5 posts tagged “work”
The thought of going into school tomorrow makes me feel ill. It always does, but especially after some time off. Weekends are just long enough for me to slip back into the normal world: one where I can choose the company I keep and speak in a normal tone of voice. At school I have to suffer the company of so many grating people who have as little interest in me as I have in them. I hate having to repress their rebellious spirit and make them pay attention to what I would rather be telling or showing someone else. If only I could just liberate them from their school hell and let them be free to find their way in the world outside. It doesn’t bother me if they completely fail and end up living miserably because I know some of them will make it, just like countless rockers have for example. If Johnny Rotten did all his homework and behaved in class there would have been no Sex Pistols. It’s a good thing he dropped out. It’s a good thing not everyone does well at school because then who would stack the shelves at Tesco?
I don’t know how much longer I will last as a teacher. Tomorrow might be the day I finally crack and just walk out the class, out the school and the out the profession. Sometimes I wonder if that would that be such a bad thing anyway? It might be just the catalyst I need to do something that is more fulfilling to me.
If I were to find myself out of a job I would probably look into going back to university and “retooling” as someone put it. I have been thinking of doing a Masters in Art Psychotherapy and I would certainly enjoy that a whole lot more than teaching. I might go back to Taiwan and open a recreational art centre for adults – an idea I have toyed with for many years. I could even work as a part time language instructor again and focus on becoming a professional artist during the day.
Attractive as these options are however I am still hesitant to throw in the teaching towel. One reason for that is money. Dreams tend to cost money to realise, and the dreams I have are rather expensive. The Art Psychotherapy course for instance takes three years and would cost a fortune. On top of that it might not land even me a job after I graduate. The art centre idea would leave me in even more debt and there is no guarantee it would even be a success.
Teaching is at least a sure bet. It can even be quite lucrative if you don’t mind where you work. Expatriate teachers in the UAE earn in the region of 40 000 Pounds Sterling a year I am told, tax-free. Plus they get other benefits like subsidised housing and annual flights abroad. It follows that teaching allows one to work all over the world. If I wanted to immigrate to Australia down the line, teaching would probably get me in regardless of whether I actually did that once I was there. Having an art centre in Taiwan would limit my ability to live elsewhere, as would being a full time artist as I would probably rely on my wife to have a fixed job.
I am also reluctant to quit teaching just yet because I have invested so much time and money to get this far. Leaving it now, just before I have gained Qualified Teaching Status in the UK would seem a waste. Although I am qualified to teach in South Africa, acquiring the UK equivalent would hold far more weight and be a much better job insurance policy if I had to fall back on it down the line.
Whenever I feel sick from school I self-administer this dosage of reasoning and encouragement but it doesn’t actually help much. The awful feeling of having to survive another day there remains... Ugh. It is now 11pm and I am going to go to sleep. It is the one true source of refuge.
The school factotum helped me paint my office today. In between interesting bits of gossip about the teachers who used to work there and those who still do, he spoke at length about the fact that he does a lot more work at the school than he gets credit for. As such he is looking out for a new job that will pay him what he feels he is worth.
When he told me the salary he is hoping to get I did my best to hide my surprise that it is less than half my salary, which for me is only just enough to get by on. My lifestyle at the moment could best be described as frugal. A treat for me is watching a movie and going out for coffee. I couldn’t imagine having to raise a child on my salary. It would actually be impossible. Yet the school handyman has two kids, who both attend rather good schools. He explained that he lives on his parents’ property, which saves him having to pay rent, but even so I cannot understand how can afford to buy enough food for his family, let alone all the other things that kids need for this and that. His wife works at a kindergarten, which can’t earn her much more than he gets, so how they get by remains a mystery.
Most of the people in Grahamstown are unemployed. To be more accurate, most black people are unemployed. They get an employment subsidy from the government, which is just over a quarter of what the school handyman gets. For them, earning a stable salary as a factotum at a government school would spell the end of their financial woes. How they manage to survive and raise kids is even more of a mystery.
I certainly couldn’t survive for more than a year or so on my salary. At the moment I am appeased by the fact that the school is paying back a bursary I received last year, and that the job should allow me some time to pursue further studies. By next year though I will have worked back the bursary and should be well on my way to completing my Masters degree. So the incentive to continue working at the school will fall away. Although I like my job there very much, I cannot provide for Nancy on the salary I get there. Things like owning a home or even buying a new car will always be impossible and everything just keeps getting more expensive. It is a pity that teachers in South Africa are paid so poorly. No wonder most fresh graduates book the first flight out of the country to work abroad. I’ll be following them too sooner or later.
