Tag Archives: #TEFL

New Shoes

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Today’s prompt for the Just Jot It January challenge is: prestidigitation. I can’t really think of anything to say about that subject so I’m going to post about my shopping trip today.

From what I gather from the TV and newspapers, I must be pretty weird. I really don’t like shopping! The USA is now a consumer culture, rather than a producer culture. China makes stuff now. We just buy all the crap they make with money they loan us so we can do that. We’re supposed to enjoy shopping and spending money we don’t have (on stuff we don’t need).

Personally, I’m not much of a consumer. I have no desire to go out and buy new clothes, new shoes, make-up, perfume, etc. I’m perfectly happy with my shorts, t-shirts and flip-flops. If I have to, I can manage sneakers. And if they force me to at work, I will wear coveralls and steel-toed boots (tho I hate every minute of it!).

Since I’ve finally made up my mind to attend the TEFL course, I had to go shopping for shoes. They don’t allow sneakers (or flip-flops). They told me that I need to dress ‘professionally’. I’m not exactly sure what that means, since a person can be a professional in a lot of different ways. For instance, I am a professional mariner and the way a REAL professional mariner dresses is in shorts, t-shirts and flip-flops every chance they get (including on the boat)!

I have to assume they are talking about the sorts of people they refer to as professionals on TV. People like lawyers, bankers, stockbrokers, etc. Personally, I would never have considered teachers to be in with that bunch.

Is it really just me? Or does it matter that much how a person dresses themselves? Do people really assume that you can’t do a proper job if you decide to be comfortable and maybe show a little bit of individuality instead of wearing the ‘uniform’ of the work you’re doing? Are people everywhere THAT hung up on an image?

I managed to find a pair of black slip-ons that were fairly comfortable. It’s not like we have a ton of shoe stores around here and that’s one thing I won’t even consider buying online. I hope they’re acceptable. I’ll probably never wear them anywhere again after this course is over, tho I hate to waste money like that. I thought about bringing my steel toed work boots, since they’re not sneakers (or flip-flops), but they’re nowhere near comfortable enough to be standing around in front of a class all day (or walking around sightseeing).

I really wish a lot of employers would loosen up! Let people be comfortable on the job! AND, stop trying to run peoples lives even when they’re OFF the job! (another post coming tomorrow on that subject).

Going Back to School

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Today’s post for Just Jot It January, I’m not following the prompt (felicity), but going off on a tangent of my own…

I keep hoping and hoping that someone will contact me for a ‘real’ job. Since I was laid off from Ocean Rig in September and started looking for work, I haven’t had even one call (normally, I would have had a couple dozen for Christmas fill-ins).

I was very lucky and found a job through a friend. I thought I’d better go ahead and take it since things were so slow. I took that job, but it didn’t work out. I finished my hitch, but decided it wasn’t somewhere I really wanted to be. I decided to take my chances. I didn’t go back.

It wouldn’t have been worth it even if I had returned. They lost their contract and laid everyone off after only 1 more hitch. 🙁

I saw in the news this morning that Ocean Rig lost the contract for the Olympia, so I’m sure they’ll be laying off even more people there. Schlumberger just announced they’re letting go another 10,000 people.

Ocean Rig Olympia (google photo)

I guess I need to face up to the facts and get serious about finding something else to do with myself. It looks like there’s not going to be any ‘real’ job for me for the foreseeable future. Probably at least 1 year, maybe 2.

I wouldn’t be so upset and worried about it if they hadn’t changed the rules as to what we need in order to work offshore. Before, I would have just found something else to do for a while, knowing I could always go back when things got better. That’s hardly an option anymore with the new regulations.

Now, we have to have our documents renewed every 5 years. To do that, we need to have at least 1 year (365 days) of sea time within the last 5 (on vessels of appropriate tonnage). We also need to have a few (very expensive) training classes renewed within that same time period.

