I love learning new stuff and I love it more to see the product of what I learned. That is why I redesigned this blog to see a product that learning and to sort of give myself a tap on the shoulder for successfully teaching myself how to create simple, clean, and pretty blog designs.

Cheers to this blog's whole new look!

I don’t mean to boast but I am truly quite proud of myself. Imagine how much more stuff I could put into my work if I would have had a formal education on web designing. All I have are perseverance and resourcefulness. I read. I research. I practice. I learn from trial and error. It can get really frustrating sometimes but when I successfully able to find a solution to something, the frustrations are easily forgotten.

And for me, the best reward for learning a new thing is that I was able to create a job for myself. My website offering pretty blog designs is doing great. I can’t say I am already earning a living from it but it is great because I get to be paid by doing what I love doing, and every time I add completed projects to my blog design portfolio, I feel a sense of accomplishment. Web designing is an interesting job, and it’s cool because I can do this job while I am at home with my son who was just born last June. So I really have no regrets leaving my teaching job last December.

I think getting a Bachelor’s Degree in Computer Science would have given me a deeper knowledge of computers but I was still happy that I was able to specialized in Computer Education because the fact that I took Computer Education as my Field of Specialization helped me land my first job—payroll clerk. Nothing fancy but I was delighted because I get to work with computers. It was in a medium size company and there were only 10 of us working in the office. Sure my officemates can work well with MS software like Word and Excel but when it comes to troubleshooting, they always run to me, like for example, when their computers get viruses, or when they can’t connect to the internet, or when they need to install something, etc., they always ask me if I can do it for them. Before I worked there, they always called a technician to do those simple things for them so I think the company saved some money by employing me as a payroll clerk/network admin.

I got my very first personal laptop at the age of 22. It was a crappy one. It was, even back then, really old. It was running on Windows 95. Hah! I bought it for a few thousand pesos. I don’t know exactly how many people owned it before I did. It was almost useless because the battery was not working at all, but I was desperate to have my own computer so I bought it. In the same year, my mom started her business and she bought a computer and a printer. Since I am the most computer savvy person at home, I get to use it A LOT. Not just in helping my mom with her business’ computer related tasks but also in my personal use.

Then I flew to China to teach. At the beginning, I was contented with the desktop computer that the school I worked for provided me but later on, I bought a second hand silver Samsung laptop for a very affordable price and I used it for more than a year. I sold it to a friend when I inherited my husband’s (back then, boyfriend’s) much better Fujitsu laptop. The Fujitsu laptop was great but it has a German keyboard and though, it really didn’t bother me, we decided to pass it on to my husband’s parents when they needed it (they have a family computer but was dominantly used by my bother-in-law). In exchange, hubby gave me his Hasee (Chinese brand) laptop and  later on, I sold it to my sister (for a much cheaper price) when she said she needs it for her work (she’s a teacher). Then I got myself another Hasee laptop. I used that last Hasee for two years before I got my MAC last Januray. I still have that Hasee and it is still working great. My husband is now using it as our home server computer.

So anyway, years later, I am still very much interested in computers and I am still hungry to learn new things computer-related. I treat every computer that passes through my hand with care, even the very first one (the one that is almost useless). I use them to their full potential and I see to it that they are not just a waste or a display thing. I try to use them to my benefit not just pang-porma because even now that I can afford to buy another computer on impulse, I still think that having one is a privilege. There are a lot of people who really need computers like students who need them in their studies and people who are jobless and badly want to work-at-home online but can’t because they can’t afford to have their own computers to start with and an hourly rent in an Internet café just wont cut it for them.

Right now, I am redesigning my blogs. It’s a way for me to practice what I learn. That’s already a big bonus of teaching myself some new things. And the good part is, I just launched my web designing website, Design Me Pretty. This website is aimed at offering design services to personal bloggers, small time netreprenuers, and work-at-home peeps who are earning form their blogs. I am not targeting to design corporate websites. I like to stay with blogs because they are much more fun to design.

I started Design Me Pretty because I want to start my long time dream to be able to provide web designing services. I want to be able to provide pretty blog designs that are unique and simply cute. So anyway, I am not expecting clients to come pouring soon because I still have a portfolio to build up but I am already open to orders just in case.

I am thinking of a special offer to give away to my first few clients. Right now, my offered rates for blog designs are already really low (among the lowest in the blog design industry—I researched) but I am willing to take 50% off for those who will place an order before the end of April.

Then there is another special offer I am thinking to offer to blogger friends because I need a few people to help me get the word out but I am not sure if there will be volunteers… Hmm…, I will have to ask around.

I don’t miss teaching at all. I don’t miss the endless preparation for lessons, the stress, the full schedule, the unpaid working hours, and the bratty kids. As I think about it now, I am really glad I have a break from teaching. I am more relaxed, happier, more at peace with myself.

