"I have to take this call," my boss said, stood up from the table and walked outside.
I looked at my cup of tea. I looked out of the window. I looked at the other people around me, sitting and eating and talking. I was in one of my favourite cafes in a photo exhibition building in a city creative centre.
"So this is my life now," I thought to myself.
It's a thought that visits me sometimes. Like when I look out of my living room window in a middle of home office working day. Or when I drive for two hours though small roads of Estonia to reach a school to give a workshop. Or when I sit in a meeting at a university helping to plan a professional development course for first-year teachers.
It's not often. My boss comes to the city only once a month, and the driving happens a few times a month, and the planning meetings are all new. The home office days are every week, and I am still surprised to find myself working from home with the peace and quiet and my own pace.
The coaching and workshops at schools I feel closest to what my job used to be. Now that I don't have my own students, it's comforting for me to see kids moving like particles during the breaks at school.
I had always wondered who are the people who can go to a cafe in a middle of a day besides teachers on holidays, retired ladies, and writers. Now I can say, I do.
Today after the meeting in a cafe my boss and I went to another meeting with education foundation representatives.
So this is my life now.
Your slice tells so much about your your new position by cleverly describing where you are doing the work. After so many years being inside the 4 walls of a classroom, no wonder it feels so different being in a coffee shop on a school day. You've captured an aspect of your new position so well. And I say "Lucky teachers" who get to learn alongside you now!
ReplyDeleteI am sure this feels so different, but you are reaching so many more students with the work you are doing now. Enjoy these moments and know you are still doing important work!
ReplyDeleteYour post has captured the feeling of being in a new situation so well, and maybe the regrets, missing your former teaching position.
ReplyDeleteA great description of a common feeling among those (of us) who have left the demanding classroom teaching profession for one with more freedom of time. You are still making quite a difference in the activities you have chosen. Enjoy that coffee!
ReplyDeleteWe had PD day today, and my friend and I went to a cafe to pick up lunch. We wondered what all the people sitting and eating do for work and envied them their one hour lunch. I would miss my students, too.
ReplyDeleteME TOO!!! Any time I'm out somewhere on a holiday, PD day, summer, or most recently, maternity leave, I almost always say, "These people don't work." LOL. It's ridiculous that I don't imagine positions in which people's schedules look much different than mine! I hope you are delighting in this new change!
ReplyDeleteTerje, I'm so glad you are stopping to assess and realize this is your life now, and it is a good one, it seems. A new chapter where you can actually take a moment to sip tea. Wow! Something you may have only dreamt of in the past, but here you are. I hope you enjoy it as long as it suits you and you choose to continue.
ReplyDeleteI can hear the newness of it all, and the surprise that you can actually sit at a cafe in the middle of the day. You can't do that when you work in a school. I'm glad you're finding your new rhythm and pace of life. I'd love to hear more about this new life of yours!
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