Where Are You Going? Where Have You Been?

No, I'm not channeling Joyce Carol Oates. I'm actually looking for a job. I teach English overseas so I'm perusing Dave's ESL Cafe International Job List trying to decide where I want to be next. Where have I been?

Seoul, South Korea - 2 years, 1 in the north east and 1 in the south west. The first year we lived at the foot of a mountain that had foxholes on it, the second we were down the street from the best Mexican restaurant in Asia.

The Philippines - 3 separate 1 week vacations. Dirty, slightly dangerous, but quite beautiful if you looked in the right places. The people were wonderful. I bet I could go there right now, a year and a half after my last visit, and there would be people who knew my name and would greet me warmly.

Thailand - a week and a half last Christmas. Agog. Still. Especially with the foot of snow in my backyard. I'm applying for a job there. Living in Thailand would not be a hardship even though they pay peanuts.

Concepcion, Chile - 3 months. The food was amazing, the people were wonderful, the cold was crippling. They aren't big on heating buildings and, contrary to the palm trees, it does get down to freezing.

I've traveled pretty extensively within the US too, but that just gets unwieldy to list.

So where am I going?

Well, I've applied for jobs in Dubai, Chiba Prefecture Japan, and Thailand. I was just looking wistfully at a job in China even though I promised my mother I wouldn't work there after some damn fool sent her an article about and ESL teacher who died under mysterious circumstances while I was in Korea. So far I haven't been qualified for the posts in Morocco and Turkey that have popped up. I applied for a school in Costa Rica, but never heard back. I'm not even sure my email went through. I'd love to teach in Belize, but they, inconveniently, already speak English.

So where do you want to go? Are you the type that always has a bag packed or are you more of a home body? Have any suggestions for places I should look at more closely? Do you think you know a place that more closely resembles heaven than Phuket Thailand? 'Cause I'll go check.

Oh What A Feeling!

This very magical Fourth of July weekend I had promised to help my husband's grandparents with their 3 day garage sale. Do I know how to have fun or what? I also committed myself to submitting a novella to Lyrical Press by opening my big mouth on Romance Divas and telling the publisher I was going to. (I didn't know she was the publisher at the time.)

The nerves set in about then. I edited the thing twice instead of once. I wrote and rewrote the cover letter and the blurb. I solicited advice on the blurb. I solicited advice on pen names. I played a lot of Pogo. I can stall with the best of them.

Since I was due at my grandparent-in-laws Thursday morning and planned to stay until Sunday evening, and since I wasn't sure about internet accessibility, I sent in my submission around 10 Wednesday night.

Then I commenced fretting about what I'd done wrong. I had less remorse about buying my house than I did about what I could have or should have done in that submission. I nearly broke out the manuscript and edited it again. Instead I forced myself away from the email trusting in the fact that I couldn't start fretting about how they were trying to let me down easy until at least Sunday evening.

I woke up Thursday morning about 7, at peace with my decision. The timing was good. It would keep me from worrying. I sat down at the computer to check my email before leaving and there it was:

"Emma Porter Re: Submission-One Ring To Rule."

I had enough time to think "gee that was fast" before I had the rest of the email open to see:

"I'd intended to wait a decent interval before replying, but I opened ONE RING to peek, and you had me at "Jedi." This story absolutely cracked me up. It's a fun, fast and satisfying read, and I'd be delighted to take it on for publication."

It took about 10 seconds for this information to sink in and turn into words I understood. Somebody liked my story. Somebody who doesn't know me. Somebody who was judging the story on the story and not on my charming personality or my funny comments or my great cover letter (because trust me, that cover letter really needed more work.)

Now I can start fretting about my bio and my contract and what I can do for a follow up.

When Life Hands You Lemons…

Where the heck have I been these past few months? There I was posting regularly every Sunday and then nothing for 3 months. 3 Months!

The short answer to that question is Chile.

The long answer is, well, really long.

A few years ago, my husband and I entered into the career of teaching English overseas. We spent 2 stressful and fulfilling years on Korea, but had felt it was time to move on. We came across an ad for a school owned by another Ohioan in Concepcion, Chile and thought it would be a perfect fit. We don't speak Spanish, but we had a working knowledge of the language and we hadn't had that much trouble in Korea without speaking the language. Besides, we were working for another Ohioan. What kind of communication problem could we have.

While working at the school, were I was the librarian, I ran across the quote "the illusion of language is that it is complete." I wish I knew who said it because it sort of summed up the experience.

Chile was until fairly recently a dictatorship. The government has changed, but the society moves a little slower. Our school was run like a dictatorship. We could never talk to the dictator/business manager because while she spoke English, she wouldn't. We were subject to random supply shortages and whisper campaigns. I spent about a month trying to get shelves. It was the library. I had 400 boxes of donated books to short and no shelf space. And yet, I couldn't get shelves. I also "heard" that the seniors through I was insulting and rude. A teacher was fired while I was there because of this. Another teacher quit in hysterics. Then our telephone was turned off by the business manager. This was one of her regular tactics to push someone out. When you're that far away you really need to get in touch with family and since we had no internet at home due to another decision of the business manager's it was out only link.

It was a horrible thing to live through, but I learned a lot from it. Living in a dictatorship is an experience unlike anything else. It's so insidious, you don't know what's happening until you're neck deep in trouble. At least if you're not used to the system. The Chilean people are wonderful and I wouldn't hesitate to visit, and eat until I burst, but I wouldn't want to work there.

I also got a lot of work done. Not having many distractions gave me no excuses and nothing else to do. Now, I'm out and about again and I hope to have my life back again soon. Until then, wish me luck.