In the last month, I have been approached by three schools.
The first school was in Beijing. The elementary principal and I were to have a skype interview on the Friday evening. In Uzbekistan, you need to have a VPN (virtual private network) in order to use skype. Well, the day before I had renewed my VPN subscription, but had failed to install it correctly. So no interview. We rescheduled for Saturday.
The next day, I got myself all spruced up for my interview (wearing the same interview clothes), and was ready and waiting for China. This time the principal's internet wasn't working. So we rescheduled for the Monday evening.
Monday morning, I received an email from the elementary principal. She was extremely apologetic. The incoming director had gone ahead and hired an elementary Art teacher (half of a teaching couple), unbeknownst to the principal. Her irritation was palpable.
The next school to approach me was a girl's school in Tokyo. On Saturday morning, I had an interview with the director. I really liked her, I think she liked me. I was really really excited. I really really wanted the job. I borrowed my friend's Lonely Planet guide to Japan and began planning my life for the next five years.
I had an interview scheduled on Monday morning at 6AM with the elementary principal, kindergarten teacher, and PYP (Primary Years Programme) coordinator. Monday morning I was up at 4:30, showered and caffeinated for the interview. The kindergarten teacher was absent from the interview team. I was introduced to the others, and exchanged pleasantries. Then the PYP coordinator started to ask me questions. I have been teaching within the PYP framework for three years now. I completely forgot all of the terminology of the program. I confused key concepts and learner attributes, and went off on a crazy tangent about my dislike of rubrics. I admitted that paperwork and technology were my big weaknesses. The interview was a train wreck and I was the driver. I wouldn't have hired me. Neither did they.
The third school that contacted is also in China, in Xi'an. The principal was the one doing the interviewing this time. He had actually read my blog! this blog. He offered me the job in the course of the interview. After the interview, I walked to a coffee shop to meet with a friend. I thought about the offer all the way. By the time I reached the restaurant, I was pretty sure I wasn't going to Xi'an. I think a job offer is like a marriage proposal. If you're not excited right away and anxious to share the news, it's probably not a good fit. So I turned down the offer. I'm not going to Xi'an. Of course, right now I'm still unemployed as of June 10.
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