Holes in your nose

Miss M got this book out of the library last week:

It is quite mind bending to read but she is fascinated by it. When I noticed the Japanese name on the cover it got me wondering whether or not it was related to the book "Everyone Poops" that I remember Rove having on his show a few years ago.

Sure enough:

http://beeskneesbooks.blogspot.com/2008/02/boogers.html

If I am struggling to spend time with Miss M now, how will I cope when I am working 8 til 6 (possibly) 5 days a week, in a foreign country? On one hand I know it will make the time we do have together more precious as it will be the only time we have. We will also be alone and probably won't have TV (or at least, won't be able to understand any of it!). We will hopefully have the chance to do lots of wee trips together.

I am also hopeful for a job where she will be allowed to attend the school. Some stories I've read of more rural schools seem to paint a more flexible picture. I've also found an advertisement for a part-time toddler room job. Mornings only. Naturally working part-time might mean we can't afford to live (especially when I am supporting a child as well) but at the same time I have discovered the variances in pay between international/expat style schools and more local schools. The latter advertise salaries about 50% of what they are offering in the expat schools. Not all the expat schools are exactly that - some of them cater for local students but simply follow an international curriculum.

At the moment it looks like the going rate in China (this is for a fully qualified teacher) is around RMB 10 000 in local schools or early childhood centres and RMB 20 000 in International schools. So feasibly, a part-time role in an International school would be a brilliant stroke of luck. On top of earning the same as someone in a language school, I would also expect to have accommodation and airfares included, as well as visas, medical, tuition and et cetera.

The job is through one of the larger recruiters who send me out job mailers all the time yet cannot find the time to respond to my emails, so I am going to have to bombard them. There's a whole other post in that...

To come full circle, while Miss M is currently engrossed in nose picking and boogers, Mummy is currently reading 'Eat, Pray, Love' which has such widespread rave reviews that I couldn't help but purchase it (especially as it was 50% off). I am about a 6th of the way through and although the writing is great, it is a little irritating and I am worried that I might end up putting it in the crap book pile. I hope not. Even Julia Roberts and Oprah have bought copies for their friends.

Something about nothing...

We haven't left yet >sigh<.

Still in the land of Oz, still working through my Cert IV in TESOL (towards which I have a disturbing lack of motivation...).

I have discovered that as I have a teaching degree, I have 2 options for jobs - international schools or English language schools. The first are mostly expat kids and very good money. The others don't pay quite as well but involve teaching local kids, which is what I am interested in. Although at this point lots of money sounds great because I have...

NONE!

It is starting to freak me out a wee bit, mainly because nothing seems to be on the horizon to change this empty coffers situation.

My casual job has peetered out to nothing - my final tour was last week (oh, I also resigned - long story don't ask but there was no further work really for the rest of the year anyway) and it's final term here so supply teaching is limited. I have my first day ALL term coming up in two weeks time - so it's a dire situation.

So I have been trying and TRYING to find a solution work-wise for the period from now until January (which was our EDD) but strangely enough things keep going cockeyed. I had a couple of positive phone calls for jobs on the Coast and thought we might move in with my grandmother to keep her company and save money etc (also short term so a rental would be hard to organise), but she went into hospital right as I was about to ask her if we could stay ... perhaps she guessed??? Another family member offered us a room but now the jobs may have fallen through...argh!

In the meantime I am thinking...(not always a good thing!) What if we looked into jobs NOT abroad for a spell (say, 6 months), which would give us a chance to save money, rent the house out before we left the country, practice living 'away from home' and also give me some relevant experience prior to trying to secure a job OS?

So I have emailed NT schools and another organisation that runs literacy projects in Cape York...both sound really interesting (working with kids from Indigenous backgrounds) and would be incredible experiences in their own right, buuuuut...I feel like I am wimping out AGAIN and finding more excuses not to leave. Don't get me wrong - oh, I still want to leave...desperately. But dreaming and doing are two different cats. Leaving is scary...maybe a job a little closer to home would make it easier to go further away? Plus there's the lack of funds...I feel awfully more apprehensive planning a sojourn in Asia with $20 in the bank than I might if I had a few thousand dollars.

I even emailed some hostels in New Zealand about working there over the Summer - a couple of them had links to English language schools or classes and I thought that it might be a fun way to start the RTW, but so far my emails have been met with SILENCE - more on that in another post as it has intensely irritated me. It is SO rude. And why don't they want me???

So...a lot of something about nothing because we still haven't set off. So far my CV has done more travelling than I have but I am ready to go. I just spent 7 days landscaping my front yard and this week I am planning to start the BIG JUNK CULL of all our ... junk! So, stay tuned for that exciting development!