Being Tough!!!

Recently more than a person told me that it was really hard to get a teaching position in Toronto. Graduates from Teachers College usually start teaching as a supply teacher. Some may even choose another career when they have spent years being trained to be a teacher.

I asked comments from a Job Search Counsellor who coordinates bridging courses for internationally trained teachers. She replied,

"I can tell you it's true. But it's true to all professions here, because the competition is keen. Every day there are people coming here to start their new lives. The chance of success depends on who you are. If you are shy, if you only spend time on doing job search in front of a computer, you read newspaper and reply to the ads, you are reluctant to build up network, you are not willing to approach employers, you send out a resume and keep waiting to be called .... you may stay away from the job you want for a long time. When you take action only when you see an ads, so do thousand of others. There are many ways to reach your goal. ..........."

It is always difficult to start from zero. Leaving my comfort zone to move here is a big challenge to me. This phrase has been on mind again and again when I start worrying about my job hunting mission. "When things get tough, the tough get going."

Job Interview on Wed (Aug 29, 2007)

Tonight a Simon Tse phoned me and invited me to attend a job interview. It was almost a month ago that I learnt from SingDao Daily that they were going to offer Mandarin classes. So I called the enrolment hotline and told them I'd like to teach Mandarin. Then a lady told me to send my resume to her and she would forward it to the Principal. Time flies and then I received the call tonight. When I talked to Simon Tse, I didn't know that he was the Principal. I thought maybe he was a co-ordinator. Funny that he told me I was going to his home to attend the interview. I asked him how come it was not to take place at the school. Simon said they were doing voluntary work. I really respect him and look forward to the interview.

Please pray for me that they will give me a chance to teach at 'Yat-sun'.

It's been ONE month since I moved here

Things I 've done or dong since 24 July 2007:

1) Have found a room to rent and will move there on 1/9/2007

2) Learning how to drive both in car and in a classroom (so as to pay lower insurance when I buy a car)

3) Visiting some churches and fellowships

4) Remembering many names of streets and places; being able to take public transport to many places without any help

5) Have got a part-time job and have declined in the last minute

6) Have received my cheque books and credit card from HSBC-Canada

7) Have sent out my resumes and cover letters to several employers like school board and private companies

=========================

What I've learnt or realised:

a) It's hard to find a job that I like and I have to be patient to wait until I get one

b) This is a right decison to come here though I 've given up a lot of things. This is life as you will always gain somethings when other things have been taken away from you

c) My family members are so important to me and they will always reside in my heart because they will always be my parents, brothers and sisters .... no matter where I am or how useless I've become to them. They are precious to me. My heart aches when I know that they are suffering and they feel likewise.

d) When somebody has given you great help, you may not be able to return him/her a favour in a short time or you will never have the chance to do so, but you can always offer hands to somebody in need. Then you are passing on 'light' and 'warmth' to people in need.

******** So many new things to learn and experience. I'm happy to be a learner as the role makes me feel rejuvenated.

Job Search Workshop

Last night was the final session of the workshop. The trainer, Srna, is a very nice person and she taught us a lot of useful strategies to search for our first job here. [She is the lady in red jacket]When I compared her materials to mine which I used at the institue in my former country, I realised that there could be a lot of topics to cover.

The workshop participants are multi-cultural. They are from India, Pakistan, Mexico, Chile, Argentina, the Philippines, Iran, Russia, Greece ...... What scared me about their profiles is that some have been here for several years.

I'm the only one who is looking for a teaching job. One month later, I will meet Srna again to evaluate my job search strategies and process. Hope I will be working as a supply teacher at such time.

New home to move into on Sept 1, 2007

This is the entrance of the house where I will move into on the 1st of September. Some said basement of a house is usually damp and cold. So that's why a room at the basement is always leased with lower rent. Hong Kong is notoriusly humid most of the time. Therefore I will be fine with the moist.
The landlady is a Russian. I met her once when I asked to look at the room. She seems to be very nice. On the phone she said, 'good good good, Chinese people here are highly respected'.
I will share the kitchen, bath room and laundry with a Russian girl. Hope we can be good neighbour to each other.

Thanks BUT NO!!! - Didn't go to work for T & T Supermarket

Finally I made up mind not to do the part time job at T & T Supermarket. It is because..........

1) A pair of 'iron head' shoes have to be bought and the $ can be refunded in 3 months when I am still an employee [not sure if I will stay that long with them]

2) Chinese employers are always more demanding here, so I better work for a company which is owned by a White Canadian [I'm not discriminating employers of my own ethnicity but looking for an easier life] besides, when most colleagues are local white people, the job experience will be counted as more 'local' as some people may think that you don't speak English well so that you only stay with people who speak your first language.

