's only 1 afternoon and 1 morning per week. The other problem with this position is that it's with a French school district which means that this job is "as good as it's going to get". There is only 1 school in Richmond and 2 in Vancouver... the Vancouver schools have an English teacher split between the two of them and I suspect that that position is probably not full time either. However, I have no other offers on the table and September is quickly approaching. I do want to be back in the classroom and this would provide a great opportunity to learn the language arts curriculum across a number of grades all at once. I would also have a local reference..
After a lot of hemming and hawing, I finally decided that I was going to decline the position. It took me all morning to work up the nerve to call her. I still feel bad as I think I'm letting her down but ultimately, I have to do what's best for me. (Ya, that sounds sooooo self absorbed!). Anyhow, what's done is done. I need to try to be positive though it can be difficult sometimes. I am probably going to end up taking courses this fall so I won't be as bored as I have been in the last month or so (man, is it easy to get LAZY!).
It's a bit tough thinking about school starting up. I think about the changes at Forest hills and I am also missing my group from last year. It will become a much sweeter memory once I get a job!
Ciao for now,
JY
ps./ Enjoy the closing ceremonies!
Nerves...?!
I have about 10 minutes before I need to get going. Actually, I should probably not be doing this right now. I have an interview in about 30 minutes at that French school I was talking about. I met the principal and spoke with her on the phone so there's no real reason to be nervous at all about this. I am not even 100% convinced that if offered the job, I should take it! So why am I nervous!??!?!
GTG!
I'm Not Sure...
I'm not sure whether I should be hopeful or whether I should be depressed. OK, I know it's a straight forward decision - why be depressed if you can be hopeful? Actually, I should just try to "not care" in a way so that things can fall in place as they are meant to be.
Alright, backing up a step so that people can actually follow what I am trying to say: Last week, I received a phone call from a man from a school board that is located in some remote location in northern BC. I did not apply for any positions up there, but he saw my portfolio on applytoteach (kind of like the teacher version of monster.com). Anyhow, he wanted an interview with me, but after he describe where they were located, I tried to politely decline. I'm after a long term position where I will NOT need to do all this paperwork and shoe licking ever again!!
Last week, we also discovered an ad in the paper for an English teacher (2 mornings a week) at a school in the French school board. I just got off the phone with the principal and she sounded like she was pretty desperate for a qualified teacher. One side of me can see myself becoming excited for this position because it'll allow me to be in the classroom on a regular basis with the same children each time, but the other side of me thinks: what are the long term benefits? Will it make me unavailable for a full time position? I was up front with her in saying that I was ideally looking for something full time, but at this point in time, I would be delighted to teach at her school. Anyhow, I might as well give it a shot as nothing better has come up right now... at least I'll have SOMETHING to do..??
Enough about job hunting. Life in Richmond.. I haven't really said much about what it's like living on the west coast, have I? I'm still not 100% convinced that I love it here. The culture, although we are still in Canada, is a bit different from that of the east coast. I can't quite put my finger on it, but there's something different. Driving around Richmond and even Vancouver/Burnaby/Coquitlam, you can tell you are not on the east coast. The houses are a mixture of different cultures.. you can see some different styles from different countries engrained in the architecture of the homes around this area.
I think the reason I'm not 100% sold on living here yet is because of the job situation and that we have not met very many people. On top of that, CE & I are still living with my parents so it's not like we are being independent at the moment. As much as I want to be close to them and to help them in any way I can, I still want my independence (i.e. freedom). Anyhow, this will come with time.. I just need to find my patience!!
The plus side to life over here is that there's soooo much available here that wasn't available in NB. FOOD. OMG FOOD. So many different things to try, so little money and so few calories available!! haha! I think that it's going to take me quite a while before I can truly determine whether I feel comfortable living here.. I find myself comparing it to life in Ottawa.. why was I able to be so comfortable so quickly over there and not here? Perhaps it was because I met lots of new people right off the bat? Was it the culture? Was it because I had been there numerous times before actually moving there? I wonder...
Anyhow, I think that's all for now. Hopefully I won't wait as long between posts. There's no excuse of being "too busy" as there was last year at this time!
