Chicago!

So where am I now-a-days? Michigan? Paraguay? Colorado? The moon? No. I am in our nation's third largest city, Chicago! I have always loved this city, having visited my uncle here several times as a kid. It's just a short train ride over from East Lansing, so I took a few more city trips while in college. But this is the first time I've spent more than a few days here. In fact, I've been here since September.

Spending the summer in Colorado was great. It's a beautiful place, and I met a lot of really good people. I worked in a Fair Trade store, hiked in the foothills of the Rockies and even had a whirlwind summer romance. But as the fall approached and my summer sublease ended, I had to face the facts: Boulder was just too darn expensive! I was working quite a few hours at the FT store, and my summer sublease was amazingly cheap. But subleases are hard to come by during the school year, and my rent was about to increase by several hundred dollars a month... more than I was making, even if I cut little corners like washing my clothes or eating. So I packed up once again and few back to Chicago.

My employment search in Chicago didn't go as well as I'd hoped, as the city job market is already saturated with unemployed Michiganians. A couple of leads led nowhere, and I almost considered attending bar-tending school just to make myself more employable. As my money ran out, I realized it was time to do the one thing that I absolutely dreaded: Move back home with my parents. There are certainly no jobs available in the UP, but at least I would have free room and bored. (Pun very intended.) So I found myself back on the bus, moving for the seventh time in five months, and unsure what my next step was going to be. I was out of money and almost out of hope. Furthermore the continuing reverse-culture-shock wasn't making this any easier, but that's a story for an entirely different time.

Careerfinder, Monster, USAjobs, Craigslist. This is basically where I lived for several weeks. I sent out scores of emails. I wrote dozens of cover letters and plastered my resume on every jobsearch website I could find. I got a few responses, but most of them were automated emails directing me to pay $20 to $75 to continue processing my application. Scam. One gentleman actually did call to offer me a job... which he refused to describe. During our 15 minute phone conversation, I tried over and over again, unsuccessfully, to get him to tell me WHO he was, WHAT his company did, and what my actual job would be. Every question was met with an evasive and vague response that begged more suspicious questions than they answered. The best I could get out of him was that they "assessed clients' needs and provided a vital service". What needs this mysterious service was to fulfill is still a mystery. I told him I would consider it. In truth, I pictured myself on a bike delivering unmarked brown paper packages to Chinatown at odd, inconsistent hours, and as I had no intention of being shot at or held for ransom, I never called him back.

Fortunately for me, I managed to catch a little blip on facebook about a possible job in Chicago. A friend of mine from college worked at a Latino Community Center on the southwest side, and they were looking for ESL instructors for the fall. And they needed them ASAP! I sent my friend a message asking about it, and she replied with a "Yes you'd be awesome can you get me your resume cover letter and statement of interest by this afternoon?!?" That was a busy day. A few days later I got a phone call. They liked my resume and wanted me to come in for an interview. As I was still in the UP, I negotiated for doing it over Skype, and it went very well. I was offered the job! Starting Friday. It was Tuesday. That was another busy day.

On the bus again! (I was beginning to think that I spent more time on busses than not on busses.) I arrived in Chicago at 11:30 am on Friday, all ready for my first day of work starting at 3 pm. The only problem was that I had never been to the southwest side, and had no idea where this place was. Through the wonderous powers of technology (namely, the GPS map on my phone), I was able to find the right train, navigate the bus system, and with only minimal trial-and-error, burst in a half an hour early, still carrying around 75 lbs of gear. I was rumpled, sweating and unshaven, slightly dazed and just starting to realize that I hadn't eaten anything in the past 18 hours.

Despite this less-than-optimal first impression, they must have liked me, because I am still working there, three months later. I had missed most of the teacher training by the time I got there, so I got off to a bit of a rough start, especially with the multiple pages of 'just-so' paperwork we had to do. But it is getting better. My first three weeks were insanely busy: Besides getting used to the new job and writing my lesson plans, I was also looking for an apartment, and taking an intensive 18-hour-per-weekend TEFL certification class. I am really not sure how I survived that confluence of mind-stretching, sleep-depriving forces.

But I did survive. In all honesty, it was rough for a while. There were moments when I didn't think I could do it. It was too much, all at once, with just not enough hours in the day to do it all. And maybe it was. But I found an apartment. I earned my teaching certificate with the highest marks in the class. Lesson planning is still a challenge, but it is getting better. But most importantly, it is worth it. When things get dark, I have to ask myself: "Why am I doing this? What is this all for?" Answer: my students.

I will tell you all about my classes, my students and the ridiculous things that I make them do. You will get to hear about my awesome roommates and the ridiculous things that no one makes us do, but seem to happen anyway. I will tell stories about missing my bus stop, taking the wrong train, drinking fine whisky with rich people, and accidentally crashing a college party in the 'burbs. But those will have to wait for another day. I haven't eaten in 18 hours.