Expatiperro

Last week, both my Catalan and TEFL classes came to a close with final exams, test corrections, and much celebrating. While this was a generally happy period, it did mark a major shift in my life. With my language classes over for good and no more courses looming on the horizon, I could not tell myself that I was "on vacation," or "taking a break" between semesters. No, my friends, I was now officially and unquestionably "unemployed."

I suppose that finding myself in this position was a given at some point in my life, since all schooling must come to an end. Unless you're one of the lucky ones who has a job lined up while in college and never gets fired or leaves, being stuck between jobs or schools with no paycheck or class schedule is a pretty standard experience. And since I had never experienced anything like it before, seeing that I spent my previous 20 years enrolled in school, I was excited about the possibilities it might bring. Just think, I could do anything! No obligations to tie me down, no matriculation to a university just months away, no schedules or constrain my desires. All I had on my plate was pure, unencumbered freedom.

Unfortunately (or perhaps fortunately), my romantic view of joblessness has been put on hold. Today, I was hired for not one, but TWO teaching positions at different private language institutes around Barcelona. (Let me take a quick break to reread the last sentence, and to break into a ridiculously large smile when I let it sink in.) I start work next week, initially at 15 hours a week, but with a chance to increase that to 20, or maybe higher. And the starting pay is nothing to complain about, either- at 15 hours a week, it's enough to cover my basic living expenses, and any extra hours I get on top of that is just icing on the cake (or, more money to travel with).

As for the classes themselves, I'll be teaching kids in one-on-one and small group classes, and adults in company classes. From what I hear, their levels are intermediate to advanced, which is a huge relief since I don't have much practice teaching beginners. And most of the classes are conversation-based, which is great because not only do they require less preparation, but they are infinitely more fun to teach.

I don't really know a lot about the companies I'm working for, but when I start work next week (actually this Friday for one of the classes), I'll let you guys know how they go. Also, the interview process was pretty entertaining - I interviewed at five places overall, out of the 20 places I sent emails to - and definitely worth relating to you all. Look for it in a post in the near future.