 |
| Jerry Seinfeld |
Is life what you make it ? or is it all planned out for you ? Do things happen by chance or do you attract things and people to you ?Big questions, and I have thoughts on these but that's for another day.The one thing I do know is,the worst thing you can do is nothing.How can things change if you do nothing.They say the definition of insanity is to do the same thing over and over and expect different results.A few days after I arrived in Colombia I met a German guy.He gave me the card for a hostel in Medellin and told me to go there.I had never heard about this hostel,it wasn't in any of my guide books,and I hadn't seen it on the Internet.The hostel was under a year old so unless I had met the German I wouldn't have known about it.I ended up working in the hostel and staying there for 6 weeks and making loads of great friends.Even after the German told me to go there I was still in two minds about going to this hostel.Then I met some rude Israeli on the coach to Medellin and he was going to one of the other hostesl in Medellin that I was thinking about.This just convinced me to go to the hostel the German recommended.Was this luck ? a coincidence ? I didn't have a plan when I left. I had many doubts but I only had one thing I knew I would do and that was teach English in Colombia.So I was stuck in the wrong part of the city with no job and feeling low.I finally pulled myself together and decided that I would find a job.There is no way I can give up now.Its not an option.I cant let one Colombian douche bag beat me.The first time Jerry Seinfeld went on stage he looked at the crowd and froze.He was jeered off after 90 seconds.He went back the next night and nailed it,the rest as they say is history.I didn't have the same enthusiasm as before but I had to give it a go.I went back to a few places I had been before and asked them but they had already recruited someone.Not a great start.One place seemed keen and they said they would call.No call.I decided to go to the gym near my apartment.I am in there an hour when someone calls my name.I look round and theres a guy I know who comes in the hostel bar sometimes.He is from Manchester but his mum is from Peru.He is only 23 but has a great job.He speaks perfect Spanish and is running a language class for the British Council every day.We are chatting away and he asks me if I want to help him with one of his classes.Theres no pay but it will give me some experience.Sure why not.I arrange to meet him there the next day.He has a class of 30 students and they discuss various topics and have debates in English.It was good fun and we go for a beer after at a bar across from the Uni.I am sitting outside the bar chatting to the Peruvian manc when a Colombian guy I knew from the hostel walks by.He stops and asks me hows it going.I tell him my story about the guy letting me down with the job.He says he will see if he can help me.A few days later he facebooks me with a number of a friend and tells me to call him about work.I ring the guy and he tells me to come for an interview the next day.I head down there the next day for the interview.The guy is Colombian but lived his life in New York.He talks a lot but you expect it from someone from New York.He seems ok though and I like him.We discuss teaching and I can tell by the way he is speaking he thinks I have teaching experience.My Colombian friend has told him I have experience.I decide to go along with this.After an hour of chatting he offers me a job.He hasn't even asked to see my CV or TEFL certificates.He never asked me if I have taught before.He tells me I start in two days.All his pupils are adults which I prefer.Not ready for teaching kids yet.He will call me to confirm my schedule.He cant guarantee me a regular schedule at this moment but I am happy to take what he has got as its practise for me and some money coming in.The pay is 10,000 pesos an hour.Not the best but not the worst.I will take anything just to get some experience.Its also a 2 minute walk from the hostel which is great and in the area I know and like.I am not too excited after the last guy.However he calls me the next day to tell me I have three lessons tomorrow.All for 2 hours each.Shit.Now its real.I am teaching tomorrow morning.I think back to my training in London.I was rubbish.I couldn't get my words out.I could feel my cheeks turning red,I was mumbling.I turn up at 8.45 for my first class at 9 till 11.I speak to the boss man and he tells me the students in the morning are all intermediate.He wants me to just have a conversation with them.Get them used to my accent.Choose a topic and discuss he says.Make sure they are talking and not just listening to me.They have only been taught by Americans so they need to hear another other voice he says.Nearly every English language programme on TV in Colombia is American.Shows