Job interview yesterday. Three responses so far to an ad I put in mundo anuncio, a classified online thing. I was aiming for individuals, but two of the responses so far have been businesses: and academy and a company wanting in house training.

Basically the situation is this: there is a demand for my services as English teacher here. I could have had at least 3 jobs last fall, except for work permit issues. Two had been desperate. I am better qualified than some of my friends or acquaintances who teach: I have experience and am (almost) certified, whereas I don't actually know anyone personally, who is certified, yet they all have jobs.

Also, I do not have even a remote chance of work like this at home: to work at a "decent" job in Canada I would have to return to physics lab teaching which I will simply not do (besides, there are only a few colleges and the position I left is filled). In Vancouver is it not possible to teach ESL without a degree in English, often a Masters, plus the other certification. The wages are not good for Vancouver, either. This is not saying that I won't come home if it seems like the best idea. It just means I will be working in a cafe or freelancing at something.

Irony.

I took a trip to the oficina de extranjeros this morning instead of going to the studio. I stood in the long line up and went through the new x-ray machine they have installed, so I could ask what I already knew online, but thought perhaps might be different or more relaxed if I went in person, seeing as how an amiga did that and it sounded less complicated than what officially was written. Not so.

I decided to stop on the way back for a chance to sit in the sun. It is often warmer outdoors than in. The weather has been back and forth - warm to cold. I stopped in Barrio Santa Cruz, the tourist area, and asked beforehand how much the cup of coffee would cost me there. A very friendly Brazilian waitress who charged me 25 centimos less in the end, advised me that I should go work in Brazil, and even wrote down on my newpaper the city: Rio del Norte. I could barely understand her Spanish.

Yesterday I went late in the day to the studio, since I had the interview in the morning. I practiced in studio C, instead of A, as at that hour someone was scheduled in A and B. No one came, however, which makes me think that I am the most faithful practicer, besides perhaps Sachiko, using that studio, as the same thing happens in the morning. All the clocks in the studio run on some different conception of time, I suppose. Often time has stopped entirely, but it will randomly begin again when the clock happens to feel like starting up. I have really never seen clocks like this and am surprised that several of them exist in one location.