Well. Here we are again, my lovlies. Many exciting things have happened recently in my exciting life that I am very excited to tell you about. Excitedly.
First, I completed my TEFL course. I am now a certified to Teach English in a Foreign Language. The particular course I signed up for also came with a free supplementary course in Business English, so really I am just rolling right along, learnin' stuff.
And just a few days after I finished my TEFL, I got a second job! I really am very pleased about this, because it will effectively double my take-home pay. Which is huge (in importance, not in $$. Sadly). However, I have told myself that this extra income is for two things -- travel, and savings. We'll see how well I hold up with that. The job is teaching Advanced and Upper Intermediate adults at Georgia's Ministry of Justice. Pretty sweet resume booster, but this also looks to be no slouch. I just spent most of this afternoon and evening rewriting a very detailed syllabus for my Advanced class, and it's not even done. After that there is the UI syllabus to tackle, and class hasn't even started yet. I am looking forward to the challenge, and it will be a refreshing change from the feral playground that is the Georgian school system.
Lastly... I am moving. I found out last night that my host family is selling the apartment and going... somewhere. So I have to get out. Luckily, my Program found me another host family within 24 hours, and I move on Monday. The really good news is that this time I actually will be in Saburtalo, near the Delisi metro stop. I'm not going to pretend that I'm not really, really happy to be getting out of Vashlijvari. This village life is not what I expected when I moved to the Capital! I have felt very isolated and just plain bored here. I am looking forward to not spending an hour or more on mass transit when I decide I want to go grab dinner out.
It's a little bit of a bummer how things have ended with my host family here though. I have absolutely no details and they are sharing nothing, so I can't speculate on whatever situation made them so abruptly decide to pull up stakes. But (I am leaving so I guess I can afford to be honest), although these people have been very good to me, it has become obvious that the family is dealing with some ongoing and pretty serious interpersonal issues. They really are not in a position right now to host anyone, even if they weren't moving. I wish them all the best, but I am relieved to have gotten this opportunity to let them work out whatever serious issues they are apparently facing, and relieved as well to be able to gracefully bow out.
(There are a whole plethora of small issues I could cite as more specific examples as to why I am happy to be leaving, but I started to type and it all just sounded horribly petty, so I guess that's for another time if at all.)
No Gori for me this weekend, clearly. Even if I didn't have to pack and write two syllabi, Tbilisi's currently savage winter makes traveling anywhere both unpleasant and dangerous. They say it gets better in March. I am very, very glad February is a short month.
First, I completed my TEFL course. I am now a certified to Teach English in a Foreign Language. The particular course I signed up for also came with a free supplementary course in Business English, so really I am just rolling right along, learnin' stuff.
And just a few days after I finished my TEFL, I got a second job! I really am very pleased about this, because it will effectively double my take-home pay. Which is huge (in importance, not in $$. Sadly). However, I have told myself that this extra income is for two things -- travel, and savings. We'll see how well I hold up with that. The job is teaching Advanced and Upper Intermediate adults at Georgia's Ministry of Justice. Pretty sweet resume booster, but this also looks to be no slouch. I just spent most of this afternoon and evening rewriting a very detailed syllabus for my Advanced class, and it's not even done. After that there is the UI syllabus to tackle, and class hasn't even started yet. I am looking forward to the challenge, and it will be a refreshing change from the feral playground that is the Georgian school system.
Lastly... I am moving. I found out last night that my host family is selling the apartment and going... somewhere. So I have to get out. Luckily, my Program found me another host family within 24 hours, and I move on Monday. The really good news is that this time I actually will be in Saburtalo, near the Delisi metro stop. I'm not going to pretend that I'm not really, really happy to be getting out of Vashlijvari. This village life is not what I expected when I moved to the Capital! I have felt very isolated and just plain bored here. I am looking forward to not spending an hour or more on mass transit when I decide I want to go grab dinner out.
It's a little bit of a bummer how things have ended with my host family here though. I have absolutely no details and they are sharing nothing, so I can't speculate on whatever situation made them so abruptly decide to pull up stakes. But (I am leaving so I guess I can afford to be honest), although these people have been very good to me, it has become obvious that the family is dealing with some ongoing and pretty serious interpersonal issues. They really are not in a position right now to host anyone, even if they weren't moving. I wish them all the best, but I am relieved to have gotten this opportunity to let them work out whatever serious issues they are apparently facing, and relieved as well to be able to gracefully bow out.
(There are a whole plethora of small issues I could cite as more specific examples as to why I am happy to be leaving, but I started to type and it all just sounded horribly petty, so I guess that's for another time if at all.)
No Gori for me this weekend, clearly. Even if I didn't have to pack and write two syllabi, Tbilisi's currently savage winter makes traveling anywhere both unpleasant and dangerous. They say it gets better in March. I am very, very glad February is a short month.
Well, isn't life a big surprise these days! So glad things are moving forward for you, that you will be busy and productive, and making a bit more money!! Keep us posted. Thinking of you often. Good luck. Talk soon, Mom
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