I think I’m just about getting used to the schedule here. I find that I am waking up in time for my classes. My students’ parents sometimes can’t take no for an answer and ask for priority booking times in timeslots that I am not available. I have repeatedly told them that. Today, I had a student no-show. No big deal as I am getting paid to sit around. BUT this kid is always late. And we’re not talking about one minute or two. We’re talking this kid is coming at minute 20 of a 25-minute class. That is significant. And it is every class. After I waited for the required 25 for the student to show, 20 minutes into my next class, the mom requested a priority booking for two weeks out. I refused. I just couldn’t face a class where the kid would be late again. And it’s funny because it’s not about the kid doing a bad job in class. When she bothers to show up she’s fine. But she’s literally been on the same class for the last five weeks because she can’t finish it because she never comes in on time.
In other teaching news, it looks like I have two new students. Both of whom are in Amsterdam. The one you all know from a previous post, is a kid that I’m going to be teaching math and reading in January. For this one, the mom didn’t bat an eye at my price tag. I was quite happy about that. But if I do a little bit of math it’s interesting because it doesn’t make it worth it at €45 an hour when you consider prep time and travel time. It’s not the hour that you’re teaching that you’re being paid for. It’s the two hours of prep that you do for the class and the two hours of travel you do for the class. But still I like the student and I’m very happy to have the gig. And it looks like it will be multiple.
The next one is more interesting. The final Thursday Writers Group in Amsterdam that I attended before coming to the US, a man stopped at our table asking if we were working English teachers. I think I mentioned him in a previous post as well. He contacted me via email and would like to take classes four days a week when I get back to the Netherlands. While I am not thinking that this is going to be a long-term thing, it will be nice to have an adult student in real life. You all know how much fun I had with my previous adult students.
It seems that my readers were not particularly enthused about my tech issues in my last post. They have resolved somewhat as I have my computer back, but they continue to rear their ugly head to cause me a little bit of panic still. My Mac sometimes does not want to register a charge. Fiddling with some buttons takes care of that but man, Mac get your crap together. My back up computer works in a pinch, so this isn’t true panic but the backup is actually difficult to see because it’s almost foggy in terms of color. I haven’t figured out how to fix that yet. It will come.
In the meantime, making space for all the friends that I want to see here is starting to feel a little bit difficult. I want to see so many people and do so many things. We’ll see if I can manage. Currently, I am not writing much but I am reading of friends grueling, heartbreaking, and wonderful memoir of her time in that place we both feel most at home. She and I met in Scotland, a.k.a our soul country and I am reading that story. I am a character in that story and though I haven’t got to that part that too intrigues me. I am also trying to figure out the children’s book project that is in the back of my mind. But I’m finding the holidays to be disruptive for that. Maybe it will be better when I get back to Amsterdam.
I wish you all Merry Christmas if you celebrate, and happy holidays for whatever you celebrate. Thank you for reading my blog in the last eight months. I appreciate the support.
That’s all she wrote for this Inkreadable installment. But stay tuned. As always, there is more to come.
Inkreadable 