I also need to have a USCG approved physical done every year and if they find anything wrong with me, they might decide I’m not allowed to work any more. To top it off, the Nautical Institute (which is where we get our DP certificates) has knuckled under and decided that we all have to renew our DP certs every 5 years too (with at least 150 days). That might not seem like much, unless you understand how almost impossibly hard it is to get ANY sea time on a DP vessel!

So! I have just about decided to give up completely on trying to find some sort of job where I can put my 30++ years of experience to use. What an incredible waste of effort. 🙁

I basically have to start over from scratch. I’ll be 55 this summer and I’m not exactly looking forward to that process. I know I have a major attitude adjustment to make.

I’ve never really done anything else but work at sea. Yeah, I’ve had a few jobs on the beach like tending bar, housekeeping, painting, dishwashing, etc, but never anything serious. I tutored all through school and I liked it (but that paid less than any other job).

Ever since we were working in Thailand, filming the tsunami, I’ve been tossing around the idea of teaching English overseas somewhere. Spending so much time outside the US convinced me that I had to find a way to spend more time outside. I started investigating what would it take to move.

It could be so simple, if only I was old enough, or rich enough, to retire.

But, I have a long way to go before I qualify for either of those things. I still need to work! I found out that the only way to get a work visa in most countries is by teaching English. So, I started looking into teaching English as a foreign language (TEFL).

I’ve been pretty half-assed about it, mostly because I had a hard time choosing to give up the pretty sweet salary and work schedule I had working offshore. Now, it looks like that choice has been taken away from me- there IS no more choice!

I’ve been in contact with a school in Mexico. I’m going to give it til Monday and if I don’t hear some good news by then I’m going to bite the bullet and sign up  for school. The course is a month long. After that, I’ll have the option to start teaching right away or do something else for a while.

A month can’t be that bad, can it?

Maybe Mexico will be so wonderful and exciting that I’ll forget all about ever coming back! That would be perfect! 🙂

PS- the ‘featured image’ at the top is one I took in Nicaragua (not Mexico), but a lot of those Spanish speaking countries have more in common than the language. 🙂

Resolution 2016

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It’s New Years, traditionally a time to reflect on the past and think of the future. I’ve pretty much given up on making New Years Resolutions. I always make the same one every year: lose weight. For 40 years I’ve never managed to accomplish that goal. 🙁

If you do make resolutions, you are in step with the ancient Babylonians who started the whole malarkey. They began each year with oaths to kings and gods. The Romans swore to the two-faced god Janus who looked back and forward into the old year and the new.

That was the beginning of an email I got this morning from International Living. It got me interested enough to read further (I’m studying how to write good leads).

I’ve subscribed to their magazine for a LONG time. Just like it sounds, they’re all about living internationally. Somewhere other than your original familiar surroundings.

I’ve been wanting to move overseas somewhere for a LONG time. At this point, I don’t even care too much where, there are so many good choices! Mexico, Belize, Thailand, Italy, France, Philippines, Malaysia, Honduras, Costa Rica, Nicaragua, Chile, etc. The ONLY reason I haven’t done it yet is (of course) money.

It’s MUCH cheaper to live overseas, but you still need to have some money. If I was retired, it would be no problem, but I don’t want to wait another 15+ years to leave. I haven’t yet been able to figure out how the heck to support myself anywhere without being able to work. I’ve researched it and it’s damn near impossible to get a work visa other than as a teacher (and teaching doesn’t pay enough to cover my bills).

But, it IS a way to make the move. It IS a way to immerse yourself into a foreign country, to learn the language and the culture, to live like a local and not like a tourist, to spend enough time in a place to see what it’s really like.

I’ve been researching language schools online. I’m just about ready to sign up for a TEFL course in Mexico. I’m having a hard time adjusting to the idea of staying ashore for that long, but right now I can’t seem to find a ship anyway. 🙁

So maybe this year I should try again to make a resolution. Something a little different. Something to at least move me somewhat nearer my ultimate goal.

Forget about losing weight and just concentrate on trying to find a way to GO somewhere!

Sign up for the course and just go with the flow. Go to Mexico and see what happens. It can’t hurt, right? 🙂

This last quote from the email is some serious motivation. I might just accomplish ALL of my goals if I just concentrate on this one!

