Friday, September 11, 2009

Happy Teacher's Day!

Today is Teacher's Day in Argentina-- that's me! I'm celebrating in a couple ways.

1) Tonight I am going out to dinner with everyone from the English Institute that I work for, Network Institute. They've invited us all out to celebrate our day, and conveniently the restaurant is located right down the street from me. Also, it'll be a good opportunity for me to meet everyone, because although I recognize most of the teachers by sight, I really don't know any of them at all. They are all Argentines (I'm the one native speaker at the school, so of course they pimp me out) so it should be interesting. I'm looking forward to a quiet night of free dinner, meeting my colleagues, and celebrating my very first Teacher's Day together. :-)

2) YESTERDAY, I QUIT WORKING FOR THAT CRAZY %$#*& VIVIAN!!! I couldn't be happier! The story is, she never pays me on time, ever. And then when I tell her I need my money, she either doesn't answer the phone or return calls, or she just yells at me and hangs up on me. She's really, truly awful. The worst. So this month, as always, when pay day came and went once again, I sent her my usual emails and made my usual phone calls, and she ignored me. So I called her a million times, and she ignored me. I got really mad, realizing she was screening my calls, and finally called her from another phone... and like magic, she answered! ...Then proceeded to yell and scream at me and.. you guessed it... hang up on me. Ughhh I hate her. So I finally got in touch with her husband, and yesterday after a huge headache and a lot of stress, finally got my money from him. The whole process was incredibly stressful, and this happens every month! And it seems like every month just gets worse and she treats me more and more disrespectfully. I mean, I'm her employee! So I made a difficult but ultimately good decision, and I decided that even though I love the students I teach for her, I have to stop working for her. It's not worth the money, and it's not worth the strain on my mental health. The moment the money hit my hand last night, I sat down and sent her an email explaining that I was resigning, effective immediately. This decision means a smaller paycheck, but it also means more free time, more time to potentially take on new students, and more time to take care of myself. And a whole lot less stress.

Happy Teacher's Day to me!