japanOkay, I haven't updated in a while in order to perhaps prevent a jinx... it didn't work. So here’s the real scoop:
I had the informal meeting and group interview for Amity on February 5th. Amity is a sub-group of AEON that deals mostly (about 85 to 90%) with school age kids. I wanted park at my dorm and take the train but because of some problems with the parking around UIC I was about 10 minutes late. Thankfully they were okay with that as the meeting was held first and that wasn’t ultra important.
Amity, for anyone interested in applying, has the first call of applicants come in to learn about the duties of an Amity teacher if you get hired. Immediately following that all applicants must present five minutes of a thirty minute lesson plan to be prepared in advance. Most of the applicants I interviewed with (there were only five of us in total) did a lesson plan aimed at younger kids involving props and games. Mine, for better or worse (probably better... keep reading) was aimed at Jr. High to High school aged kids. No props but lots of interaction and questioning and such. Our lesson plan could be made for any level and I figured because I was presenting to adults I should choose a more advanced plan. Apparently it ended up working because I got called back for a personal interview. This is the last step in the hiring process and I was so excited about getting this job that I scheduled it for today (Feb 7th), a mere two days after the initial. This is where my troubles begin.
I had everything planned out. EVERYTHING. My suit is pressed, my boots polished, my tie cleaned and fixed into a perfect half Windsor, all the remaining documents I needed to turn in and the supplies requested for the interview packed neatly into my PC carrying case (looks a lot like a soft briefcase). So what went wrong?
My interview was to be at 10:00am. I slept at my dorm both to avoid traffic and because it is close to the pink line CTA stop (from that stop to where the interview was to be held is a mere 15 minutes). I gathered up my things and left my dorm room, the door closing and locking behind me.
I had made it no further than the elevator when I realized I did not have my wallet on me. This was still okay as it was only 8:50 am at this point. Now I knew that the locks had been changed on my dorm room (why I will never know... even the RA called it "random") so I figured I would go to the downstairs office and pick up the new key. I went down to the office, talked with a rather unpleasant lady and got my new key. Took maybe ten minutes and I am willing to call everything up until this point my fault.
I hurry upstairs and slide the new key into the slot, rushing a bit because I am now in a hurry. Overall this process has taken me about 20 minutes, putting the time at roughly 9:10. Still plenty of time overall, I just wanted more leeway. So I turn the key.... Or, I try to turn the key anyways. It won't move. The key I was given doesn’t work. I try a few more times just to make sure but sho' nuff, it's not budging.
I'm still not panicking tho. I still have time. I go back down to the counter to find the lady gone. A sign says "back in five minutes". As I wait, I have the foresight to call Amity and tell them that I will be late. They casually mention that I was late to the information meeting and my heart sinks... I so feel that I know what is coming. But to my surprise the representative (we'll call him Scott) thanks me for calling and suggests that we reschedule for a day where I can make it on time. Scott suggests Monday at 10:00am and I am, of course, more than happy to snap that up. The fact Scott didn't just say something like "well, we really need people who can be on time etc." gave me new hope. I know these people want to hire me, mostly because I am confident I would make a good teacher. So when Scott said "reschedule" instead of "we're sorry", I was elated once again!
Back to reality as I hung up the phone tho, as I was still sitting and waiting to get my new new key. I don't know when she left, but ten minutes after I sat down, the front desk lady returns. What follows is just a snippet of the actual argument I had with her:
Her: "What do YOU want?"
Me: "This key doesn’t work..."
Her: "It's the right key!"
Me: "Um, okay... but it won't open my door."
Her: "Well, it's the right key... the only way I could prove it is to drag my ass to your room with you!!"
Me: "...."
Her: "FINE... let’s go up to your floor."
She grabs the ring of keys for my floor and we go up. She tries her Key and it works. She looks at me with this insane amount of contempt and then I hand her my key. How about that, my key doesn’t work... JUST LIKE I TOLD HER. She silently takes my key and gives me the one that works. But does she apologize? Does she even say anything about how rude she was? Nope, she just turns her back to me and while she walks towards the elevator says "I dunnow what’s wrong with YOUR key..."
So by this time it’s about 9:45 and I am just now grabbing my wallet from my pants pocket (it was in my casual pants, that is why I forgot it). I already rescheduled but I decide to take the trip to the Amity office anyways to turn in my paperwork and thank the staff in person for being so flexible. I got there at around 10:20, handed them my papers (they were very pleasant and personable, just like the last meeting I attended), thanked them very sincerely for their understanding and went on my way. I was back on the train by 10:45.
On Monday I am planning for any contingency. I will leave my dorm at 8:30 or earlier depending on how long it takes me to get my tie straight. I have all my clothes set and I re-polished my boots. I will be putting ALL my stuff in my pockets the night before and hopefully they won't change the locks again in the next week. I can only plan for so much ya know.
So yea. The lesson here is Amity is awesome, understanding and genuinely looking for enthusiastic, responsible and qualified people to hire for teaching in Japan. I suggest them to anyone who likes working with kids and would like to teach English overseas. The UIC housing system is lazy, random, rude and overall unhelpful. I swear that if this key fiasco costs me this job..... well I'll.... I'll set the building on fire.
.....Stapler....
-Maru!