And here’s something: A list of the most popular resolutions is identical to the most commonly hailed benefits of a move overseas…lose weight, save money, enjoy life more. “Get organized” is another one on many lists.

My resolution for 2016 is: take the TEFL!

PS-all posts for this month link to Just Jot It January

Limbo

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Have you ever felt like you were in limbo? I rarely have. But I am feeling like that right now. I hate it!

I’ve always been one to have a goal. To have something, at least in the back of my mind, to work towards.

Up until fairly recently, that goal was to become ‘a ships captain and sail around the world (and get paid for it)’. I FINALLY achieved that goal in December of 2011. I earned my Master AGT (any gross tons) from the US Coast Guard. I was so happy, so thrilled, so stunned, to have FINALLY earned what I had worked so long and so hard for.

But, since then, I have been a little bit lost. I had been trying so long and so hard to reach that goal, that I hadn’t really figured out ‘what next?’

I’m still in that phase. Trying to figure out ‘what now?’. I was OK with that until I got laid off. Having work always kept me occupied. I never had to think about what was next. Working, and then busy as hell when I was home. I was able to travel, take courses, work on projects, etc. All because I knew I only had a month or so at home to get everything done that I needed to do.

Now, I am out of work. There is NO work in my field. I doubt there will be any until the price of oil goes back up to at least $70-80 per barrel. Hundreds of thousands of people have been laid off already in the oilfield and there are still more layoffs in the news every day. 🙁

According to the people who think they know about this kind of thing, it could take another 2-3 years for the price to go back up to the point companies start hiring again. Some ‘experts’ think oil could go back up to $100 next year. Some people think it never will due to alternative energy increasing in efficiency and affordability (I think it will be decades before that happens).

So, I am in limbo. I am HOPING to get some work over the holidays. All of my usual sources have dried up. I have ONE recruiter still telling me he’s got something coming up, but nothing definite yet. Christmas is less than a week away. I’m losing hope, but still not ready to throw in the towel yet.

So….. what am I going to do?

I WISH I could just say the hell with it all and ‘retire’! I WISH. But, if I plan to live more than 10 years, then I just can’t see how I could possibly survive for any time past that. Those 10 years would have to be spent living somewhere with a MUCH lower cost of living then the USA. I’m not objecting to that at all, in fact I would LOVE to move NOW to one of those places. The problem with that is that they won’t let me until I’m retired and/or have a ton of money!

Since I don’t know how long I might live, and hopefully it’ll be more than 10 years, I need to figure out some OTHER way to earn a living. I have all kinds of ideas. I’ve already tried a few: vending machines, rental property, investing in the stock market, painting, writing, photography, blogging. Not one of them has made anywhere near enough money for me to consider concentrating on just that one. The rental property comes close, but I’m still at the point where I need to subsidize them with regular work. 🙁

I found a temporary job ashore through an old friend. It pays about 1/5 of what I normally make. It’s not every day. It won’t start up again til the end of January. It won’t pay the bills. But it pays 2-3 times more than any OTHER job I’m likely to find here. It helps.

I’m considering taking the TEFL (teaching English as a foreign language) course. No, it won’t be enough to pay the bills either, but at least it will allow me to move somewhere less expensive to live. I think I might actually enjoy teaching and it might turn into something really interesting. The biggest problem with that is my fear/expectation that I would have to dress/act in a ‘professional manner’. UGH! I hate the thought of that!

So, while I sit around the house, hoping to get a call for a ‘real’ job, I try to work on my other (hopefully someday money-earning) projects. My writing, photography, blogging. Problem with that is I’m getting so depressed with the situation around here that I don’t feel like doing ANYTHING.

All the things I’d normally be doing in my time off, like sailing, going out to see friends, going to the zoo, going to do things in Houston, traveling, are either too expensive or I put them off cause I just don’t feel like getting out of the house. I’m getting super lazy, doing less and less every day. I didn’t even take my daily walk yesterday (I did today).