like Seinfeld ,Fraser and ER,and this is how they learn.Theres only 4 students in this class.One of the students is a girl in her 20s.I wouldn't mention this normally but she had the biggest pair of fake boobs, and she wasn't hiding them.This is not what I need on my first ever lesson.I have to mention at this point that Medellin is the fake boob capital of the world.Every girl or woman who can afford them has got them.They love to show them off.I mean really show them off.The smallest top they can find.No one bats an eyelid except us gringos.I have got used to it now, but I thought she might have covered them up a little in the classroom.Do me a favour.I have got nothing planned as he told me he would arrange the work.Colombians love hearing about other countries and telling you about there own country.Nothing gets them talking more than when they are telling you about there city or country.I decide to go down this path and the lesson goes well and it goes quick.I feel relaxed and enjoy it.The students seem to like me and they are talking,something that Colombians find very hard when learning English.They dont like to loose face and the one thing about learning a new language in front of other people is you will make mistakes.I have another class of 4 students next then its lunch.My next class after lunch is a group of 6 students who are lower level.They are a mixture of young and old but its a lot tougher.The boss man sits in on some of the class which doesnt help.However I get through it and I seem to do well.I feel confident and relaxed most of the time.The boss man is happy and gives me my schedule for the next day.I feel good as I walk home.My first teaching job in Colombia.The next day I work 4 hours in the morning and then finish.I walk outside after work and my phone goes.Theres an American guy on the phone he says he has got my CV and would like to interview me for a position at the school he works at.Its the school where the American/Colombian guy I know from the hostel works.He told me he would put in a good word for me.This is a great company to work for.Good pay and very reliable.I arrange to meet him the next day.I turn up to meet him and get a surprise.I know this guy.The very first night I arrived in Medellin ,when I had a mad one up the mountain this guy was there for a while.He recognizes me and we both laugh about the night and how he didn't know it was me on the phone.Happy days I hope.The job is only for 2 weeks work but there could be more.Its basically working with him taking students on field trips to all the sights of Medellin and improving there English.Sounds good.We chat about life in Medellin,American football,and why I am in Medellin.He has read my CV but he never asks about teaching experience.I get the feeling the jobs mine but he says he has to interview some more people. and he will call me.Sure enough he calls me and offers me the job.Happy days.The pay is 17,000 pesos an hour which is great.Its a foot in the door to this company which is one of the biggest in Medellin.I explain to the first guy that I will be working for this other company on certain days for the next few weeks and he is happy to offer me work on the other days.In the space of a few days I have gone from no job to two jobs.Starting next week I will be teaching every day except Sundays.Both these jobs have come from people I know rather then what I know.Both jobs have come thru people I know at the hostel.Would I have got these jobs if I went to another hostel and never met the German.I dont know.Was it a coincidence I met the Colombian guy when sitting outside a bar ? All I know is I wanted to teach english in Colombia and thats exactly what I am doing.I only have a week left on the apartment I dont like and decide to look for somewhere else.I place an ad on the internet.Its the colombian version of spareroom.com.Within a day I get a message and arrange to see an apartment.I turn up and the location is perfect.Its in the middle of my two jobs.I can walk to one job and get a ten minute bus to the other.Its near the hostel ,the metro and football stadium aswell.Perfect.I knock on the door and I know the Colombian girl that answers.In a city of just under 4 million it seems like everyone is connected.She was friends with an American guy that I shared a room with at the hostel.I only knew her to say hello briefly.The apartment is really nice.Its really clean has a living area,internet ,tv in room and all bills included.Perfect.I shake hands and say I will move in next week.Life is good again.Everything is falling into place.I always liked it here.I just needed to find work.Now I found the work, next week the real work begins.
In the words of Thomas Edison " Many of lifes failures are people who did not realize how close they were to success when they gave up "
No comments:
Post a Comment