Tomorrow, I get to tell my boss I'm leaving. I finally found a place that can work around my schedule and get me the hours I need.
For those of you that don't know, I work in Taiwan. There is a strange thing about Visas here. I live here on a resident Visa that I can only get if I have a work permit. I can only have a work permit if I have a job. Due to that Visa situation, it's not an easy thing to leave a job. If you just up and quit a job and it's considered breaking a contract, the school can put that down as your reason for leaving and when you try to get another work permit, you're denied and have to move back home.
So now imagine a Montessori person in a school situation where screaming and hitting children is the norm. I can't tell you how many times I've stood between a teacher and a student and, as a result, have gotten in trouble for it. It used to bother me until one day I said, "Aha! I'm able to sleep at night because of what I do. If I did nothing, I would hate myself."
As a result of me getting involved, many of the teachers at the school don't want to work with me. I'm great to work with if they're not nasty to the children (and they all aren't). But I can understand why someone who has issues and chooses to take it out on children do not want to work with me. So I have fewer hours. Thank God! Fewer hours means the school broke contract with me which means, in essence, I'm not a part of that contract any more. So I can go in tomorrow and let them know that I found another job, to transfer my ARC (Alien Resident Card...similar to a US Green Card) to my new employer and, if they don't like it, I can take them to court and get it done PLUS seek back pay for the lesser hours.
Since I started in August, I'll be the 6th foreign teacher that has left to never return again. You think they would start to look at the track record if (after being in business for 8 years) no foreign teacher ever signed a second year contract. Oh well. Not my problem any more :-)
I just had to say how excited I am. I hope things go well. Pray for me tomorrow.
Matt Bronsil
For those of you that don't know, I work in Taiwan. There is a strange thing about Visas here. I live here on a resident Visa that I can only get if I have a work permit. I can only have a work permit if I have a job. Due to that Visa situation, it's not an easy thing to leave a job. If you just up and quit a job and it's considered breaking a contract, the school can put that down as your reason for leaving and when you try to get another work permit, you're denied and have to move back home.
So now imagine a Montessori person in a school situation where screaming and hitting children is the norm. I can't tell you how many times I've stood between a teacher and a student and, as a result, have gotten in trouble for it. It used to bother me until one day I said, "Aha! I'm able to sleep at night because of what I do. If I did nothing, I would hate myself."
As a result of me getting involved, many of the teachers at the school don't want to work with me. I'm great to work with if they're not nasty to the children (and they all aren't). But I can understand why someone who has issues and chooses to take it out on children do not want to work with me. So I have fewer hours. Thank God! Fewer hours means the school broke contract with me which means, in essence, I'm not a part of that contract any more. So I can go in tomorrow and let them know that I found another job, to transfer my ARC (Alien Resident Card...similar to a US Green Card) to my new employer and, if they don't like it, I can take them to court and get it done PLUS seek back pay for the lesser hours.
Since I started in August, I'll be the 6th foreign teacher that has left to never return again. You think they would start to look at the track record if (after being in business for 8 years) no foreign teacher ever signed a second year contract. Oh well. Not my problem any more :-)
I just had to say how excited I am. I hope things go well. Pray for me tomorrow.
Matt Bronsil
, and take care of yourself. 
Are there any Montessori schools in Taiwan?
: I hope your current employer doesn't cause you any problems.
