Blood the Last Translator
It was hard for me to accept it, but Geo is right. It's probably unwise for me to take a last SD job in June. It's always a struggle not to get sick on SD jobs, with all of the air travel and long hours, and during pregnancy the immune system is that much weaker. Mst of all, it would have been my first 3 week simul job, which is bound to be exhausting under any circumstances.
It was a hard decision for me to make not just because of the money but because it's hard for me to give up my life, to come to terms with not being able to do a lot of things I used to do. And I know it'll be a long time until I can get back into the game--at least a year after the baby's born before I can do any SD work, at any rate, and I worry about losing my skills and my Japanese. I talked to K-Sensei about it yesterday and she was very encouraging. Basically, she said not to worry about it, that I'll catch up the lost ground quickly when I come back and my foundation will still be there. She was 34 when she graduated MIIS and she had her two kids after that, and she's worked her way to the top as a conference interpreter, so that's encouraging to consider.
Another comforting thing is that I talked to DH, and they have a whole pile of titles coming down the pipeline for me to translate. So basically I have worked lined up for the next year or two, work that I can do from home. And they're really flexible with me about deadlines--RS gave me an extra month for OMG since I've been feeling crappy and falling behind--so if I need to take time off it should be workable. The Japanese liscensor specifically requested me, so it sounds like they're willing to work with my schedule.
That's a big relief, just knowing that I have work I can count on to bring in a certain amount of income.
It was a hard decision for me to make not just because of the money but because it's hard for me to give up my life, to come to terms with not being able to do a lot of things I used to do. And I know it'll be a long time until I can get back into the game--at least a year after the baby's born before I can do any SD work, at any rate, and I worry about losing my skills and my Japanese. I talked to K-Sensei about it yesterday and she was very encouraging. Basically, she said not to worry about it, that I'll catch up the lost ground quickly when I come back and my foundation will still be there. She was 34 when she graduated MIIS and she had her two kids after that, and she's worked her way to the top as a conference interpreter, so that's encouraging to consider.
Another comforting thing is that I talked to DH, and they have a whole pile of titles coming down the pipeline for me to translate. So basically I have worked lined up for the next year or two, work that I can do from home. And they're really flexible with me about deadlines--RS gave me an extra month for OMG since I've been feeling crappy and falling behind--so if I need to take time off it should be workable. The Japanese liscensor specifically requested me, so it sounds like they're willing to work with my schedule.
That's a big relief, just knowing that I have work I can count on to bring in a certain amount of income.