I am really enjoying being able to stay away from teaching at this point. Not just because I am pregnant but because of the time I get to have for other things. I have time to learn new things (web design), to catch up on my hobbies, to catch up with old friends, to take long walks, to sit and be idle. These are some things I was not given so much chance to do when I was still teaching.

I hope I don’t sound like I hate teaching. I don’t. On the contrary, I love teaching but it made me feel so burned out that I am happy to be away from it for a while. If there’s really a thing I miss about my work, it’s not the teaching per se but the kind parents who later became my friends and their sweet kids.

At this point of my life, I feel I need to temporarily leave this profession to accommodate a new member of our family. Yes, I am pregnant!

In one of my previous posts, I expressed my desire to become a mother after being married to my husband for three years. I’ve been wanting it since we got married but for a lot of reasons, we’ve been putting it off. One was because we were not yet really settled—we’ve been moving from one city to another.  Another one was because I wanted to build a career in teaching here in Austria but the baby’s here.  At the time when I was doubtful about which one to do first, circumstances decided for me—I got pregnant and I am really very happy about it.

What happens to this blog now that I am not teaching anymore?

Well, I will still continue this blog. I’ll probably write about past experiences or future plans on teaching. And hey, a mother is a teacher too! So I don’t think I will run out of things to write about.

And to keep me busy, I will focus on my writing. I’ll do some freelance writing jobs while I’m pregnant. It’s the perfect set up for someone like me who wants to avoid all the stress of teaching but still wants something to keep her busy.

I actually already started updating all my blogs and I even created a new one. I created Being Super Mom to chronicle my pregnancy.   My blogs will give me something to do from now until my baby’s old enough to go to school. That will take some time but I know that someday, I’ll go back to teaching because like I said when it comes to professions;

Teaching is my first love and I know that I will always come back to it.

But that doesn’t mean I gave up earning money. I, of course, could but I didn’t want to so I looked for ways to earn money from home. I tried my hands on writing and online tutoring at the same time. I signed up at different websites that have pay-to-blog schemes and at online tutoring websites.  Earning money from writing happened first so I focused on it. For years, I’ve been doing it and I’m happy with the results. The online tutoring is a different story. I made teacher profiles in different online tutoring sites but I never got a client. Not one.  So, I forgot about it over time.

Last month, I got a nice surprise. Something I badly need to get me through this career crisis. Buddyschool.com sent me an email telling me that a client wants to schedule an online lesson with me. I was immediately thrilled at the idea of teaching online. I have never done it before but how difficult could it be? So I accepted the schedule and prepared for it.

My first online student is a six years old girl from Czech Republic. She can already speak a bit of English and her parents like to help her cultivate her English skills by hiring an online tutor for her. The first lesson went well and it was easy. K is a bright and talkative girl. I showed her stuffed animals I had prepared before the lesson and she told me what she knows about them. I felt that it was not a problem for K to warm up to me because she was also asking me questions.  I can just tell that K enjoyed the lesson and I enjoyed it too. A week later, K’s mom scheduled another lesson but I declined because of our holiday plans.

I thought that’s it. I thought that it will just be a onetime thing but when I got another request for a lesson yesterday, I was so thrilled.

Now, this got me thinking… if I get really unhappy with my teaching job I could quit it and focus on online tutoring.  What do you think? Go or no go?

I am still in a crisis. I still don’t know if I want to continue teaching. Thing number 1 is, I need a job and thing number 2 is, it can’t be just any job so more or less, I will just go on with the teaching. Being an immigrant is playing a major part in my crisis and I am slowly getting tired of it.

Why can’t I get a better teaching job? Because I need a nostrification. Why do I need that? Because my degree is not recognized here. Why is that? Because I got it outside of EU. So why not just get a nostrification? Because it is a very complicated and a very long process.

And why can’t you get other jobs like an office job? Because my German is not good enough. And why can’t you get a manual job? Because I am not sure if I want that and my husband definitely doesn’t want that for me.

It all comes down to being a foreigner in this country and the fact that I want to have a baby and be a mother soon doesn’t make things easy for me either.  I feel that I am running out of time and my chances are thin. At this point of my life, it is either get a better teaching job or be a mother and that’s unfair because I want both so badly.

But how am I going manage both at the same time?

The complaint was: I don’t have a British accent.

It was coming from a grandmother who sat twice in my class to observe me. Normally, children ages 5 and above are going in the class without their guardians but then one day, this particular grandma asked me if she could sit in my class and being the polite person that I am (*wink), I said okay. After the second time of observing me, she talked to my head teacher and told her that she wants another teacher for this group (where her granddaughter is in). And the reason she said is because I don’t have a British accent.

The bad thing is, this gradma talked to this group’s kids’ parents and told them that the group will be better off with another teacher (Note: This group was previously handled by another teacher before I took over).

