Well, I tried. Smithers is a nice place and I really wanted to live here but it just didn't work out. Oddly it was what I thought would HELP me here that turned out to be my Kryptonite. I worked as a substitute teacher way back when I lived here 15 years ago and was getting pretty well known in the system and my hours were on the increase. I wanted to get certified and teach full time and there was a course at SFU called the PDP, (Professional Development Program I think it was), I could take to do so but I was advised to get more classroom experience to strengthen my application for that program. Teaching ESL overseas seemed like the thing to do. It was also my plan to save up enough to pay for that program, a year in Burnaby being pretty darn expensive.
Well now that I'm back I will need extensive, (like 2 years worth), upgrading and course re-taking before I can even qualify for one of those certification programs, and practically ALL of them are now 2 years long. That's 4 years. I can start all over again and get certified in 4 years. But I'd just be doing 3/4 review and one year of teaching philosophy and instruction that is probably very close to the stuff I've TAUGHT in the teacher training courses I've designed and given. It's like closing the windows after going through the car wash
I've been through the car wash and figured out by trial and error how to roll up the windows as well as anyone. But I just don't have a piece of paper certifuckingfying that I am able to roll those windows up. This is the cash grab known as education we got going here
The school board won't hire me to sub here even with a couple years of subbing in this system and 13 years of full time teaching because I'm not fully certified. I have to get certified after having learned how to teach. Roll up those windows!
..
And every other job I apply for here sees either all my ESL experience on my resume and figures I will either leave them and go to Vancouver and teach ESL or I SHOULD. Or I give them my other resume with applicable experience that was acquired 15 years ago and they wonder what the heck I've been up to since then.
So I'm destined to keep on doing what I do. And it's not that I don't like it. I love teaching. It just has to be done in the big cities where I just don't want to live. Smithers has a brand new, shiny college here and very few people who speak anything but English as their first language. This is a FAR better location for an ESL school than Vancouver, Victoria, Calgary, Toronto where anybody from China, Korea, Japan or even other countries will never actually have to speak English apart from their classroom. And if they can synchronize their schedules with their friends who speak their language... it is pretty much like the years of French we took during our schooling. Anybody remember any of that?
But I'm just one man. I can't change much. It's not all bad though. Victoria is a nice place. It's a lot more like a small town than Vancouver. And it IS a beautiful place. I've even heard of some fishing to be done there. It'll be nice to be close to my relatives there too. And I have a few friends there. I KNOW I'm going to see a lot of Jaimie and Colleen and they're really nice. They are my brother's best friends. I think I'll even be able to play some softball this summer and I have been just ACHING to get back into THAT. Some nice golf courses too. Plus I'll have students from all over the world, not just one culture. That'll be SWEET! I love learning about other cultures along with my students. And now I'll be able to blow the dust off every book I never bother to teach that has lots of lessons in which the students are supposed to ask their classmates about themselves. That stuff's pretty useless in Korea because they have to get ultra specific before they find any interesting differences.
So I'm going into this with a positive attitude. I will be landing in Victoria on the 27th of June. With a bit of luck I'll be able to start teaching in July. I have been asked by one ESL school there to teach in July and August so I will have some work. Not sure how many hours that will be or what I'm looking at for pay but it's a start. I visited the school last time in Victoria and it looked like I would have no trouble there at all.
And I wanted to give Smithers a try before resorting to a big city. So I guess I'll have to take in as much of Smithers as I can before I make my Snag. My Snagglepuss. "Exit stage left even." Trying out some phrase coinage. Saw it on an English movie one time. Like England English. These guys were saying stuff that was pretty confusing. Anyhoo I thought I'd put a few pics up. It's been a while since I've posted so I'll explain as I go.
The first pic is the pink Hudson Bay Mountain I was trying to get at the end of winter. I just never had my camera when I saw it. Usually on the way home from work at 7ish in the AM. Now lots of the snow is gone but it's still pretty nice eh?
The second is me working at the Hudson Bay Lodge. This is where I was coming home from when I saw the pink mountains. It was a good job... when I balanced.
Picture three is what I looked like when I DIDN'T balance. Then it could be stressful and frustrating. Notice all the hair I've pulled out.
Number 4 is what makes the mountains pink. Some pretty spectacular sunrises around here! The picture just doesn't do it justice.
The last pic is Me, Meg and Andrea watching the Canucks play game 7 for the Stanley Cup. We're all dressed in our gear. Norm wasn't there yet. He was on the way home from work. Definitely would have taken some more pics that night IF the Canucks had won. But I won't get into that. Maybe next year I'll be able to catch a few games! That'd be cool!
So, I guess I have to change the blog name AGAIN to something Victorian. Lemme know if you have any idears. Take it easy. I'm gonna make my Snag. Dave out.
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