Um. Let's see.
1. Oh! I went to a potluck dinner with two super-senior butoh ladies and they showed me butoh videos and told me stories. It was awesome! I think I will start learning shiatsu with the british one.
2. Two dance performances in the next two weeks.
a. One is at an irish bar, two acts. Act one is a performance piece with a friend connecting the audience with string. The second is me playing the role of an intestine while kanchan plays bass and nabe-san plays djembe. It is all improvisational! My sensei is coming to watch! It's either a recipe for success or hilarious failure. I look forward to both possibilities.
b. The other is with the Kiraza dance company, painted white, running around a garden with pillows on our head and acting like monkeys. Really. Part of some art expo thing.
But, the real thing that I just have to write about is the soap-opera-like turn of events of my job hunt. Yesterday, I was on my way to shiatsu and I got a phone call. Unknown caller! I thought maybe it was School A.
School A is a school within bicycle distance started in someone's home. The students are nice, the pay is great, and the owner is a world-famous eco-herbologist with a best-selling book. The job would also allow me to go to the countryside, just a 30 minute bus ride, and teach in public schools. This is the best of both worlds - some small classes chatting with adults, some bigger classes playing with children. This variety and control would really be good for me as a teacher and a person. I had my second interview with them, in which me and the owner talked about mutual acquaintances and the evils of plastic. Are they calling to inform me of their decision between me and the other interviewees.
But, no! It was one of the many many private schools that I mailed resumes to. Surprise! They want an interview. Can I come in ... today???
Well, sure. I change into a suit, copy the map, pack a rice-ball, and go. The map makes it look really easy, but in fact it is hard to find the school. I get lost. I call the school. I get lost again. I find the school, but 40 minutes late. They understand, and proceed to tell me about the position and the school. IT IS PERFECT. It is elementary, junior hi, and hi school all in one building. Each grade is between 5 and ten students only. It's a buddhist school. In the position, the japanese teacher would teach the junior hi and hi school students grammar in some classes, and then I would teach to give them cultural background information on readings and let them practice what they learned. I would teach my own classes, but develop the plans with the other teacher. I would go in 4 days a week, and teach until noon, and then leave. And the pay is really good!!!! AAAAHHHH. It's not a far commute, maybe 30 minutes for me, and it is in the mountains, you guys! Everyone is really friendly! The interviewer and I walked around school, chatting, and I felt like we got along really well. He says that he will talk to the principal when he gets back on the 24th, so I should call on that day. Ahhh, I want THIS job.
I am still waiting on School A, and unknown caller. Wow! Who is it?
It is the boss of my evil company! The one who is probably paying me less than they promised for the entire contracted period. I have yet to go to the labor bureau and lawyer consultation, so now is not the time to go on the offensive. He says they have a job for me. I can work directly with the school board (this is rare), use japanese a lot, and go to a few schools, but all in the same community, and close to me (this is rare, too - all the jobs here are like hours away). Huh. If the other two jobs fall through, this would be a good back up. Oh! The boss says. I need you to make a commitment to the job in the next 2 days or so. If I don't know by monday, it will go to someone else.
Say Whaaaaaa?
So, I say maybe and email questions for more information.
I am still waiting for School A. Maybe they will email me today?
I check my email and it is evil company boss. Oh... the old teacher in that position has decided not to give it up. So maybe there isn't a position there, or maybe there is. Ahahahaha.
Which brings us to the current moment, as I sew together an intestine costume out of old tank tops.
IT DOESN'T END. I sent out resumes to private schools. Today or tommorrow, I must call, confirm receipt of them and ask for interviews IN POLITE JAPANESE.
In my life there wasn't really a rite of passage, right? Like, no real ritual. I feel like my foray into the job world is very similar to eating psychedelic mushrooms and wandering in the desert for two months. It's like - this will either make me lose my mind or be a very strong and focused adult.
Not only is it very dramatic, but the people in these schools are quite strange. I won't give details, but it's the kind of strange that isn't a warning sign, but just a piece of disorientation, a chunk of hallucinatory mushroom. Mouthfuls until April.
I WILL GET THE BEST JOB EVER AND BE A BUTOH MASTER.
No comments:
Post a Comment