how can earrings make you sick? I didn´t wear them for years but bought some last week and was rather pleased with them. The next day my ears were a bit weepy and I thought I had a minor infection so just bathed them with salt water and assumed it would quickly get better. Wrong! next day they were bright red and I had swollen glands right under my ears, never knew there were glands there before but my neck was stiff and sore. I went to the chemist assuming it was an infection but it turned out to be an allergic reaction and I had to take really strong atihistamines which wiped me out for 2 days.
Meanwhile my housemate, Charles, brought some people back from the bar and when they left I had no camera. This has happened twice now: last time they took Charles´s laptop. I can handle being careful on the streets, especially on the busses, you know there are theives there, but when a person comes into your home and is treated like a guest and then steals from you, I reckon that´s really low. You might say, well, poverty drives them to it, bit its a stupid, useless thing to take because they didn´t take the battery charger.... It´s not even a very good camera, I just kept it for when I´m travelling so I don´t have to take my SLR to dangerous places. I´m soooooo annoyed!
Good news is I`ve got my classes back for level 2, and we´ve got a new teacher who seems like a really nice bloke, from Belfast, young and interesting. CHC has recently opened a new centre which teaches Cambridge ESL courses, so new teachers are arriving soon. I would rather teach there: I can´t work out why they´ve got Americans teaching British English and vice versa.
Am currently planning new year in Quito with friends. The hot place to be is Montanita, but all the inns are full, so we´ll settle for Quito which is always fun and not so stiflingly hot anyway. Whats everyone else doing for xmas/new year? What do they do in China? Something with lots of fireworks?
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Are your ears better now?
Living with another person can be difficult - i didnt enjoy living in uni accommodation but luckily for my final year me and a friend rented privately...but in this case you need to look at it that both of you are paying rent so he needs to respect you as well...you both need to sit down and make some ground rules - maybe he needs to be more cautious and should only bring people home that he's known for awhile...although i can imagine you dont want to cause trouble - i just hope he buys you a new camera and is really sorry about it...
as for japan - they are very friendly here...you do get the odd person who doesnt like foreigners but mostly everyone is excited to see you - but i live in a rural location...i think the big cities are a little different - still safe but theres more foreigners there...where i live the only night life is karaoke or snack bars (expensive bars where you pay a sit down fee and the servers will be talkative and polite to you)...in my town its mostly old people...again bigger cities have more of a night life, but the nearest one to me is over 2hours drive through the mountain, which in winter is not really safe to drive through
Unfortunately it wasnt me who invited them.. I can hardly tell my housemates how to live their lives, after all, they apy the rent too right? God knows what the earings were made of but the reaction was extreme. Whats it like in Japan? hows the culture and nightlife? Do they accept you ok?
How can you be allergic to earrings - what were they made of...i know in some countries they are marked saying silver but normally are not - probably should only by things like that from a proper jewelers...
As for the steeling - thats just wrong - but maybe you should get to know the people long enough before inviting people home...i live in japan where it is safe but i still wouldnt invite a group of people back that ive only just met...
I'm currently on my xmas break - go back on the 11th - unfortunately we dont get paid for this time but we do get paid for national holidays and exam periods which makes up for it - ive only got about 2months of teaching left :S - might try Osaka area next
Hey Al,
Yes, we get paid for hols. If the kids have exams and we don't have to work etc, as it is a set monthly wage.
Bit of a grey area on sick leave.. in the SAFEA contract it says we should get 100% pay for up to thirty days sick a year.. but Nick had three lessons off sick the other Friday and on pay day they took 65RMB for each lesson. We questioned it and they said they will check the contract, so we will see!!
Haven't had anything stolen. Even had a restaurant give me a scarf back when I went the next time and the whole nightclub looking for my camera another time. ( which was found and returned. It was my fault for putting it down when drunk and forgetting where I left it!! ) For the most part I haven't encountered any crime. My friend did, however, get her bike stolen. That happens a lot, or so I'm told.
PS it´s murder for thieves around here - some student went into the teachers room and took my christmas lights off my desk! Another teacher has lost personal things from there also, like his baseball cap.. now these are rich kids whose parents can afford $50 a month plus $25 registration fee for their studies - that´s a lot of money in Ecuador. The problem is twofold in my view: a - they come from a country that sees no wrong in cheating, lying and stealing; b - the kids are spoiled and think they are entitled to anything they want. It´s precisely the petty stupid nature of these thefts that irritates me - it´s really pathetic. Ecuadorians on the whole have many good points, and I still like living here on the whole, but there are some aspects to the "culture" that I really can´t respect.
do you get paid for any of that time? We never get paid for holidays or sick days, or even if the school cancels lessons for resons of their own.
Yea, not sure of the exact dates yet, but it is supposed to be five weeks. Bargain!
Everything in China entails 'lots of fireworks!' haha.
Sorry to hear about your camera. :(
I get two days off for Xmas, but as it is over the weekend, I get the Friday and Monday as well as the usual weekend, which is nice.
Having all of February off will be nice though!!
Of course! Isn´t that sometime in February? I was born in the year of the goat! nice or what? some people get glamorous things like dragons... what year is coming up?
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