Meanwhile, I could sympathise with the factotum as he bemoaned his salary today. He should be paid more, as should I and many, many other people working in South Africa. It is a sad state of affairs when those who put in an honest day’s work, regardless of what it is, cannot afford the most basic of things like a home, food and clothes. It breeds discontent and apathy, much like I witnessed today working along side a good man.
On a lighter note, I have joined Project 365. The idea is simply to take one photo a day. My first shot is of a man called Don, who runs his own little cycle repair shop in town. He is one of the nicest people I have ever known.
Isn’t it scary how dramatically we can change our lives by a single decision? If I simply accepted a job offer at the company Nancy works for in Taiwan, my life would suddenly look very different. For one thing, Nancy and I would be able to resume living together like a normal couple. Furthermore, it would be in a home we could take ownership of ourselves. It is tempting to take the job for these two things alone, but there are other tempting factors too, not least of which is earning a rather sizeable income again. It would instantly free me of the financial strain I face in South Africa. Also, by accepting the job I would enter the world of business, which is something entirely new to me.
Essentially I would be trained as an overseas sales representative for the company. Since the only working experience I have so far is in teaching, the opportunity to enter a different line of work is something that doesn’t often come along. In fact the reason I can get into the company at all is because of Nancy and her family’s close relationship with the boss and his family. As is the Chinese way, they would hire me and train me because I am already a part of their ‘family’ in a sense.
During the interview the sales manager highlighted some of the positive aspects of working there instead of teaching at a school. She said that apart from the thrill of seeking out clients, winning them over and making money, I would be extending my social network all around the world. In a few years, she said, there would hardly be a country where I didn’t know someone. She also said that I would be able to work in different countries without having to start at a new job every time as they are already in the process of opening more offices in Europe, America and Asia.
All in all it is a tempting offer, but I am still hesitant to accept it. Despite the positive aspects of working at the company, I am not that keen on working in an office cubicle in front of a computer (unless it was a Mac and I was doing something creative, but this job is hardly that). I also don’t particularly like selling things (unless they are things that will profit me directly, but this job wouldn’t. I would merely be paid a reasonable salary to make someone else very rich). Despite the convenience of it, I am not really that exited by the idea of working at the same place as Nancy either. I quite like the fact that we have different interests, abilities and types of work. I am also reluctant to work for a Chinese company. I know that Nancy works overtime every single day, and has to go in on weekends too. That’s just the way it goes here. You are busy, busy, busy all year round with a measly 10 days off to recuperate.
Accepting this job would mean becoming someone else and I am not entirely comfortable with that. I quite like who I am now, and what I do and where I am headed. The trouble is that Nancy feels the same way about her situation in Taiwan. If only we could find something we both feel happy doing in the same country, let alone the same city.
For the past few weeks I have been feverishly trying to decide what to do next year once I finish my course. I was considering going to London for the obvious reasons, but then I was offered a job at a lovely school in Cape Town, which made me reconsider staying in South Africa. I was about to accept the job when I was also offered a post at an art school across the road from Rhodes University. The art school job is quite unlike a regular teaching post though. For one it is a specialised school, geared only towards teaching art and design. It is comprised of a sculpture, painting, ceramic, textile, drawing and graphic printmaking studio, each with a designated teacher. The teachers themselves are all artists, so the whole centre is a hub of creativity.
The art school basically caters for the public schools in the Grahamstown area. Pupils who wish to take art as a matric subject come to the art school by bus for their lessons. As such there are kids from three schools who come in at various times in the day for classes. For the kids, the art school is like a huge art classroom off their school campus. For the teachers at the art school, it is like a personal studio where they teach as well. Since there are no assemblies, parent teacher meetings, extra-curricular sport activities and so on at the art school the teachers have far more time on their hands to prepare well conceived lessons and to work on their own projects. Also, with class sizes never more than a few kids it is possible to get to know each pupil and give them proper attention. So unlike regular schools, there are hardly any discipline issues to contend with. The kids are for the most part delighted to get out of their schools for a while to come to the art centre and it clearly shows that they enjoy what they do there.