I really hate being in this situation, this limbo. If I knew for sure I could get regular work, and when, I could make some kind of decision. Knowing I would be leaving soon would motivate me to get off my ass and get some of these projects around the house done.

If I knew for sure there was no work (not still hoping to get some), I might decide to take the enforced time off to take the TEFL course. Or just take the time to concentrate on fixing this blog (the total disaster of moving it still needs to be fixed). Or work on photography. Or writing. Or painting.

Or, I might look harder at some of those sailboats looking for crew. That would be a cool adventure! I only wish they paid something, but there are always so many people out there willing to go for just the experience, or even to pay themselves! I know I would make a good crew on any passage. Too bad I don’t have the money now to put in for costs, or pay for transportation. 🙁

So, limbo. I wish I knew something to do to motivate myself (other than having a job pop up).

TEFL Call Tonight

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Staying home tonight, waiting for my TEFL conference call to begin.

I signed up for this program on teaching English overseas a few months ago. Another of my attempts to find a way to support myself when I move out of the US.

So far, I haven’t made the move. I still haven’t even taken the actual TEFL course, tho I am getting closer to signing up. I have started actually researching different programs, at different schools.

My old friend from high school just finished his TEFL course and he’s already teaching. So far he’s loving it.

I think if I didn’t have so many bills, I would be much more likely to do it myself. I definitely worry too much.

I hope tonights call will help me get off my ass and make some kind of decision! If I can’t get back offshore, I need to find SOMETHING to do that will bring in some money to pay the bills. I figure if I’m living somewhere cheaper, I won’t be spending so much money. I hope that’s how it works!

Just Do It!

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I talked to a couple of old friends today. Both of them have made the move and encouraged me to ‘just do it’ too.

One friend I used to work with on the ships has made the move to Thailand. He’s still working for the same company we were at together, but he has been working in Korea for a few years now. He spends his time off in Thailand. He’s married a Thai lady and is VERY happy there.

My other friend went to high school with me on the sailing ships. He’s got the same adventurous spirit that I have, but he’s actually DONE something with his. Soon after high school, he spent 10 years living in Venezuela. He moved back to the states to raise his family, but now they’re grown and he’s looking for a change. He’s just finished his TEFL course and is now teaching in Mexico.

I’ve been trying to find something to do with myself for years now. Decades really. I’m so tied up in trying to find a way to get out of here, but I want to do it safely. I don’t really love the idea of trying to sell everything I own, cut all ties, and give up everything I’ve ever worked for in order to support myself overseas. Is that possible? I know I’ve been trying for a LONG time and still haven’t really come any closer to finding an answer.

I’ve been lucky to have had a good job (until a couple of months ago). One that paid me enough to pay the bills and put a little aside every month. In trying to find some way to support myself, so I could leave the US, I’ve started a vending machine business (total failure), bought rental properties (which I am going to have to sell since I can’t afford them if I’m not working), working on stock photography, blogging, writing.

None of those projects has yet brought me anywhere near the amount of income I need to start the process to emigrate somewhere else. Only the rental property will bring in enough money so that I can apply for residency (not citizenship) in a few places.

I’ve been hoping to get at least a couple of weeks of regular work over the holidays. That would help a LOT. At this point, that doesn’t look like it’s going to happen. So, now what?

I’m thinking my best alternative would be to take the TEFL course myself. At least that would give me the option to live someplace cheaper and get away from some major expenses here. Also, find a much less stressful lifestyle somewhere.

I’m still worried about so many things, pretty much all of them to do with finances. How will I pay my bills? How will I be able to keep up my ‘training’? How will I be able to keep my LICENSE? I need that license in order to work offshore and I can’t imagine giving it up after working so hard for 34+ years to earn it.

I need to renew it by December 2016. If I want to keep it after that, I HAVE TO find work at sea! So, I have about 9 months to find something else to do before I need to be back here to start the renewal process.

So, does anyone have any helpful ideas for me? Something other than “just DO it!” Some ‘it” to do?? I’m open to suggestions. Send ’em over here. 😉