The old "hurry up and wait"

I'm just sitting here at mid-day soaking up the cool temps and trying to think of something to blog about. I just got my stuff all consolidated at Mike and Heather's place in Seoul. It's nice to have a computer to bang away on. I miss writing when I'm computerless for more than a few days. So now I'm packed and am ready to move out to the school where I've been hired as soon as I can. It's in Icheon City. As opposed to the Icheon neighbourhood of Seoul. And massively different from it. "Ee cheon," which is how it's pronounced, in Korean means two thousand. That's how many people it feels like there are in Icheon City. Not the Icheon neighbourhood of Seoul!

Anyway, I was supposed to start September 1st like everyone else and am not exactly sure what happened but here I am, still not working and still at least three weeks away from starting. See they have told me that they HAVE students but for some reason they choose to keep from me, the students aren't HERE yet or aren't SIGNED yet or just aren't available for me to teach yet. One would think that if they are as sure of the students arriving and this school year happening as they assure me they are, they would be interested in giving me all the paperwork necessary for immigration and getting me a visa. Just the visa number takes a couple of weeks to acquire. Who knows what will happen with the Suwon Immigration Office? Immigration officers sometimes take great pleasure in demanding that you get this document or that and then return before the visa application is complete. And it just wouldn't be as much fun if they made you go home and get all the stuff they can think of at the same time. No, they usually ask for every conceivable document, (whether necessary or not), one at a time so as to prolong the agony of the visa process even more. I reckon it would make sense to have me start this process now so that when the students get to the school, I'll be ready for them. At the very least legal to teach them.

But will I be ready? I have been shown some books and brought them home so I could flip through them and develop a mental curriculum, but then I was told that those are not the books I will be using. I actually thought of writing curriculums. Good thing I didn't waste my time! I have not yet seen the books I will be using. I could be developing curricula, heck, I could have written the entire year, made course outlines, had them bound and put bows on every one of them by now. But, alas, I am idly awaiting, whatever it is I am idly awaiting.

I'd be rookie teacher foolish if I believed the, "Oh don't worry, David, you totally have the job!" that I've been told by several people. If that were the case, what would stop them from letting me get to work on stuff I could be doing while waiting for them to get the school year organized?

Then again, I'd be rookie teacher foolish to believe that logic applies to this gig and think that there's gotta be a reason other than just pure disorganization.

So I have some concerns. Misgivings. No matter how you slice it, it's nerve wracking. And I REALLY hate the old "hurry up and wait." I figure either I am being kept on hold, and not compensated for it, or I will be working for a bunch of people who are showing remarkably bad organizational skills.

But I'm choosing to remain positive. I think they WILL be disorganized and they WILL need more than just my teaching skills at this school. I have been to many camps where the broad strokes were organized but the details were left to the teachers at the 11th hour. And they all turned out great because, like myself, the workers at those camps were good at improvising. I have a feeling there will be a lot of last minute improvisation needed from me at my new position. I am actually happy about that because it will solidify my indispensibility right from the get go. And since I am in on the ground floor of this project, before long they will want me as a long-term employee and maybe even a partner. Eventual principal? You never know...

I just really wish I could get going! I've been out of work for ages now and I have to get some money rolling in!

I recently read an interesting article on the 1.2 million Americans who live on basically no money. Less than 2 bucks per person per day I believe was the cut-off. These are people too proud to take welfare who don't get food stamps and who are disqualified from or don't take advantage of any programs that may help them out. There are things you just don't think about that happen to these folks. Clothes wear out. So you have to donate blood to get 30 bucks to buy underwear for your son who needs them. How about the kids? They are made fun of for constantly wearing the same clothes to school. The article talked about desperate measures that these people take to survive. People illegally selling their food stamps, selling sex, collecting rain water to flush the toilet because they can't pay the city water bill... These are the kind of dire straights I think I would find myself in if not for the kindness of strangers and friends who have helped me through this rough time. I am anxious to get back to work and pay them back for saving my arse. But I have to wait at least two weeks for the visa number, then go to Japan for 3 days and none of this will happen until I get all the paperwork from the people at the school.

Right now they want me to move out to the school. I told them I'd move when I got all the papers. That didn't work. So now I've told them I am ready to move and will move any time they want. But I think there is some preparation needed before they will allow me out there. I saw my place a couple times but only from the outside. I was told the key was with the workers who were renovating, painting etc. Well I guess they're still not done. I don't even know if I have a bed or a desk or a TV or a fridge. They've told me that I can eat at the cafeteria there but I won't want to do that every meal for very long. What about food I can't live without that will never be on the cafeteria menu? Like spaghetti? Bread. Mac & Cheese. And coffee and beer. Snacks. Where is the nearest grocery store? How do buses work? I really want to get there and get used to the place as soon as I can.

But, here I am... Sponging off friends, not getting an income, writing my blog and not an ESL curriculum. I am incredibly grateful for friends who have brought me to ball games, taken me out for trivia night or to the pub, Everland, Muido Beach, Oktoberfest, the tea fields of Bosung, I have had loads of fun since being here in Korea! As the following photo will fully illustrate:

But I just can't enjoy it fully when I'm not working and pulling my weight. I'm feeling a bit like a bum. A drain on society. Interestingly, that's how these 1.2 million impoverished Americans describe themselves feeling when people offer to help them out. Very grateful, but they just want to work. They'd rather earn than receive charity.

While I believe it is a hugely important part of our existence to help other people and I believe that those who have never done so have yet to experience true joy, I'm getting tired of providing others with the joy of helping me. I want some of that joy of helping others for a while. Heh heh.

Hopefully I will hear some news about moving in and/or getting the visa process underway soon. I am all ready. Have been for ages. I'm just waiting. For what, I'm not sure. Just waiting...

Sigh