Freelance Teacher, Vilnius, Lithuania

Though after the last camp with 30 mixed age and mixed level students per groups
I swore never to take on another summer camp, here I go again. I guess it’s
the same thing with smokers who say they’ll quit tomorrow, but that tomorrow
keeps not coming. The good thing is that this time it’s only ten of the kids,
the place is across the street from my office, and we agreed that I will not
take money but coupons to sports centre that organizes the camp. In this way
I don’t need to pay any taxes, neither do they.

Today we did numbers. The kids (aged 6-10) knew them well (except for a few smaller ones)
and it was tooe asy for them. Luckily I had flashcards with pets and classroom objects just
in case, and they knew them well too, so we played memory games. Tomorrow I’m
giving them fruit and vegetable and we might make a poster. The problem is that they are very
lively and keep running about shouting. I think that it’s their summer time and it’s no need
to fill their heads with grammar or anything. We’re going to do some work on more complex vocabulary.

I took my certificate from guide courses and now can proudly frame it on the wall.
So far no job offers re to my emails, so whenever I get a free moment this week I am
going to attack a few agencies in person with cv in hand.

Intensive courses fail to form groups for the second month in a row. I hope July is going
to be better because June is practically hungry as far as my diary goes. We have this
economic crisis plus people want to spend their summer relaxed even though they get only a month for holiday.
I hope there’ll be another summer camp coming *shiver*.

Well, after a period of long silence I finally have some news.

First of all, my application for the training course in London
did not receive funding and that means I will have to break
my piggy-bank.

Next, the city guides course is about to reach the final point. At
the end of April I will be a certified guide and will be able to
offer my service for speakers of Lithuanian, English and Russian.

My tax return was return (pun?) to redo. That’s not nice but manageable.
I hope to get trhough this on Monday because on Tuesday I’mt aking my
spring break for Easter and this year it’s Malta.

I have many calls about private lessons, many individual students would
like to hire me, unfortunately, I cannot find the time for them all. My point this
summer is to try and form groups and spend the rest of it while
guiding. Tourist tips can sometimes exceed the rate for the excursion.

Tomorrow I have a trip to Trakai to do. This is a part of the guides course
to obtain a certificate for getting the permission to have excursions in the
Trakai castle peninsula. Just google it up!

Pardon typos, if any. Too excited!

I visited the annual book fair in Vilnius today. I spent about 100lt on books
that might be useful for my city guide work. I have passed my history and
geography tests and now the part for art and architecture is due to start.

I have one group of students, one pair of students and many individual students.
My current timetable starts at noon and continues into late evening. I spend
a few mornings for my private Italian lessons that I decided to continue.

My trip to London is now certain. I have had the guts to submit the paperwork
to get Grundvig funding and their reply is due to the end of this month.

I have uploaded some photos of Vilnius right here:
Vilnius

Just a short post to get this blog on top of the list

My life is now divided between private lessons and guide courses.
This term I have more people to teach and hopefully that will
continue into the spring. Guide courses are really interesting
but the practical part with mock excursions really leaves
a lot to be desired.

I’ve been taking photos of Vilnius lately. Here are some for your enjoyment.
It’s the most beautiful city in the world, no matter how *they *don’t want us
brag that.

It’s the 2nd of Jan, 2009. Being a public holiday (the nation’s too hangoverish
to report to work) it will last until the 5th.

The fireworks from the Cathedral Square were supposed to be seen
‘from space’ but the fog ruined it all. It was best on TV. The city is
filled with events and shows but it’s too cold for my taste (-6′C).

I have resigned from my teaching position at the college. I heard my
mom swear at that O_______O. I just got tired and bored, don’t know
which came first. It wasn’t about the salary either- I knew what it was
when I picked it up. I just need a break. I still have two weeks to
work until I leave, that’s the notice period. I guess I act kind of
irresposnible but I just hate wasting my precious time for a dead cause.

