Nya Halcyon
Sep 13th, 2009, 02:55:30 PM
Well, as of tomorrow, I'll be starting out on my new career as a teacher at one of the Waldorf/Steiner schools nearby. This officially counts as my practical year, so I'll be all over the school, standing in for whoever gets sick, in whatever subject (spanning grades 1 to 8 and ranging from the basics to astronomy, house-building, zoology, etc), trying to get as much and as diverse an insight into the system as I can.
I'll also be teaching English (as a foreign language) to the first and second grade. I'm actually a fully qualified teacher for that now, which is a scary thought, kinda. It brings an awful lot of responsibility, and at the moment I'm probably as scared as I am awed at that... if I'm not going to get their interest in the first grade, chances are they're never going to be interested in it later...
Fortunately I don't have to start with that until mid October, since both grades have French until then, or no languages yet (in 1st grade they only have the basic three subjects until November). I'll have a chance to get used to the school, and get to know the students, which is worth a lot and will make things easier (I hope). I'll actually spend these first two weeks assisting in the 2nd grade, and I already have met that class before. And after that, I'll most likely spend the time until Christmas with the 1st grade, so they'll know me, too, by the time I get to teach them in English.
Anyway... the downside of all this is that I don't get paid more than for the English classes I give. Since this is still part of my own degree course, I don't get paid for the assistant work... in fact, I pretty much only got to teach English because the school felt it had to give me something after I got turned down for a scholarship I applied to (which was basically their fault since they didn't sign the contract papers in time), which means I am getting about 350 € a month. Which is... nothing. Which means I've got to survive somehow, depending on my parents' aid even more than I did last year, when I got almost 3 times as much. I'm not even certain my health insurance is still covered by that.... which is seriously worrisome, since my daughter was insured with me, and without that.... well, it's safe to say I'm pretty much screwed. What little bit I get pretty much is going towards Nya's school fees and my travel expenses to work ... I can't get a second job either because I have to keep my days freed up in case I have to jump in for someone else in the afternoons! Besides, I'm not allowed to work elsewhere, or I'll break the contract with the seminar offering the teaching degree at the end of this year.
So I've decided to try making money with various bits and pieces. One of the things I've always been doing is making all kinds of herbal remedies and teas and salves - and lately also lotions and creams, etc. I'll be putting up some of these up on my website, so people can buy them.... I know most of you are in the US and shipping's not cheap, but maybe some of you might be interested in buying something anyway...
I'm also going to put up a few of the crafts items I've been making, like some of the felted figurines I made in the past and can make again. If anyone's interested. Pictures will follow....
Maybe I'll even convince my dad to let me sell some of his dear beloved schnaps.... and honey...
So... well.... maybe you could remember this whenever you need something like that. If ever. I don't want to go around making a big fuss and trying to get everyone to buy something and getting on everyone's nerves with it - just wanted to post this once and tell you how things are and maybe some of you might like something. It might even still take a bit until I have the shop thing up, since I've got to make fresh batches of stuff and take pictures, etc, but if anyone is interested, I can make a list and post it somewhere.
Uhm.... so, to get to the second topic: I'm looking for a specific kind of rose for one of the salves, any thought I'd post it here and see if anyone's got it and could possibly send me a bunch of petals (since I can't buy them off anywhere other than ebay Australia from some guy with outrageous shipping fees). The rose is of the Rosa Gallica (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rosa_gallica) variety, also known as Apothecary's Rose. You can read more about it on the linked Wiki page, and here's a picture:
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/3a/Rosa_gallica3.jpg
Basically, all I would need is a few handfuls of the dried petals, which should come in abundance anywhere this rose is blooming (which it should still be doing now). It's not growing anywhere around here, unfortunately - at least not in any garden of people I've asked so far.
I'll also be teaching English (as a foreign language) to the first and second grade. I'm actually a fully qualified teacher for that now, which is a scary thought, kinda. It brings an awful lot of responsibility, and at the moment I'm probably as scared as I am awed at that... if I'm not going to get their interest in the first grade, chances are they're never going to be interested in it later...
Fortunately I don't have to start with that until mid October, since both grades have French until then, or no languages yet (in 1st grade they only have the basic three subjects until November). I'll have a chance to get used to the school, and get to know the students, which is worth a lot and will make things easier (I hope). I'll actually spend these first two weeks assisting in the 2nd grade, and I already have met that class before. And after that, I'll most likely spend the time until Christmas with the 1st grade, so they'll know me, too, by the time I get to teach them in English.
Anyway... the downside of all this is that I don't get paid more than for the English classes I give. Since this is still part of my own degree course, I don't get paid for the assistant work... in fact, I pretty much only got to teach English because the school felt it had to give me something after I got turned down for a scholarship I applied to (which was basically their fault since they didn't sign the contract papers in time), which means I am getting about 350 € a month. Which is... nothing. Which means I've got to survive somehow, depending on my parents' aid even more than I did last year, when I got almost 3 times as much. I'm not even certain my health insurance is still covered by that.... which is seriously worrisome, since my daughter was insured with me, and without that.... well, it's safe to say I'm pretty much screwed. What little bit I get pretty much is going towards Nya's school fees and my travel expenses to work ... I can't get a second job either because I have to keep my days freed up in case I have to jump in for someone else in the afternoons! Besides, I'm not allowed to work elsewhere, or I'll break the contract with the seminar offering the teaching degree at the end of this year.
So I've decided to try making money with various bits and pieces. One of the things I've always been doing is making all kinds of herbal remedies and teas and salves - and lately also lotions and creams, etc. I'll be putting up some of these up on my website, so people can buy them.... I know most of you are in the US and shipping's not cheap, but maybe some of you might be interested in buying something anyway...
I'm also going to put up a few of the crafts items I've been making, like some of the felted figurines I made in the past and can make again. If anyone's interested. Pictures will follow....
Maybe I'll even convince my dad to let me sell some of his dear beloved schnaps.... and honey...
So... well.... maybe you could remember this whenever you need something like that. If ever. I don't want to go around making a big fuss and trying to get everyone to buy something and getting on everyone's nerves with it - just wanted to post this once and tell you how things are and maybe some of you might like something. It might even still take a bit until I have the shop thing up, since I've got to make fresh batches of stuff and take pictures, etc, but if anyone is interested, I can make a list and post it somewhere.
Uhm.... so, to get to the second topic: I'm looking for a specific kind of rose for one of the salves, any thought I'd post it here and see if anyone's got it and could possibly send me a bunch of petals (since I can't buy them off anywhere other than ebay Australia from some guy with outrageous shipping fees). The rose is of the Rosa Gallica (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rosa_gallica) variety, also known as Apothecary's Rose. You can read more about it on the linked Wiki page, and here's a picture:
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/3a/Rosa_gallica3.jpg
Basically, all I would need is a few handfuls of the dried petals, which should come in abundance anywhere this rose is blooming (which it should still be doing now). It's not growing anywhere around here, unfortunately - at least not in any garden of people I've asked so far.