Job Discussion Forums

[paddyroyal]

I am in my seventh week in my new and first position abroad, although I did spend the summer teaching in Guatemala.

The list of frustrations with my job is too long to go into but but begins and continues with visa uncertainties and goes from there.

I don't know how much to chalk up my frustration to simply being in a new situation or whether it makes sense to cut and run given what I see as a significant amount of nuttiness in my work place.

How do you assess your work situations, how do you cope with the annoyances, and how do you decide that maybe your situation just isn't right for you? I don't want to publicly vent about my school, but general comments and private e-mails are more than welcome.

I also find myself so drained at the end of a day that's it's hard to get out and meet people, and I never thought I'd say it, but I wouldn't mind a few other gringos to hang out with occasionally.

I invite all comments and suggestions. Thanks in advance.

[Glenski]

Sounds like phase 2 of culture shock is settling in.

Have you kept a lifeline back home? Email, letters, phone calls, etc.? After a month or so, people back home start to go on with their lives as if you weren't there, so they may not answer as quickly, leaving you with a helpless, abandoned feeling. It's not abandonment, just the fact that you are out of sight and more out of mind.

I suggest keeping a journal or writing a blog/newsletter. Not only will it help you to focus on what's around you (to inform others), but it keeps your perspective. That is, if you are writing for others to read, you may find you censor yourself a bit, to avoid sounding so negative. It may also add to some introspective wisdom.

Don't know about your work situation or fellow foreigners in the area. Are there gyms or information centers or social gathering places or language classes you could take? Do you have a bicycle to make yourself more mobile (and explore)? Set aside some time, even an hour, just for yourself, so that you can set aside your bad feelings of the day and just do something on your own.

[naturegirl321]

I find that I have to get away from everyone and just take time out. Reading, listening to music, sleeping, emailing or calling people from back home helps me.

For the visa stuff, It's hard to say, lots of times it just takes time and faith

[JZer]

Ask Justin about the process of securing a visa in Ecuador? He can probably tell you if your school is trying to pull something over you in regards to the visa.

[paddyroyal]

Thanks for the ideas!

First, Justin and I are in touch, He's been wonderfuly supportive and is heartened that I have at least a work permit. I am just a little (more than) touchy about having my passport floating around governmental offices somewhere and not happy about how the process has gone and the lack of communication about it.

Sounds like I'm doing a lot of the right things. I have a blog and a strong support system back home. Just before Glenski had posted, in fact, I sent a group SOS to friends asking for the e-mail equivalent of care packages.

I'm happy with the city, happy with speaking Spanish, am living with a local family who are warm and respectful and inclusive without being demanding, have good relationships with my colleagues and friendships outside work with a couple of them, am studying French, am exploring the city and especially enjoying the buses and chatting up the taxi drivers and people in restaurants. I even don't mind being stared at most of the time.

So I guess really the issue comes down to work. I've been in a lot of teaching situations, most of them in the States, most of them less than optimal, but I've never had a work environment knock me off kilter like this one. So I'm back to the basic question, which is how to weigh all the factors and make a good decision and do a good job in the process.

I should add that a big part of my support system during this period is the discussion board and the great interactions I'm having both here and privately. It's really good to know that I can ask for and give support. and that we really are a community.

[naturegirl321]

Not related to culture shock per se, but it is for stress
http://health.yahoo.com/experts/healthieryou/9061/stress-is-sabotaging-your-diet-success/

[denise]

Regarding the job situation: I would look at how my colleagues were coping. If they all seemed happy, then I would think that maybe the problem was with me--my social life, attitude, whatever--and I'd make sure I was doing those things that you said you were doing. Basically I'd find a way to make myself happy. If several of my colleagues felt the same way about the job (assuming that they were rational people whose opinions I trusted!), then I'd think that the problem was with the job, and I'd start looking elsewhere.

I know how you feel about the visa situation and about having your passport sort of floating around and bouncing from office to office.

Good luck,
d

[paddyroyal]

Good question! No, colleagues aren't happy. They're overworked and underpaid, and the quality of work suffers as a result. It is common knowledge, or at least opinion, that the organization is more concerned about image than quality. The difference is that I can leave and they as natives have fewer options.

So my real question is: If I did everything I could to state my needs and clarify expectations before accepting the job and feel that what was promised is not forthcoming despite attempts to reclarify what was agreed on, do I owe it to anyone to stay for this cycle, or is it morally acceptable to walk? I should say I don't think it was dishonesty on the part of the administration but rather a lack of clarity and experience.

I am still mulling over what I might gain by staying, but I seem to be leaning more and more toward heading for the door.

What have other people in this situation done?

[jdl]

Honour my commitments; regardless of what others do with theirs.

[wfh]

[naturegirl321]

[denise]

Honoring a commitment doesn't necessarily have to mean sticking it out until the bitter end. Check to see what the escape clause is in the contract (assuming there is one!)--you usually have to give so many weeks' or months' notice. That way, you can leave without breaking your contract but also without having to wait until the end of a semester or year. The only time I ever did that, simply submitting my resignation was enough to lift a huge weight off my shoulders, and that last few weeks were OK.

(But just in case, try to get your passport back first!)

d

[Jetgirly]

As a new teacher, within a month of being hired I was teaching thirty-nine classroom hours each week and spending ten to twelve hours traveling to in-company classes, unpaid, despite being told in the interview that all my teaching would be in the school. In addition to this I had to do the prep work for my classes, and I was in a new country where I didn't speak the language and didn't have a network of friends. I was the only new teacher on staff and had considerably more hours than the other employees, I was being sent to the furthest in-company classes, and I was the only one who had recently arrived and didn't speak the language. My parents came to visit over a holiday weekend and I had a total nervous breakdown in their hotel, stayed in their bed for two days and cried non-stop. They told me I had to go back to Canada with them because I was mentally unstable.

Instead, I walked into work the next morning and said, "In my interview you told me this, this and this. I feel as though I was deceived, and my family would like me to return to Canada with them in two days. I would rather stay here, but in order to do that I need you to reduce my working hours and either pay me for travel time to in-company classes or have me teach classes here at the school. I would really like to stay and keep working here, but I can't do so unless these changes are made."

I immediately had my working hours cut down to about twenty-eight hours per week, and I simply told them that I wouldn't teach on Friday afternoons. Myself and the other teachers began being paid for travel time. I also put a lot of effort into the work I did for them and my students kept coming back for more lessons (meaning the school made more money). The rest of my time at the school was great, as I was finally able to strike some kind of work-life balance.

I can't say that giving your employer this kind of ultimatum will work in your situation, but you've got to do what you've got to do. My happiness (and sanity!) are really important to me, and I also can't be happy when I feel like I'm being taken advantage of.

[Dragonlady]

deleted

out of date

[Jetgirly]

Nope, it was a school in Europe. I worked there in 05-06.