Zebra... Job Hunt.. Ideas
So I was at Poplavok and after asking the waiter which cake he recommends from their dessert menu, I settled for the ZEBRA.
10 min. passed...
15 min. passed...
20 min. passed... I had almost even forgotten about my cake..
I called him over and politely asked:
"Ays ZEBRA-n Africayic e galis?" (and mind you, my friends and I are cracking up!)
No reaction. No smile. Nothing. He just walked away and 5 minutes later I had my Zebra.
On a more serious note... My job hunt still continues. I have to admit that it has been A LOT more difficult than I anticipated! I knew it wouldn't be easy, but at the same time I hadn't expected it to be THISSSS difficult! For a little while I felt as though there was a little black cloud following me to all the interviews. But this weekend I sat down and plumped up my resume a bit... tried to be less modest, and once again started to send it anywhere I thought I'd make a difference. So far this week I've been to one interview (a group interview-- first one I'd been to in Armenia), and I have another interview next week.
Someone asked me, "But what do you REALLY want to do?", and it is definitely open a preschool - kindergarten!!! I know I've said it before, but seriously my only problem is that I lack the financial capability of starting that project alone. I envision a daily preschool-kindergarten, with bilingual education, and optional extended care for working parents. I'd also like to have a Learning Center after 3pm for older students (much like Sylvan learning centers), where each student is evaluated and a curriculum is created based on her/his needs. Right now, I'm teaching English to a 5th grader everyday... I hope to get more students though.
Another project I thought of is to have a Summer Camp for diasporan kids (and of course local children may participate as well), much like YMCA day camps. During the summer, families who come to Armenia on a regular basis may enroll their kids to take day trips to different places and work on different projects - for example, a trip to Garni with canvases, paint, clay, etc. to recreate Garni in some sort of artform--and have a picnic! Or perhaps a scavengar hunt at Lake Sevan.... things like this. Let's see....
That's it for now....
TSUH! :)
10 min. passed...
15 min. passed...
20 min. passed... I had almost even forgotten about my cake..
I called him over and politely asked:
"Ays ZEBRA-n Africayic e galis?" (and mind you, my friends and I are cracking up!)
No reaction. No smile. Nothing. He just walked away and 5 minutes later I had my Zebra.
On a more serious note... My job hunt still continues. I have to admit that it has been A LOT more difficult than I anticipated! I knew it wouldn't be easy, but at the same time I hadn't expected it to be THISSSS difficult! For a little while I felt as though there was a little black cloud following me to all the interviews. But this weekend I sat down and plumped up my resume a bit... tried to be less modest, and once again started to send it anywhere I thought I'd make a difference. So far this week I've been to one interview (a group interview-- first one I'd been to in Armenia), and I have another interview next week.
Someone asked me, "But what do you REALLY want to do?", and it is definitely open a preschool - kindergarten!!! I know I've said it before, but seriously my only problem is that I lack the financial capability of starting that project alone. I envision a daily preschool-kindergarten, with bilingual education, and optional extended care for working parents. I'd also like to have a Learning Center after 3pm for older students (much like Sylvan learning centers), where each student is evaluated and a curriculum is created based on her/his needs. Right now, I'm teaching English to a 5th grader everyday... I hope to get more students though.
Another project I thought of is to have a Summer Camp for diasporan kids (and of course local children may participate as well), much like YMCA day camps. During the summer, families who come to Armenia on a regular basis may enroll their kids to take day trips to different places and work on different projects - for example, a trip to Garni with canvases, paint, clay, etc. to recreate Garni in some sort of artform--and have a picnic! Or perhaps a scavengar hunt at Lake Sevan.... things like this. Let's see....
That's it for now....
TSUH! :)
posted by shooosh at 3:14 PM
13 Comments:
Shoosh, I love your sense of humor! The zebra story cracked me up.
In regards to your job hunt, I think opening a school, learning center, and summer camp are all great ideas. I would recommend that you start working on your business plan for each and you never know who might come along and want to help make it happen! I especially love the summer camp idea. That's something that does not have overhead costs and most expenses can be recouped by the camp fees. DO IT! ;)
Hi Shoosh,
You don't know me, but I was told about your plans to open up the school from you cousin, and I offered a list of organizations that would be willing to help you. If you want to leave your email, I can email you some info.
I'm looking forward to hearing about your plans for this school, and helping out in any way I can. Let me know.
