Blog /In Suburban Isolation

January 18, 2011 00:22 +0000  |  Family Job Hunting Unemployment 4

I was considering going for the melodramatic and starting this post off with something like "I am in hell", but honestly, I can think of far worse places to be than in Kelowna. That's not to say that I'm a big fan of this place, or that I'd ever choose to live here, I'm just trying to keep things in perspective.

My parents have gone away for a few weeks on a much needed vacation, and since I'm not working at the moment, I offered to house-sit for them. My reasons for this weren't altogether selfless: I needed to get some isolation as well.

Living "on the coast" (that's what they call Vancouver and the surrounding areas here), I was too close to a lot of distractions. I have a social circle there, and living with the grandparents takes a toll on my sanity. I wasn't getting a lot done, and I wasn't really doing much in the way of thinking regarding my Where To Go From Here question either. Now, here in Kelowna, alone in an empty house with only an SUV to shuttle me around, a bubble in a tiny town full of bubbles, I find I can't really get away from myself and what must be done.

So far I've been pretty productive. I've taken the opportunity to learn Android, something I've been meaning to do ever since the O/S debuted a couple years ago. I'm progressing nicely and may even have my cartographic app ready before I finish up here. I'm also applying for work in a variety of exciting places: Dublin, Berlin, Stockholm, Paris, London, even Prague. The progress is slow however. Most companies prefer to hire locals (for obvious reasons) and it's tough to overcome that bias... if I'm even given the chance.

Nonetheless I'm in a unique position to be patient. There's a lot of work out there, I just need to learn how to access it as a foreigner to these places.

Before she left, my mother asked the all-important question: "What do you really want? What's your ideal job?" After talking about it some, we settled that at this point in my life, the location of the job is more important than the job itself, though I know from past experience that my work must be respectful and interesting if I'm going to enjoy my life in any city. I want the kind of work where understanding the language and local customs of somewhere interesting is part of the job. Maybe I don't *need* to live overseas to find that. I suppose my ideal job would be one where I could live in Toronto, but spend a rather large amount of time in some of the cities mentioned above.

Anyone know how someone with my skills can find work like that?

Anyway, I'll post again soon when I have something to show for my last few days of Android education.

Comments

theresa
18 Jan 2011, 12:31 a.m.  | 

i would be pretty happy to be off work for a few weeks and have a whole house to myself...it's all about perspective!

noreen
18 Jan 2011, 2:40 a.m.  | 

did you follow up with halifax?

Daniel
18 Jan 2011, 2:55 a.m.  | 

Nope. I never heard anything from Halifax, and have since decided against it -- in large part due to many of the comments left here.

Melanie
1 Feb 2011, 6:53 a.m.  | 

I actually think you do "need" to live in those cities. You're not happy with just vacationing in places, you want to know what it's actually like to LIVE there. You seem to crave an understanding of how cities work that can only come from being an actual resident. I don't think you'll be happy until you've lived in every interesting city you can think of.

I also think that the way you've been talking about Toronto lately, and how you seem to be missing it more than usual is a way for your fear to find voice. It's scary and it's hard to find work overseas, especially somewhere where English is not the first language. I think you're afraid of being unemployed because it makes you feel bad about yourself when you're not accomplishing anything, and it would be incredibly easy to go get a job in Toronto (where you have work experience and speak the language), and since you love Toronto, the idea is pretty seductive. Ultimately, though, I think that if you went back to Toronto now you would remain unfulfilled and move on again in a few years, probably feeling like you had wasted more time.

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