Firstly, I never claimed that I have a British accent and secondly, I never even tried to speak with a British accent. So I am quite irked that the complaint is based on such shallow reason.

My head teacher is of course, on my side. She told me, it is not her first time to hear a complaint.  She said she got worse already but she said that the learning center is more than just a learning center, it is also a business and therefore; we should give the clients what they want no matter how shallow it is.

I didn’t try to reason out. For me, if they want another teacher then it is fine with me. I have too many classes anyway.  So everything’s agreed between me, my head teacher, and the grandma. We agreed that as soon as the LC gets a new teacher, this group will have a new teacher.

So yesterday, the new teacher came and starting next semester, she will teach this group. The sad thing is, not all of the parents agree to have a new teacher for this group because their kids want me as their teacher. So half of the kids would like to stay with me and the other half would be separated and will continue with the new teacher. But the problems are: the LC doesn’t have enough rooms for this particular time. So they don’t know where to do the separated class. They (parents themselves and my head teacher) don’t seem to agree on another schedule so they have to find a way settle that.  Another problem is the fact that “half of the group” is not enough to continue a group. 8 is the maximum number of kids in a group, 5-7 is ideal, but 4 is just too less (the LC won’t earn enough). So if things are not settled, this group could be abolished completely just because of one guardian who complained.

Teachers here in Austria are paid well. They have very good benefits and very comfortable work conditions. I want that for myself too but that means I have to get a teaching job at a public school. Right now, I am teaching in a private learning center that is why I don’t enjoy all the advantages a public teacher has. I honestly like my job at the learning center and I could imagine working there longer if I were better paid and if I would have better work conditions but I obviously don’t.

So it’s time to move on.

Or, at least, prepare to move on and that’s what I am going to do this coming September.

I am going back to school.

I will take the required German courses in order for me to be eligible for nostrification. I’ve completed A1, A2, and B1 in Goethe Institute Shanghai but that’s not enough. I also have to take the last three courses, B2, C1, and C2. If all work well and if I successfully completed those courses, I can then apply for the nostrification. That means, the university (where I would like to study) will evaluate the degree I’ve completed in the Philippines and then they will tell me what courses/subjects I still have to take up. I think I also have to pass a certain exam to be given a place in the university.

I hate the nostrification. I think it’s just a bureaucratic nonsense. I do agree with the regulation that I have to have a perfect German to be able to teach here but for me to get a nostrification? It’s like them telling me that they don’t trust in the quality of education I got just because I got it outside the EU.

I’ve been avoiding this nostrification thing for a year now but I realized that I have to face it eventually if I really want to have a better teaching job here. I am still NOT 100% sure if I want to go through it but I will take a step towards it because anyway, learning German could only be good. If I decide to take a completely different path later, having good German skills will still be an asset.

Semester break and Easter week came and went but I don’t feel like I’ve had a break from work for months (I would say years but I only started working last September).

Honestly speaking, I am tired and I feel like giving up some of my teaching loads. I only have 15 hours each week to teach but those 15 hours need around 20 hours of preparation. All in all, it’s 35 hours a week. That’s still 5 hours less than a regular worker’s working hours. That’s not a lot, right? WRONG!

It’s a lot and it sucks that I am only paid for the 15 hours of teaching. Many of you would probably wonder why I need 20 hours of preparation. Well, you see, we (me and my colleagues) have to have props when teaching. When I say props, I am not referring to a PowerPoint presentation which can be prepared in 10 minutes. Props, to us, are things the children can touch, play with, and manipulate. It is also much better if the prop is something the children haven’t seen yet. We do have several toys in the LC but more often than not, I can’t find that which fits to my lesson.

I have a complete room allotted to my teaching materials (not a big one but still, it’s a room  filled ONLY with my teaching materials). I create bingo card games, domino games, grid games, etc. I use colored cardboards, papers, magic tapes, laminating pouches, playdoh, etc.  And here’s another thing. I pay for all of these.

When I prayed for a job, I asked for a job I love doing. I said, it’s doesn’t matter how much I earn as long as it’s a teaching job. This was months ago. Things were different.

Right now, I wouldn’t be honest if I would say that I am satisfied with my job. I love teaching. There’s no doubt in that but I wish I were better paid.

Going back to “giving up some of my teaching loads”; I think that would do me good. We moved in to a new place and though that was month ago, we never seem to be finished with the cleaning, organizing, modifying, etcetera.  In short, there’s always something to be done. I wish I could have more time to spend on our new home.

I also wish I could have more time for my writing endeavors. Although, I manage to squeeze in this hobby to my very busy days, it is not at all easy. Sometimes, I have to postpone some things so I can write an article or two but I am trying to minimize this routine because I always end up being swamped. I try to finish all house chores and my teaching preparations before writing but most of the time, when I’m finally done with the things I MUST do, I’m too tired to do anything else.