I heard Friday from the VP of my office that he didn't think it would work for me to telecommute from Belgium. This was really kind of a blow. It may have been because it's just been an emotional time lately. But the VP's assistant had told me she thought he was leaning towards letting me do it, so I really had my hopes up. It would have made the transition so much easier.
The Fullbright folks have said that it's really difficult to get a work visa in Belgium and that even if you do it's "virtually impossible" to get a job. If anybody has tips for living cheaply in Europe, let us know. Or does anyone have ideas on how I can spend my time since I'll be without a job? This will be really strange for me and I'm finding that I'm nervous about how I will fill my time while Troy is working. I was trying to look into volunteer opportunities but it's been hard to find things like that online.
If any of you know me very well, you know that I really struggle with change. I know that ultimately it will be good for me to experience living in another country but I'm terrified.
Anyone know of telecommuting jobs for an editor/writer? I can also take decent photos and do basic website work.
Troy got home last night from NIME and my aunt and uncle and their 3 kids are coming today to stay with us for a week. It's been a crazy whirlwind around here but it will be really fun to see family. Any ideas for fun activities for teens/pre-teens around C-Ville?
5 comments:
Bummer. :(
I don't have any money tips, unfortunately. But there are tons of ways to spend your time!!!
1) Learn one of the languages they speak in the area.
2) Pick a photography project (old buildings, people, etc.) and make yourself spend 2 hours everyday taking pictures. [Or before you go, pick up a book on a technical issue - like light, composition, etc. - that you want to work on and then work on it!]
3) Investigate Belgian cooking, baking, and gardening. I'll bet you can find some cookbooks in English. You can also spend time figuring out the grocery stores and exploring new ingredients. And there are probably "specialty" food shops that are just waiting for you to find them.
4) Plan and organize day and weekend trips in the area - there have to be hiking areas and such which will be free and accessible.
5) Once you get there, I bet volunteer activities will be easier to find. You might also meet people who need an English tutor or someone to practice conversational English with.
It's fun to live vicariously through you and Troy's adventure. I know it's a lot scarier when you have to do it for real. But you'll find stuff to do!
Hi sweetie, I know how you feel. :( It is terrifying. It's ok to acknowledge that! Sorry to hear about your job!! I know how hard you worked to find the job and do a great job with it! It is odd that the VP of Research isn't understanding about this RESEARCH trip.
Alli's suggestions are great! And makes it feel more like your research trip as well, which it is, right? You want to live in another country, learn, and grow, be inspired, and see where life takes you next. I would think about the things you most love and where you want your career to go next, and then see if you can work on something related to that while you're there. Develop a public blog around some theme or issue? Develop a book project?
Is there an American High School over there? (for American residents living abroad.) My aunt and uncle have taught (in English) at those all over the world.
I think you will make friends once you get there. Fulbright is all about sharing and community. You'll meet other Fulbrighters and their families, the staff of the Fulbright office, other students and teachers at the University.
Hang in there! I'll look forward to chatting more in person next week!
Thanks for the great ideas and support Alli and Shana!
Good luck with all the changes you are going through:) I'm sure it'll be exciting though.
One small idea I had that's usually telecommuted (in line with editor/writer type thing) is professional blogging. Many of them don't pay all that well, but I've seen lots of opportunity in that, and I bet there are travel related ones.
I'm sure there will be plenty of interesting thing to do when you get there, but if (...and a BIG if!) there's absolutely nothing, I"m sure it'll be good to learn to do nothing too. Todd is having hard time trying to learn how to do nothing (for health reasons!) even for a short while...
One thing about volunteering is that in US (which might be completely different than Belgium), I wasn't allowed to volunteer without a work visa!! ...so you might check on that if you care, though I doubt people really get in trouble for that. My mom (when abroad without work visa with my father) usually found language partners to learn different languages through conversation (it's fun, you learn something, and its free!).
I'm wishing you well!!
kyoko
Thanks for the insight and good wishes Kyoko. I think it would be good to learn to do nothing too b/c I often have a hard time relaxing. Maybe it's a good time to get into meditation and yoga. Interesting about volunteering and a work visa. I should definitely check into that too!
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