(no subject)
Well, we left Crete Sunday night after a hectic and tragic weekend. About 2 hours after my last entry, we had an end-of-class lunch / pool party. Apparently the school had hired a new assistant teacher trainer, and he joined us at the party. Well, this guy must have decided that he didnt begin work in an official capacity until Monday, and therefore it was ok to get drunk beyond belief in front of his new co-workers. I only talked to him for a few minutes at the party.
About two hours later we heard that a man had fallen from an apartment balcony (2nd floor) at the complex down the street. Sure enough, it was the new trainer. Patty and I saw that Steve (the school mgr.) was shaken up so we reluctantly agreed to go with him to the hospital. (We are not big fans of being in hospitals) Sadly, the new trainer will never walk again. He was paralyzed from the neck down, and may need a breathing machine for the rest of his life. In my opinion, had he been one floor lower or one floor higher, he would have been better off, as I couldn't imagine living life that way. People started to comment "oh, if he hadn't taken the job..." or "If he only went to a different school location"... I quickily interjected that we can't think like that. Life is very uncertain, and as I witnessed this past weekend, the tiniest little event can affect the rest of your life. All we can do is make the best choices at any given moment, regardless of where we are, or what we decide to do in a greater sense.
Patty and I went right from Crete to Corinth (taxi, ferry, bus...) where we had an "interview" that was a complete waste of time. All that we talked about with ethe recruiter was how difficult it is to find work in Athens for Americans. So, he suggested that we take a list of schools and go door-to-door dropping off resumes (CV's as they are called in Europe). Seeing that that ws our initial plan, we weren't to thrilled with the Anglo-Hellenic Teacher Recruitment agency.
We are now back in Athens, and will be staying in a hotel for the next few nights. We are looking for a one-two month apartment lease while we job hunt. We are also looking into traveling to some other islands during the olympics. I have a few job interview offers from schools in Prague, which looks like a beautiful city. If this paragrah reads choppy and sounds confusing, you have a very accurate feeling for my life at the moment.
OK, I took a deep breath :-) Everything will work out.
About two hours later we heard that a man had fallen from an apartment balcony (2nd floor) at the complex down the street. Sure enough, it was the new trainer. Patty and I saw that Steve (the school mgr.) was shaken up so we reluctantly agreed to go with him to the hospital. (We are not big fans of being in hospitals) Sadly, the new trainer will never walk again. He was paralyzed from the neck down, and may need a breathing machine for the rest of his life. In my opinion, had he been one floor lower or one floor higher, he would have been better off, as I couldn't imagine living life that way. People started to comment "oh, if he hadn't taken the job..." or "If he only went to a different school location"... I quickily interjected that we can't think like that. Life is very uncertain, and as I witnessed this past weekend, the tiniest little event can affect the rest of your life. All we can do is make the best choices at any given moment, regardless of where we are, or what we decide to do in a greater sense.
Patty and I went right from Crete to Corinth (taxi, ferry, bus...) where we had an "interview" that was a complete waste of time. All that we talked about with ethe recruiter was how difficult it is to find work in Athens for Americans. So, he suggested that we take a list of schools and go door-to-door dropping off resumes (CV's as they are called in Europe). Seeing that that ws our initial plan, we weren't to thrilled with the Anglo-Hellenic Teacher Recruitment agency.
We are now back in Athens, and will be staying in a hotel for the next few nights. We are looking for a one-two month apartment lease while we job hunt. We are also looking into traveling to some other islands during the olympics. I have a few job interview offers from schools in Prague, which looks like a beautiful city. If this paragrah reads choppy and sounds confusing, you have a very accurate feeling for my life at the moment.
OK, I took a deep breath :-) Everything will work out.