It ain't easy.

Having now completed just under a month of work in my new position as a teacher, I am slowly starting to strike a balance between work and extra-curricular life. I mean I am not one to let work consume me, however it isn't that easy. I do care about my work and want to give my best. It ain't easy though, finding the balance between work and personal life.

Some people may not feel guilty half assing something. I am not one of them. If I'm going to do something, hell I want to do it well. The question is though, at what point do you reconcile yourself with the fact that you want to do a good job, and are giving your best effort, but you are not willing to give up your whole life for it? This is probably much more dramatic then it needs to be, but is an interesting question many new grads and workers probably feel.

My personal life is too important to me. I have a number of goals I want to achieve in my career, but a number in my personal life as well. Balance is that ever elusive state that I am searching. Though closer I come to achieving it, the more likely I am to get excited about a new project and throw it all off.

Monsieur Michael

I know exactly when it happened officially, but really I'm still not sure when I became a teacher. For the last 3 weeks I've been standing at the front of the classroom and doing my best to teach young impressionable minds the belle langue that is french. Really, teaching is a bit of a misnomer, I'm just trying to make them not hate the language.

So far so good though. Besides always feeling like there is something else to do things have been going quite well. Teaching is not brain surgery, but one definitely has a lot to juggle if you are going to do it successfully and with the students' best interests at heart. From finding and creating meaningful activities to figuring out fair and accurate ways to assess their learning there isn't much time for grinding fresh roast coffee and people watching. Dommage.

Overall, it definitely feels like a step in the right direction for me. I enjoy the feeling of being in the classroom, I love being able to speak french everyday and I think the kids, while numbingly frustrating at times, can also be a breath of fresh air. Having thought of myself as youthful, I quickly realised how out of touch, or better yet, just how far away I was from my students' mental states. There's no better way to put it other than "ils sont des enfants".

Christmas seems a ways off, but the weeks are flying by. I need to keep writing and maintaing what's mine. So far so good.

Unemployment has it's benefits

Having been unemployed now for some weeks, I've come to the realization that NOT working is pretty damn good. Not that it was ever a great mystery plaguing all of civilization or anything. Seriously though, you get to watch the morning news while enjoying a nice cup of coffee (that you grinded the beans fresh for) and then you have the whole day infront of you. I have been up before 7 every morning and using my days to their fullest. Job hunting, preparing tools that will prove useful once gainfully employed and reading a great deal. Being around in strange places during the day has also landed me in spots during the middle of the day I wouldn't normally be. The strangest thing is that there are tons of other people there too. Hell don't these people work!

I always thought people worked nine to five, or something similar to those hours. Turns out, there are people in supermarkets, restaurants, government offices, doctor's offices and on the roads ALL DAY. What gives? Could I really be catching everyone on their day off? Are they all unemployed too? Really, I don't know what I'm getting at here, but I just find it interesting at how many little niches there are that overlap throughout the day and across the city.

It comes back to diversity. Diversity of people, landscapes, uses and time. All these things puts different people, in different places, doing different things at, yep you guessed it different times. Being unemployed now, has shifted me from a 9-5 stiff to a different sort of person. No judgements just now I'm a not employed person in the suburbs versus an employed person in the heart of downtown. Instead of needing coffee shops and public transit, I am now shopping during the middle of the day and getting other errands done. Just another slice of the city that I've been made aware of. Realistically, if everyone did work similar shifts, stores would open at 5 pm instead of at 9 or 10. Strange non?

Next time you have a free day, two or month, go somewhere strange where you would not normally find yourself during the day. I guarantee the hussle and bussle of the place will amaze you.