More news…1) I started filling in my private students timetable. Christmas
break is aprticularly notorious because the whole nation’s on holiday. I
expect the book to start in mid-January. 2) I paid for an advert on
an online portal of 1588.lt, they give info on phone or by email. They split
my bill in 4 parts so that’s not going to hurt…much. 3) I already have
a private student who wants 10 lessons intensively because he’s leaving in
a week’s time. He agreed to my rates but the trick is the weekends’ lessons
are at his place. Well, his girlfriend’s place, I assume. I wasn’t sure about it
but he was recommended by a friend and agrees to pay upfront, as I usually
charge upfront. Today’s the first lesson. 4) I paid for my business licence
but the line was huge and it will be issued only next week. The taxes
and bills keep creeping up, Vilnius is not a capital of culture but
a capital of crisis.

I need to remember to water my plants.

A handful of news.

First of all, I did enroll to a guide course. In April I will be a certified guide and will
be available for hire in English and Lithuanian. I will show Vilnius to foreign and
local tourists as the European capital of culture 2009. I also joined the city ambassador
programme and am a proud holder of the information pack. And there was an
anime show in the cinema that local anime lovers organised!

Next, I am still paying for my trip to London. It’s now definitely two weeks long:
one week for studies and one week for sightseeing. I’m still working on
the list of sights to include. Hey, would anyone host me?

Also, on Easter holidays I am going to Malta for a week. It’s going to be a
relaxing holiday with bits of sightseeing. I’m coming with my mom (again ).
There isn’t much information online about this island and what sights are not to
be missed, so please tip me off.

It seems that my business certificate won’t change and I hope I will not
close down my private teaching practice next year. Becoming a certified guide
might help me through slow summer months and be a nice change.

It’s getting Christmas-like and I’m broke. On the other hand, I have much free time.

http://www.culturelive09.lt/lt/main/

Okay, today I booked host family accommodation. It’s a single room
with half board. They say it’s ten minutes walk to the school. I will
probably need a third job to pay for the two weeks in London.

Tomorrow I am going to talk about courses for guides. One travel agency
is running a course beginning this week. It’s 6 months long but possibly
I can have extra work as a guide in summer, when it’s a tourist season
and privates are low. That is overlapping with my future Italian studies and
I don’t want to quit either of these.

I’m very tired and really need holidays. I wish I could work less and
have more time for myself.

I’m planning to go on a teacher development course
in London next August. I have already paid the deposit.
I want to have much time to plan my trip in great detail
with as little expences as possible, though that trip
is definitely a hole in my budget.

My private students already decided about December
and I’m probably be out of work for three weeks. I don’t mind since
I have been saving for this break, and I really hope to
have enough time to sleep, relax, go to the cinema and do
some other activities.

I got into Feng Shui now

Our new parliament has just finished giving their oaths and a new
Prime Minister is being proposed.

The hole in the budget is horrible. The new government is going to
propose to have all taxes be 20%, including the VAT one (current VAT is 18%).
That means that freelancers who have been paying 15% tax might have to
pay more. They also want to do away with freelancer business certificates just
as the one that I have, and that’s terrible news.

And so, here I am, back from my trip to Stockholm. The weather
was generally nice, with occasional showers and strong wind. I
was wearing my fur coat so it was okay.

The hostel we stayed in was very conveniently located next to
the underground stop, and it was 4 minutes by it to the old
town. We bought Stockholm Card for free public transport and
visited a number of museums. The food wasn’t good but we
didn’t have any choice.

The prices there are something out of this world! Everything was
very expensive as for our teacher’s salary. However, the same malady
goes for Vilnius: I’ve just returned from the mall. I bought a pair of
jeans and two sweaters because I’m almost wearing rags, and I paid
the price of a one-way plane ticket (economy class). I still want
a new coat but that’s not until next fall.

Tomorrow is a public holiday due to All Saints. I willt ry to do
some lesson preparation or just head for the cinema.