A Whole Lotta News

Wow. The last week and a half has been rather eventful, with a lot of big decisions being made, and a lot of monkey wrenches being thrown into the mix. My future, at the moment, is all up in the air, and I have no idea how it's all gonna pan out. You better be sitting down (well of course you are, I mean who reads a blog while standing?) cause some of what you are about to read may come as a shock.

I've decided to leave Prague.

(waits patiently for everyone to pick their jaw up off the ground.)

So, since I was leaving for the summer anyway (well, maybe, sorta, possibly - more on that in later on...) I've decided not to return to the Czech Republic in the fall. Instead, I've decided this fall to move to BARCELONA!

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

*background murmurs...* "Did he just say he's moving to SPAIN???" ..."He's gonna move to yet another country AGAIN!?"..."Barcelona!? Where the eff did that idea come from?!?"..."Wasn't it his BIG DREAM to live in PRAGUE for a few years???"

Whoa, simmer down, peeps. I know you're all aghast and excited. I've got a lot of explaining to do...

You may recall that before coming here I was planning on living in Prague for 2-3 years...

(everyone collectively and feverishly nods their heads)

Well, yeah that was the plan, but sometimes life has other things in store, and you gotta be flexible to change, especially as a foreigner living overseas. Trust me when I say that this decision did not come lightly. I've been doing a lot of soul-searching over the last few months, a lot of deep thinking and pondering, and have sadly come to the conclusion that I just can't afford to stay in Prague any longer. I love the city, I have a great life here - wonderful friends, a fab flat, good students - and really do enjoy living here, but the truth comes down to the fact that the money here is SHITE. My income here is the lowest that I've ever had, at any job, at any period in my life. It really is abysmal.

Yes, Prague is a relatively inexpensive place to live, especially in a European context as the cost of living here is dramatically lower than its Western neighbours. However, I have financial commitments back home (HELLO student loans) that I attempt to make monthly payments on. My income here is fairly low as it is, even for Czech standards (granted I'm still able to survive here) but it's near impossible to put anything away as savings. And when I am able to put a little money aside to send back home, the exchange rate just slaughters it. The Czech crown just doesn't go very far at all on the world market, and with the Canadian dollar being stronger than ever, I just can't keep up.

It's also pretty much impossible to do any travel here in Europe on this income. In the 8 months I've been here I've been able to see a lot of the Czech Republic, and have had two weekend trips away - to Berlin and Vienna - but each of those trips nearly broke the bank, and it's rather depressing to be finally here in Europe and not really able to see much of it. We all know how much Scotty loves to travel, and to be limited so much is like suffocating my soul. (No, I'm not dramatic at all.) Scotty needs to be a free man, and unfortunately we live in a world where a lot of the time it's only finances that permit such desired freedom. *sigh*

So, on to Barcelona! Why Barcelona you may ask? Well it's a city that I've always had it in the back of my mind as a possibility should I ever need another adventure post-Praha. Well 'post-Praha' has happened a lot sooner than I imagined it would, and so now Barcelona's been fast-forwarded up to this fall. I've never been there before, but have only heard great things about it. Anyone I've ever spoken with who's been there just raves about how much they loved it. Let's just say Barcelona's got a lot of eager beaver ambassadors/salespeople scattered around the world promoting the place!

And what's NOT to love? Hot sunny weather to keep you tanned year round, splendid beaches kissing the liquid bliss known as The Mediterranean, a treasure trove of architecture to nourish the soul, from the atmospheric Gothic Quarter to the hustle and bustle of Las Ramblas to the ever-under-construction sky-scraping eye-popping La Sagrada Familia, art galleries and museums famed the world over (Picasso and Gaudi and Dali! Oh my!), to a heart-thumping blood-pumping dancefloor-jumping nightlife that can keep pace with any city out there, to internationally-renowned cuisine (tapas, sangria, seafood, wine...mmm...) that is so delicious and inventive even neighbouring Cuisine King France is taking notice, to the most head-turning gorgeous local gene pool full that the gods above ever decided to bestow upon a people. HOLA!!!

It's all about fun, fashion, flavours, fiestas, fantasy, and any other enjoyable F-word that you can think of (wink wink!) This is a city made for The Hedonist's Life. Clearly Scotty belongs here!

I'm hoping to move there this September, and yes to teach again. And it seems like I've been able to recruit Oscar, my best buddy here in Prague, to return to his native Espana with me, so already I'm working on building my Catalunya Social Network! I know it won't be as easy to find a job there as it was in Prague (in Spain they often prefer to hire EU nationals) but I've got a lot of experience, and with my charms and this smile, who can say no? ;-) And hey any job I do get, at least I'll be making euros, which is a real proper currency (unlike the local one here which is worth about as much as Monopoly money) and so I should be able to save up a bit more.

So with this big piece of really fantastic news (anyone interested in a free place to stay with Yours Truly in Barcelona?) I do have some bad news to share as well. Yes, life likes to keep you balanced and grounded, doesn't it?

I just found out last Friday that my application for a UK permit has been denied. No work permit = no summer job in England. I found out via an email from TASIS, who are as shocked as I am about it. Apparently, according to the UK Home Office who issues work visas, I don't have enough teaching experience to receive a permit as a teacher. WTF?!? This is absolute bullshit, as I have twice as much teaching experience as my good friend Laurie, who's already been given a permit to teach there this summer. It doesn't make sense at all!

The news hit me hard, as I had planned my whole summer around this job - a teaching experience that I was really looking forward to, and also a financially-lucrative opportunity that would pay for my travel to/nest-egg in Barcelona. Suddenly everything was in jeopardy. I had already told my school here that I'd be leaving in mid-June, has told my flatmates that I'd be moving out in a month, and even already bought my plane ticket to London. The wheels had already been well put into motion for a summer in England, and now it's suddenly screeched to a halt. What am I going to do now?

Luckily, there's some hope on the horizon. TASIS has already filed an appeal and is hoping to change their minds and reverse their decision. Unfortunately, with the way that government bureaucracy works, the appeal won't be reviewed until May 31st. It will be a rather last-minute decision as I'm meant to fly to England on June 18th! Please keep your fingers crossed for me! I'm really hoping that they'll give me a permit in the end!!

But I've got a few other options as well that I'm keeping primed should England officially and forever fall through. When I applied for TASIS England I had also applied for the TASIS in Switzerland. I've been recently informed that they still have one position open, but at the moment there's other candidates that are being considered before me. The Director there seems like a real dick, but the job would be great so if they offer it to me you can bet I'll jump at it.

And should both England and Switzerland not work out, there's yet another option still. My lovely amazing wonderfully kind and generous parents have offered me a plane ticket home to Thunder Bay if I want it. I could come home for the summer, maybe try and get rehired at Starbucks, hang out with all my much-missed family and friends, and then fly straight to Barcelona in the fall. Summer is the best time of year to be in Thunder Bay, and it would be nice to spend some time at camp (the family cottage) too. It would be a fun summer for sure, even though it would be a lot less financially-rewarding than working in Europe.

Regardless of what happens, all the options and outcomes are good, as my wise mother has helped me to realize. So who knows where I'm gonna end up this June! England? Switzerland? Thunder Bay? Your guess is a good as mine...

Yes, never a dull moment in this boy's life!! :-p