3) There are some other part time job opportunities which offer better pay for people who speak English, Mandarin and Cantonese fluently.

There is always HOPE!

In the weekend, two friends phoned me to tell me that there was such an opportunity. Definitely I will give it a try. All brothers and sisters, keep your fingers crossed for me please!

每日一字: 雜碎

第一代海外華人除了修建鐵路外，就是廚房餐館。一些比較粗糙的，不講究廚藝的，騙老外的，迎合他們口味的中式小吃，叫作“雜碎” 。

staff card and handbook

I made a mistake. It should be this morning that I was invited to sign a contract at the HQs of the supermarket. I learnt that I missed the important 'Orientation for New Staff' when I phoned to ask a question. Then I rushed there at 2:50pm and left in 40 minutes. Without the orientation, I could only join them next Monday. I was supposed to start working at an old store as a trainee since tomorrow if I didn't miss the orientation.

Anyway, it has to be a temp job and it can't block my way to get a teaching job.

老地方(音樂)

Felix CHENG

多倫多的"老地方"

“老地方”，一個很熟悉的名字。家裏幾乎每一個人都會知道，這是大埔墟一家小店。雖然我們不是常客，但這絕對是一個很親切的地方。想不到在多倫多也能看到跟它同名的餐廳。每一次經過，都勾起我一浪又一浪的思念。
“月是故鄉園”“人離鄉賤”“每逢佳節倍思親”。。。。。。來到多倫多後，讓我更深切體會這幾句俗語。每當一個人看著身後長長的影子夜歸的時候，孤單的感覺特別濃烈。
想念你們每一個，每一天。

1st Job in Toronto

On Wednesday morning, 15 Aug 2007, I'll go to the HR of Da Tong Hua Supermarket. Most likely I will join the training program for new staff on Thursday. The department I'll work at is 'Grocery'. Was told that it's a labour job and conveying goods and putting them on shelves are parts of the job. I tell myself it has to be tentative and I will work for them as a part-time staff, so that I can spare sometime to look for my long term job or another part-time but with better pay.

Taking up the job definitely make me feel younger, because it was more than decades that I did my last labour job as a secondary student.

Picking Blueberries in Newcastle [Ontario]

This morning 2 friends from Scarborough C&MA Church took me to a farm to pick blueberries. They will charge you according to the weight of the fruit. So I ate a lot when I picked them. The big ones went to the bucket and the smaller ones got swallowed by me. I enjoyed the process though I had to kneel down and the back ached sometimes. The job reminded me of picking lychees at home in Sha Ling. If dad was here, he would be very happy. When my host family saw the blueberries I took to them, they were greatly astonished.

Gym Gym Gym!!!

The building with red walls is YMCA at North York. I do weight training there at least 3 times a week.

It is even bigger than the California Fitness I used to go in TST, but with far fewer users. However, the monthly fee is higher. For good health and fitness, it's worthy.

I did walk back from there to home after a workout and it took 35 minutes. Good sweat and energy burning.

Doing Exercise is so Good!

I like jogging. On the right, you can see the venue I do jogging recently. There are 2 secondary schools near the place I stay now. They allow outsiders using the tracks. It takes only 1 minute from my room to the track.

Hopefully I will join Toronto [half] Marathon in October.

Orientation Program for New Teachers

Last night, I went to a counselling centre and learn more about getting a teaching job in Toronto/ Ontario. There were about 20 people of different nationalities. Most of them are from the Middle East while some are from Eastern Europe.



The key messages from the speaker are that,

1) Speaking good English is very essential
as the new teachers will need to communicate with the parents and colleagues. [I guess I should be alright with this requirement but I should learn more about the slangs and idioms which are widely used in this area]

2) Having some knowledge of the local classrooms,
like the curricula, the expectations on the teachers or being aware of cross-cultural taboos as the students here are of diversified ethnic origins

3) Get certified by Ontario Teachers College (OCT)
[today I will meet my aunt to collect the last document for certification purpose, the 'no-criminal record' and hopefully I will get my Interim Certificate to Teach soon]

4) Getting invloved in teaching as much as I can.
For example being a supply teacher in different schools and invite the principals or panel to observe my teching so that they will become local references. Therefore I should look for some part-time teaching jobs or become a voluteer teacher to teach Mandarin or English as a Second Language (ESL).


It's not simple to become a teacher here but challenges can make me tough and smart. I tell myself I will be teaching in a classroom here soon. Hope September comes as soon as possible.