Friday, February 12, 2010

Person, Place, or Thing

I've been eating, breathing, sleeping this event for a year. I'm at an international job fair for international teachers in beautiful Boston. Before now, I spent a lot of time daydreaming about how it would play out: I roamed the house deciding what we would take, what we would leave; I researched like a mad person, documenting each country's appeal, writing pro/con lists, calculating health care and income tax expenses; I made sure Jack would be fully taken care of; and on and on and on! The short of it is I worked really, really hard, and nothing came to fruition.

Rich and I had two days of grueling interviews, our nerves frayed, our emotions swinging from optimism and hope to fear and anxiety and then back again and then again. We have hardly eaten anything and have slept only a few hours a night. We were lucky in that every place wanted us. We were called back for second interviews for each initial one and had some huge decisions to make. We made them, and then found that the biggest one was out of our control. The job we wanted most was given to someone else after four call backs.

Now it's time to be resolved to staying in our current posts for another year. Another interviewer at a place we are unsure of is calling as I type. I'm letting the voicemail get it. As my heart leaps at the prospect of not being quite out of the game, yet, I am exhausted and just want to leave here.

This post was inspired by the Loose Bloggers Consortium, a small and feisty(!) global community. We write weekly on a common topic (Person, Place or Thing, this week) and post responses - all of us together, simultaneously, from all over the world. (Lovely!) Please visit Anu, Conrad, gaelikaa, Grannymar, Judy, Magpie 11, Maria and Ramana for other wonderful posts.

11 comments:

Grannymar said...

Thr right position for you is just around the corner. Hang in there!

Maria said...

I wish you well. I am sure things will work out for both of you!

Happy Fun Pants said...

Anything I want to write is coming out sounding trite.

Just know that I love the three of you dearly and that I hope that there is an even better fit for you out there.

In the meantime, I'm bummed that the one that you both wanted didn't work out.

Maria said...

I think my guest writer might have a good message in her post for you. She stepped outside of the box and found magic.

K A B L O O E Y said...

Oh, damn, that sounds maddening. I hope the universe has a plan and things eventually shift around so that you end up in a better place than you ever anticipated. Fingers and toes crossed for you.

R said...

Winning is not all, participating is the name of the game. You win some, you lose some. I have been there and know exactly how you feel. When you are as old as I am you will look back and laugh at that experience.

Great writing.

Rummuser said...

R is me! Pressed the wrong key!

Ginger said...

It's two days later and I am stranded in Boston still..

Pam said...

Oh how frustrating to come so close to your dream job. Don't close the door on other opportunities too soon. You never know what offers might be waiting for you. Good luck.

Mark said...

That sounds like a living nightmare, awfully weird, patience and sanity testing experience you've just been through. hope you're now fully recovered and in suitably philosophically mode. Er, What looks to be a curse often turns out to be a blessing, and vice versa.. So, remember you *may* have just, unwittingly gotten off a very nasty hook indeed. Any way poor yous. And How come you got stranded to boot??

Ginger said...

I hope all of you are right about this all being for the best. It doesn't feel that way today. Thank you for the kind words, though.

Mark - It snowed 12 inches in DFW last week, the most snow recorded ever and on the day before we were scheduled to go home. The earliest we could get a flight was yesterday. Fortunately, our family and friends took good care of Jack, rearranging their schedules to help.

Also, did you see that I remembered the visit to your place recently? Visitor or visitors is the title.

Friday, February 12, 2010

Person, Place, or Thing

I've been eating, breathing, sleeping this event for a year. I'm at an international job fair for international teachers in beautiful Boston. Before now, I spent a lot of time daydreaming about how it would play out: I roamed the house deciding what we would take, what we would leave; I researched like a mad person, documenting each country's appeal, writing pro/con lists, calculating health care and income tax expenses; I made sure Jack would be fully taken care of; and on and on and on! The short of it is I worked really, really hard, and nothing came to fruition.

Rich and I had two days of grueling interviews, our nerves frayed, our emotions swinging from optimism and hope to fear and anxiety and then back again and then again. We have hardly eaten anything and have slept only a few hours a night. We were lucky in that every place wanted us. We were called back for second interviews for each initial one and had some huge decisions to make. We made them, and then found that the biggest one was out of our control. The job we wanted most was given to someone else after four call backs.

Now it's time to be resolved to staying in our current posts for another year. Another interviewer at a place we are unsure of is calling as I type. I'm letting the voicemail get it. As my heart leaps at the prospect of not being quite out of the game, yet, I am exhausted and just want to leave here.

This post was inspired by the Loose Bloggers Consortium, a small and feisty(!) global community. We write weekly on a common topic (Person, Place or Thing, this week) and post responses - all of us together, simultaneously, from all over the world. (Lovely!) Please visit Anu, Conrad, gaelikaa, Grannymar, Judy, Magpie 11, Maria and Ramana for other wonderful posts.

11 comments:

Grannymar said...

Thr right position for you is just around the corner. Hang in there!

Maria said...

I wish you well. I am sure things will work out for both of you!

Happy Fun Pants said...

Anything I want to write is coming out sounding trite.

Just know that I love the three of you dearly and that I hope that there is an even better fit for you out there.

In the meantime, I'm bummed that the one that you both wanted didn't work out.

Maria said...

I think my guest writer might have a good message in her post for you. She stepped outside of the box and found magic.

K A B L O O E Y said...

Oh, damn, that sounds maddening. I hope the universe has a plan and things eventually shift around so that you end up in a better place than you ever anticipated. Fingers and toes crossed for you.

R said...

Winning is not all, participating is the name of the game. You win some, you lose some. I have been there and know exactly how you feel. When you are as old as I am you will look back and laugh at that experience.

Great writing.

Rummuser said...

R is me! Pressed the wrong key!

Ginger said...

It's two days later and I am stranded in Boston still..

Pam said...

Oh how frustrating to come so close to your dream job. Don't close the door on other opportunities too soon. You never know what offers might be waiting for you. Good luck.

Mark said...

That sounds like a living nightmare, awfully weird, patience and sanity testing experience you've just been through. hope you're now fully recovered and in suitably philosophically mode. Er, What looks to be a curse often turns out to be a blessing, and vice versa.. So, remember you *may* have just, unwittingly gotten off a very nasty hook indeed. Any way poor yous. And How come you got stranded to boot??

Ginger said...

I hope all of you are right about this all being for the best. It doesn't feel that way today. Thank you for the kind words, though.

Mark - It snowed 12 inches in DFW last week, the most snow recorded ever and on the day before we were scheduled to go home. The earliest we could get a flight was yesterday. Fortunately, our family and friends took good care of Jack, rearranging their schedules to help.

Also, did you see that I remembered the visit to your place recently? Visitor or visitors is the title.