All in all I really couldn’t wish for a nicer job. Even the late Victorian school buildings and the peaceful area around them are perfect. It is in walking distance to the shops and cafes along High street and close enough to cycle to work every day. And the best thing about working there is that I can continue studying at Rhodes University to get a Masters Degree.
There is one aspect to the job however that is not so great and that is the pay. Some months ago, teachers across South Africa staged a huge four-week strike insisting on a 12% wage increase, with the government eventually agreeing to a 9% increase. Although this a welcome change, government employed teachers still earn an abysmal salary. The money I will earn at the art school will just cover my living expenses. Buying property next year as planned will simply be impossible. Nancy and I could survive off my salary alone, but we will have no way of saving any money unless Nancy finds a job, which may be difficult in Grahamstown. The only way to make a living is for us to start up a business of sorts. With the money I would have used as a deposit on a house I’ll try and set Nancy up with a little shop or something. Meanwhile, I’ll focus on building up a body of artwork that I can exhibit and make money off down the line.
Perhaps the lack of money in teaching is precisely the impetus I need to take my work as an artist very seriously, and for Nancy to seriously figure out how to get a business off the ground. We have both been toying with these ideas since we met, but until last year earning comfortable salaries made us too complacent to actually act on them. Now it is a matter of necessity.
If in a year or two I really have not made it as an artist and Nancy and I have failed to generate money by our own invention, I have no reservation about moving to England to earn those precious Pounds. The opportunity to earn money by teaching there is there to stay, but until I’m forced to take it up, I’m going to make a go of things in South Africa. If I do end up going to the UK down the line, I will at least have gained some teaching experience and hopefully a Masters to my name, which will get me a better job. As for Nancy, her English will have improved dramatically, which will make life in England so much smoother… Anyway, for now I am excited to experience what it is to have an enjoyable job. It is something I have wished for ever since I graduated from university seven years ago.
Last week I went to Cape Town for an interview at quite a renowned private school where I was offered a post the same day. I asked the headmaster to give me a few days to consider it though, and my mind has been buzzing furiously ever since. If I accept the post, I would gain valuable teaching experience of course, but I would also earn enough money to just, just qualify for a home loan that would allow me to buy a tiny entry level home. I would be able to buy a dinky Victorian cottage in Observatory for instance, which is one of the oldest districts in Cape Town or perhaps a one-bedroom apartment in a slightly newer area. Either way, the idea of actually being able to buy property is a huge incentive to take the job. In another year from now, even the cheapest homes will be completely beyond my reach. That is for sure. Only three years ago a friend of mine bought a three-story house in Observatory for half the price of a bachelor pad nowadays. My sister’s apartment in Cape Town has almost trebled in value in 5 years. Property value is simply skyrocketing throughout South Africa and it is set to continue at least until the 2010 World Cup, which South Africa will be hosting. So, if I miss the chance to buy property now that I have it, I will still be renting in my forties.
Unfortunately, the post at the school also bears an equally weighty disadvantage. Since it is a busy round-the-clock job, it would rob me of the time and the energy to pursue a Masters degree in Fine Art, which is something I would desperately love to do. Achieving a Masters degree would be possible however if I accepted a position at an art school directly opposite Rhodes University in Grahamstown instead - but the catch then is that my salary would be less than half that of the school in Cape Town, which would make buying a house (even in Grahamstown) simply out of the question.
So my dilemma is whether I should risk financial stability by studying further and working only to cover my expenses, or take a reasonable job that pays reasonably well and be able to have the sense of security and peace of mind that comes with home ownership. As a married man, I have my wife’s interests at heart too and although she supports any decision I make, being able to provide her with a home is something I feel compelled to do.
All my life I have tried to do the right thing when it comes to study, work, money matters and decision-making, but (with the exception of getting married to Nancy) I always seem to get it wrong. Despite my best intentions I inevitably look back on the decisions I made five years ago and wish that I had done things differently. Now I am at a crossroad again. I have until tomorrow morning to decide whether to turn one way and make a solid go at becoming a professional artist and lecturer in the next five years, or go the other way and become the head of department at a great school with a lovely home to my name. It’s a tough choice, but I guess the good thing about it is that no matter which way I decide to go, the future this time does not seem all that bleak.
