more job chaos

so I’ve been talking to a recruiter over the last few days. a recruiter is a nice lady who will put me in touch with places that are hiring for teachers in exchange for about 200 usd. I interviewed with a school today, but it turns out everyone’s hiring people to start on monday, which conflicts with my tpr job and the end of my contract. also, right after I called the recruiter a couple days ago, I got an email from tpr’s hr guy saying oh hey now we are hiring for at least one full time position, you should apply!  he sent it to me and about 6 other people, 4 of whom I know, 2 who are new to me and just show up as email addresses. 

so now I don’t know what I should be doing, because tpr is the better job, but holding out for it may put me in a position where I am less able to get a worse job if I don’t get the tpr thing. which entirely depends on who applies, I know that one of the guys who got the email was a teacher in the us and I pretty much modeled my teaching personality after his, he’s great. so if I were tpr, I’d hire him before me. but this guy also just opened up a restaurant and is doing part-time law work for some us firm, so I would be pretty shocked if he applied. basically, I think I’m the best candidate who will apply, outside of people who I don’t know. 

so it’s a gambling game, go for broke with the nice job or settle for less but safe work. I think I’m gonna hold out for tpr at this point, because I’m just that guy (sorry mom, don’t freak, it’ll be fiiiine).  I was reassured by the recruiter that pretty much anywhere I apply will want me immediately because I give a good first impression and am pretty (her words), which makes me a little more confident in finding a job later. I should know by tuesday definitely, so it shouldn’t be too late to find something.

dragon boating

so this weekend I went dragon boating, which is like a big canoe I guess? there are lots of people in the boat, (people didn’t show up so we only had 5) you get one paddle, and you just keep on rowing.  I went out with connie and albert, two of my friends here, and we were invited in the first place by lynn, who programs the computers or something at tpr.  nice guy. there were also two japanese people who didn’t speak english, but I guess they were nice?

anyway, it was cool to try something new and now I’m sore all over my body and horribly sunburned. so I made a couple mistakes.

more business

okay so now i have classes, false alarm.  it's actually not classes, it's private tutoring, which pays better than teaching. 2-2.5 hours per day, 5 days a week. almost the same pay as a three hour class, so that's nice.  also, as of now they're offering several hours per week all on weekends, which is not ideal for travelling purposes and would still entail finding another job, which would basically have me working every day of the week.  but at least i'm in a better situation than yesterday =)

also, i played rugby today with connie, another tpr girl, and a whole bunch of europeans connie met to  play rugby with.  had no idea what i was doing, just kinda hoping the extra effort i put into it counted for something. it was fun, probably gonna play again on thursday. we'll see if i like it enough to turn it into a regular thing. either way, it's something new and that's always good.

summary: still gonna look for another job but i am no longer in a monetary crisis. yaaay.

exciting weekend post and house pictures to come.

*edit*
here's a link to a waaaay better blog than mine, written by tessa, a new friend who did pretty much all the same things as me this weekend! she's nicole's friend from pingtung and the tusa program, which means they're all here learning taiwanese culture and mandarin.  word of warning: once you start reading her blog it will be painful to come back to mine. you should probably just follow her instead. you'll see what i mean.

http://tessa-rose.tumblr.com/

teaching round two

okay so this is a logistics/challenge post, exciting post about my great weekend and pictures of the apartment to come today, tomorrow at latest.

there have been problems with hours going around at tpr, last round i got two classes, other people got none.  one guy still didn't get hours this round.  this just seems unconscionable, to have someone pay for a flight over here and then give them no means whatsoever to support themselves.  i understand that they want to make sure they have enough teachers to cover a high workload, but this was a horrible judgement on someone's part.  anyway, bottom line is i have no classes for the next three weeks.  the savings from my tons of hours is enough to tide me over, but this is the last round of "busy" summer classes, and after this i'll maybe get hired for more hours or not.  they've been vague about it, and given their track record with employee honesty, i'm inclined to err on the side of caution.

i'm planning on calling a recruiter in the next day or two to scope out other teaching opportunities, in the event that tpr doesn't work out as a long term opportunity.  the teaching season starts in early september, so the silver lining of not getting classes is that now i'm on the lookout for new opportunities at what is likely the best possible time.  also, tpr invested a lot of training in me and i now have what i can call "months" of teaching experience.  this has been a really good experience and a gentle introduction to teaching, which is nice. also, i have an alien resident card now, so i don't have to leave the country and they can't kick me out for a year. downside is that to get the tpr job i had to sign a non-competition agreement, so i can't work for any other sat teaching institution. probably gonna end up working with kids, which might be great, i dunno, it'll at least be a fun new change of pace. and this really is the best time to find a job, so at least the timing is great.

this may all be a moot point, if tpr offers me full time emplyment (which i now believe is highly unlikely) i'll stay with them simply because they pay 30% more than other jobs.  we'll see what happens and i'll keep you posted as developments warrant.

in other sad news, gill left. back to canada. gill was my first friend in taiwan who wasn't paid to hang out with me.  he did give me his winter coat (which i always loved), so at least i have something to remember him by. *sniff*

so new challenges await, at least life isn't boring =) i also had an AMAZING weekend with some of my favorite travelers yet, i'll write about it soon.