Ayeesha's job log: 6
After graduating last year, Ayeesha Shahani found it hard working out what to do next. Finally she has decided to return to her Hong Kong homeland to teach. Looking back Although I complained about the UK the whole time I was there, what with the dreary and temperamental weather, cranky pessimistic people and the crazily expensive public transport and food (to name a few things!), I will really miss the people I was close to over the years I spent there.
Leaving was certainly a lot harder than I thought, probably because it was the middle of summer and there is definitely something enchanting about England in the summer. Everything looks brighter, prettier, greener, friendlier and more inviting, a nice contrast to the cold and hostile tinge that usually accompanies English winters! People smile and hold doors open for you instead of frowning and pushing past you with an irritated look on their faces. Maybe it is just Londoners. Up in the north I found people to be a little bit friendlier … once I finally understood what they were saying that is! The homecomingSo I have officially arrived! My first week in HK has been truly magical. It looks, sounds, feels, tastes and definitely smells like home! I am currently about to start my new summer job at a Montessori Kindergarten. I am staying with my little sister and sleeping on her couch, which aside from being a blow to my ego, is actually not as much of a problem as I had envisioned. She lives bang in the middle of trendy Soho and about five minutes from the central skyscrapers that form Hong Kong’s infamous skyline. The only downside is that living in the middle of town just makes you want to go out and meet people everyday and every night! Going out means spending money - money that I don’t quite have yet since I won’t be paid until the end of the month and am supposed to be saving up for my own flat! In addition, Hong Kong happens to be a shopping haven which means temptation is around every corner to spend spend spend! Considering all the fun there is to be had here I believe that I am displaying a very mature level of self-control. The other day I went to an estate agent and asked if he had any 1 bedroom flats. After physically laughing out loud at my proposed rent budget, he told me that I had come at the worst possible time because the property prices had just shot up in the last six months and he said that I wasn’t going to find anywhere decent for that amount of money. Great. So that means that after teaching at the preschool all summer I will suddenly be left with no job AND no place to live! Could it be that I will be forced to move to the significantly cheaper Kowloon island or worse, the New Territories! Could I really live out there all by myself in the boonies? I just can’t bear the thought of not living on HK island, I’m an island girl at heart! It’s like moving to New York City and living on Long Island instead of Manhattan! What's the point? Plans to increase the budget!My bank balance was in serious need of resuscitation, I had to do something and fast so I started looking online (dreaded internet job hunting brings back bad memories of living in Newcastle and being chronically unemployed) but it had to be done. Luckily there is an abundance of teaching jobs here and I figured that since in July I am only working half days and August I am working Monday to Friday until 5, that actually I could easily get another job for July afternoons, August evenings and even Saturdays, depending on what was available. There are plenty of people who want private tutors for their kids in HK, so that is always an option to earn extra cash in the evenings. Saturday morning kindergarten is also really common here and therefore schools tend to hire a separate teacher for those classes, usually if you speak English and aren't horrible to children then that is a good enough qualification to get you the job! Filling up all my spare time!I have to keep reminding myself that I am supposed to leave time to be able to do my assignments for my Montessori training course. That’s the trouble with distance learning, real life tends to get in the way! You are susceptible to procrastination because there are no looming deadlines, no scary teachers checking up on your progress and no one else around you doing the same thing. Actually it’s pretty hard! I recently found out that my microchipped Hong Kong ID card also allows me access to a bunch of libraries which I may have to start spending more time in. It would be the perfect place to get away, have some peace and quiet and focus on my work without being disturbed. Sounds good in theory doesn’t it? Either way, since my sister doesn’t have internet in her new flat yet I desperately need to find somewhere else to check my email and use the internet. At the moment I am stuck buying ridiculously overpriced sandwiches in coffee shops just so that I can use the free computers and Wi fi that they have for customers only! I have to say, with all the time I have been spending in coffee shops recently, it’s a real shame that I don't drink coffee! Read Ayeesha's previous job logs
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