Ladies and Gentlemen, The Teacher Has Left The Building...

And Thank God! Actually I finished up my last day at the Hills school yesterday - not pictured above. Hills was by far the best English teaching job I have ever had and by extension the best job I have ever had. Unfortunately, it was only part-time. Nonetheless, I am thoroughly happy to be out of the teaching racket. Although I never disliked the actual work involved, migrant farmers, sweatshop workers and prostitutes are all treated better by their employers than the overseas English teacher (with the glaring exception of the school mentioned above). I may again step into the classroom, but hopefully that day will be far in the future and in a situation where I am never again financially dependent on teaching. May the heavens curse every lousy teacher employer in Asia!!!

Well, here goes my monthly update. In a bizarre twist on a bizarre situation working for a bizarre company... I gave a month's notice to G-Nova that I was going to resign. Now, the company is spiraling toward disaster as it is hugely understaffed with no viable means of recruitment. Even so, the crazy manager saw fit to put me on standby for the better part of the month. So paid vacation for yours truly. Yay! Ironically, the person who was slated to replace me from another school also resigned. Was I asked to come off of standby? Yes. For one day at a branch located who knows where. I informed them of my unavailability. G-Communications has managed to acquire a basement-dweller and then put in a bottom where you thought one already existed. I couldn't have imagined that anything could be worse than the management of the former company, but the G-men have accomplished just that.

My poor blog.

I neglect it like a red-headed stepchild. Actually, I was ready with some real vitriol aimed at my current employer, but I thought it wise to wait until I landed a new job before spewing forth. Well, I got the new job. I start in May. I must simply finish up 5 weeks in what has become one of the worst jobs of my life. I would still elect the hardware store I worked at for one summer as the worst, but that was simply part-time so I don't know if it's comparable. The 'New Nova' makes the old one look like paradise on earth. A shortage of teachers (who would work for these guys of their own accord?) has lead to five person lessons becoming the norm. The students are some of the more miserable ones who have become terminal learners - seeing Nova as a means and an end in itself. The conversation lounge bristles over with more of the same. It is like some bizarre teaching purgatory. On top or which, the company still hasn't given most teachers veritable contracts and those wanting to take paid (or unpaid) holidays best look to the next bankruptcy as their best chance.

Teenage Sweet Mullet indeed!

...from the cover of a Thai magazine in case you were interested. It seems Sweet Mullet is a rock band.

In other news, although I haven't gotten around to repairing the computer keyboard, I did buy an external one with the annoying Japanese layout, which makes finding the correct punctation difficult. Such is life...

A more thorough update on work will be forthcoming. Hopefully, the next several months will be bearable at the current setup and fruitful in the job search department.