Barev Shooosh john,
I love your ideas!! They are breathtaking, especially the summer camp idea!!!! So let me know how much you need!!! You can email me: teternak@sbcglobal.net. I'm serious. I will be moving to Armenia in June 2008.
Carolin
Regarding the Zebra reaction, I visited Armenia for the first time this year. (Raffi, if you read this message, I'm the guy you bumped into in behind Hrabarak the other day.)
Anyway, I had heard all this stuff about hospitality of the locals and we didn't feel any of that. On the contrary, we felt spit on in almost every sphere. That includes restaurants and cafes like Jazzve.
That's why that Zebra thing struck a cord.
The general mentality I understood was that I was a chore as a tourist and I was wasting their time. And I always tried my best to speak Hyeren and blend in, but nobody helped me or appreciated the effort.
Almost nobody was curious about me or where I was from or what I do.
I talked to other spyurkahyes and they had the same story. Another spyurkahye I talked to mentioned this to his hotel receptionist and she said she hears these complaints all the time.
Is it that Hayastantsis give bad service in general, or is there some kind of backlash against diasporans and/or tourists these days?
Why did you have to wait half an hour for a desert? This happened to me regularly at the cafes. And again, with no smile, no reaction, no warmth or hospitality whatsoever.
Looks like you'd better start thinking of names for your school, Shoosh :-)
Hi George - I remember you... it's always good to bump into a reader. Your experience makes me suspect that you never left the beaten track while you were in Armenia. Did you stick to Yerevan and package tours? If so, then everyone you met has already seen 10,000 like you before. If you took a Marshutni to Ijevan, or rented a car and drove to Meghri, or camped/hiked... believe me, you'd have a totally different experience!
You'd better hike the Janapar early next year before it becomes overrun with tourists ;-) www.janapar.org
My email is shooshigavakian@hotmail.com
Raffi,
Yes! That's exactly what we did. :-)
And yes, that was the feeling I had, like they had seen a million of me before.
So, perhaps the mentality may be comparable to, say, a jaded New Yorker.
Be that as it may, if tourism is going to develop in the country, I shouldn't get a feeling of negative treatment as a tourist at the end of the day.
If I were a foreigner, it could deter me from returning. It could also make me bad mouth the country to my friends back home.
Keep in mind that the average tourist will not go off the beaten track in most countries.
This is not to say that I didn't enjoy Armenia, we had a great time. That was only one negative aspect we noticed among others. You have to take the good with the bad together.
I saw those pictures of the Janapar. Looks awesome.
You're right, good service is about making everyone feel special, again and again. But I must say Jezzve has a HORRIBLE reputation for service. I think it's only so popular because people want to sit near the Jezzve VIP sofas... I dunno, just a theory, but yeah, don't go there if you want good service. Go to L'Orange, Artbridge, etc...
Shoosh,
Don't know if you've done this already, but check out some of the kindergartens in the villages (not yerevan)... horrible conditions, might help your vision.
I've heard a lot about service in Armenia and also experianced bad as well as good services. I came to a conclusion why it's so hard to have a good and polite service in Armenia. Thats because we armenians being a proud nation cant serve to each other. The one who is served becomes proud that oh u see u can do whatever I order and the one who serves is not happy that he serves such people.I can imagine what could happen with a philipino waiter or waitress if they start to work in Armenia!
Anyway I think all nation must have a training on how to serve and how to be served.
I don't think it is pride or anything of the sort. There is one thing LACKING in Armenia... "consideration for others". NOBODY is considerate for anyone else. This is why people don't know how to stand in line (and a football game turns into a disaster), or why elevators have ice cream wrappers and trash in them, or why littering is ok, or why it is an utter disaster if a stoplight stops working... etc.
It alllllllll boils down to NOT treating others how you'd like others to treat you. Asdudzo badveranneren e....
shoosh i agree that there is sometimes a lack of consideration but at the same time i have experienced generous help in hayastan, both in yerevan and in the gyughs.
there been plenty of times where i have had to push a taxi and others would help out and i would do the same to others, there are other instances as well.
Dear Shoosh,
Thanks for your opinion.
The lack of consideration I faced more in spyurq than in Armenia (excuse me but among many spyurqahayer also).As we have heard a lot in western culture it's normal that you will not know even who is your neighbor and if you need any help so go and help yourself. It's not the same in Armenia. Here people care about each other in many ways. Foreigners are surprised when someone will come to you in the street and will help you. Just I say there is a lack of education how to serve and how to be served. This needs time and practice.
As to littering, it’s an international problem.
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