A New Job for Kathryn

For most people, taking an indefinite amount of time off work would seem like a dream come true, and for me the last year and a half has been wonderful. I've had a chance to get the house set up, help Erik adjust to school, volunteer, meet neighbors and other mums, train for a triathlon, show visitors around and more. Nonetheless, since we haven't won the lottery and will have to return to normal life in the States at some point, I've felt a nagging need to keep my skills and resume up.Being 4o something with a big whole in my resume doesn't fill me with a lot of confidence. Plus, a little extra money is always helpful especially when it's Australian Dollars straight into my ANZ (Australia New Zealand) account.

Therefore, before leaving for Christmas, I sent out my CV to a few language schools to see if I could find a few hours a week teaching ESL. I got calls back almost immediately. Ironically, after years of piecing together part-time hours in Seattle, the schools here were really wanting someone full time (8:30-4:00) and now I only wanted a few hours a day or a few days a week. I didn't want to have Erik in after school care every day, so off I went to Seattle with an agreement to sub at one school and a vague promise of a call if some part-time hours came up at another.

The week after we got back, an offer of two days a week came through from Pacific Gateway International College. I was to be team teaching a class with another American whose wife had just finished her Microsoft maternity leave. He had been teaching with the school for three years and didn't want to quit but didn't want his six month old daughter in daycare every day either. The administration decided to give a team teaching approach a try and last month I taught Tuesday, Thursdays on a trial basis. Apparently, it must have gone well enough since they put us on the schedule again for this month's session.

In some ways it's nice to be working. I get to meet students from all over the world (mostly Korea), interact with my Australian colleagues, and have a sense of professionalism in my life. However, in other ways it's just work. There's the stress, commute on the train (less exciting than it sounds) and loss of freedom. In any event, I'm on for the next month. Then we'll see how it goes.