Greetings from warm, sunny Crete, lovely people. This past week at Inkreadable was full of running around, cancellations, and other scheduling stupidities. Remember when I said last week that I wasn’t going to ever teach at 5:30 in the morning in the Netherlands? Well, an itchy trigger finger made a liar out of me. I was accepting bookings for Tuesday 23 July and accidentally excepted a priority booking request at, Yep, you guessed it, 5:30 in the morning. I am conflicted about what to do. In the first place, I don’t necessarily want to wake up that early. But I also don’t want a second cancellation on my record. My options are twofold: I can wake up, teach, and then go back to bed. Or I can wake up, teach, and then go to the gym. Part of me thinks the punishment of waking up and teaching might be worth it. I like the student, she is a regular, and she’s a higher level. So it makes it a lot easier.
Over in the suburbs of Amsterdam, 2 July proved to be difficult for Carlton as he was ill. But his mom would rather put me and all of my other students at risk rather than take a €40 hit. While he wasn’t so sick that he was coughing or feverish, he was droopy and unresponsive. Once again, his head was mostly on the table. I think I may have mentioned that they overpaid me in June. It turns out it was for the July 2 lesson. She let me know at midnight on July 9 that Carlton was going on vacation and was not going to have a final lesson. She also said that we could discuss dates for the next year. I told her that I would have to charge for the missed lesson and she got a bit irate. So I said that all of the schools that I taught for, gave a 48-hour policy and so my own policy of 24 hours was quite generous. I also said that if she wasn’t willing to pay for the missed lessons, then I would not be able to continue. I wished her all the best, as she did with me, And thus ended the Carlton conundrum. Cute kid is a cute kid, but business is business. Either I will find other work or I will try to increase my availability for The English Center.
Speaking of English Center, I wrapped up my two real estate executives and was overjoyed that they want to book me for another 10 1 1/2 hour lessons starting in September. I still have to finish up with my Italian student, who was a no-show to our lesson last Wednesday. He tried his best, but traffic jammed him up, Pun intended. He was trying to get to me for the first half-hour of the lesson. It was annoying that it was a wasted trip to the location in Amstelveen. But I still got paid so that’s OK. When I come back I have two more lessons with him. On 24 July I have my first ever professional development seminar offered by The English Center. I’ve also got a student starting on August1 4th for an intensive course. I am co-teaching that one with a colleague. But because I have the first three days, I am also a lead teacher. It’s not a position I’ve ever been and I’m looking forward to it.
Lastly, Felix and I met on Monday before I left, but he canceled the Wednesday class. Which was OK for me because I needed to do other things. Also, he adhered to policy. This time. Janice and I continue with Skype lessons but I hope to see her in person once her house is sorted out.
That’s all she wrote for this Inkreadable installment. I’m off to sit on the beach. But stay tuned. As always, there is more to come.
Inkreadable 