Today I think I finished my current NYC English as a foreign language teaching job. I'm not sure yet... it's been a weird year to say the least. I kept expecting this job to end for various reasons the past year, and even thought I'd have to find a new job/profession years ago. The dollar was too strong, the state department cut visa approvals in half, and then a deadly pandemic threatened to put us out of business. Then I didn't have enough hours and thought I needed to quit, but they gave me more. Then we got bought out and they sold the location where I work, but the class has been the same for half a year. I've been reporting to work 3/5 a week for the past month, remembering what it's like to live in New York City after a year away, but the students mostly haven't. They've stayed online. That's contributed to my decision to to take off the next three-month session for various reasons. Mostly, I just want to focus on sorting through piles of writing that have accumulated over the past decade, but just as importantly, I technically don't have a residence in the city, as I've been staying in a friend's extra bedroom (his roommate also left during the pandemic). But I do have a free place to stay in, and it's far from subways, city humidity, asphalt, sirens, other people's bass and anything remotely resembling a crowd.
I will write a longer post in a few days when I've had some time to digest this milestone. Last night my subconscious was well aware it was my "NYC morning routine" day, so of course it kept me awake until some time after Thursday, and therefore it's been hard to be too emotional about anything today, although I will think often of these English as a foreign language students I've met in New York City
