Twice in one week... crazy I know.
A lot of little things get under your skin here, in a mental way, not gross creepy-crawlies. So, the one that took the cake is the fact that six days after the end of June, I was still unpaid, though it seemed everyone else was. I only know they were all paid because I asked and they all knew I was unpaid because I was asking (who asks otherwise?). Two of them said they hadn't checked, but one of those two was completely smug and uninterested in the situation.... UNTIL they realized it happened to them. So, of course I'm griping that my company can't get it together to pay people on time; but more so, I'm noticing the complete lack of sympathy people have for each other here, let alone empathy. I think it's a European thing because Lizzie (my American roommate) and I are always saying "I know ... and it's like [this] ... I completely understand ... etc."
In that vain, Lizzie and I talked about how meaningless the word "friend" is here. In the US, I'm afraid the word "love" is entirely over-used and simplified. And, also in the US, I have friends (meaning I know the definition of friend) that meet people and twenty minutes later say "Oh, my friend, so-and-so" and I'm like, "You're not 'friends', you just met." But apparently, that's just me. It's all very interesting and I'm really interested to see how things pan out after my time here is done. Don't get me wrong, I appreciate all of the people in my life here, but I'm wary of the bonds we are (or rather, aren't) building.
Anyway, in light of not getting paid, I decided it was time to stop talking about it and finally get a student. My friend Vito is going to Laos for a month and his kid's parents are going to let me come and take his place. It's five days a week, an hour and a half (from 5:30-7p) but only until August 8. I have to give up yoga for that time, as well as Vietnamese (which my classmates will surpass me, so I won't go back)... but it's completely worth it as I will make almost half as much of the monthly salary of my real job. Unreal.
Hope you're all well. I'm off to my last Viet class.
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What does getting a student mean? What do you do with them? Did your job pay you yet?
ReplyDeleteI was tutoring a little boy in English. Really, I just listened to him read and corrected his pronunciation. For the words he didn't know I'd assign them as homework to use in a sentence and at the end of the week I made him a crossword puzzle (you know how I love those) which included that week's words. His real teacher is back, so I'm in search of another student.
ReplyDeleteMy job paid us a few days early for July... we'll see how August goes since Sept 2 is a Friday AND a Vietnamese holiday...