Job begins in 3...2...

I can't remember whether I've written previously about my job sitch (that stands for 'situation' in douche. I'll refrain from further use of such dialect). Perhaps partly because I still carry around some baggage about not 'using' my PhD - even after almost 2 years, I get many well-meaning people whose first reaction is "Biomedical research Ph.D.? But you could get any job you wanted here - there are so many universities and pharma companies!"
Yes, thank you, but likely I do not know you well enough to go into my decision to walk away from research science, so I will just nod vaguely instead. This isn't awkward at all.

I haven't written about my job(s) because...well, I'm not sure. A myriad of things, I suppose. I felt that I didn't yet have a 'career.' None of the various jobs I do requires significant enough time investment to feel I can lay claim to the job title(s). But neither does hausfrau sit well with me, so I just don't talk about it at all. Thanks to B's job, I can choose to work, a position I've never been in and - frankly - never been close with anyone who has. I have strange feelings of guilt, privilege, and amazement pretty much daily.
Friends and family probably think I'm spending all my days lounging on a glacier, admiring the Alps, sipping tea and crocheting (if that ever becomes a paying job somehow, I am ON IT). Meanwhile, the more realistic picture is that I am doing laundry, cleaning, running errands, and working with whatever bits and pieces, job-wise, I could find.

When I left the US in early 2013, I was editing scientific manuscripts for a company in the US. I loved the job, but the pay rate, while lovely for some extra spending cash (in USD, of course), didn't go far in Switzerland. Then I joined a Writer's Group in Zurich and somehow was hired to write an Expat Guidebook for an online relocation company (still working on it, going well), a job that I was SUPER excited to get (Look, Ma, I'm a real-live writer!), but it's temporary and I have no real qualifications (got it through sheer dumb luck), so that didn't feel like a 'real' job either. Or at least one that I could point to as a career in any way.

Teaching English is often the default of trailing spouses, so when such a job fell into my lap in the spring of 2014, I shrugged it off as 'not really news.' Yes, one of my classes is teaching ESL research scientists to improve their communication (so my hiring was actually due to my Ph.D. background), but my other classes are general English conversation, and besides I'm only teaching 3 classes/week, although I do spend some time every week grappling with lesson plans. Again, I felt that my lack of qualifications somehow prevented me from claiming credit for the job.

(After typing all this, I realize I may have some weird issues. But those are not the focus, at least in this post).

So I am super excited to announce that next month I will be starting yet another job (don't worry, I've dropped the manuscript editing and a significant volunteer time commitment to make room. I do like to sleep). It's 30%, so another part-time endeavor, but it's an open-end contract (i.e., permanent) and feels career-like. It's my first job in Switzerland that involves colleagues, structure, etc - even a few benefits. I'm a big ol' mixture of nerves and excitement. As of next week, I will be a high school biology teacher at a private school here in Zurich. The school uses the British system (my German is nowhere near good enough to teach in), but the majority of students are, in fact, Swiss. I can't allow the students to speak Swiss German during class/lecture, but I'm looking forward to being in a work environment in which I can at least hear the local language regularly.

I am grateful for such a chance - I came here with teaching in mind as a possibility, but it turned out that most international schools have a large talent pool to select from (so many expats in Zurich!), so they can require such minor things as, oh, a teaching certification. I actually applied to this school last fall to cover maternity leave (their ad said that a teaching certification was "preferred," but I had every other qualification they listed). I was called in for an interview, gave a sample lesson, met people, the whole deal. At the end, I was disappointed not to get the job - everybody was super nice, the vice-principal said that it was unusual to have two such qualified candidates, he felt I was a 'natural' at teaching, etc. I tried to be flattered that I had come so close, but I was pretty disappointed - being natural is not something I can put on my CV, unfortunately, and I knew I had few possibilities elsewhere.

So imagine my surprise when the school called three weeks ago to ask if I was still interested in a position. Turns out they weren't just blowing smoke! I jumped at the chance. I love teaching high schoolers (strangely enough, since I hated being one), and I'm excited to finally take on a job that combines two of my interests.

I'm interested to hear others' thoughts. Am I crazy? Do you sometimes feel that part-time or side jobs don't 'count' somehow or is that just me being neurotic?
When/if you found a job locally, did you feel it better connected you to the community? If you are a trailing spouse/expat/hausfrau, did you find other benefits/drawbacks in having a job?

Crochet WIPs: Baby blankets and scarf disasters

It finally happened - I completed a crochet project on time! Ok, mostly. I finished the below blanket a mere hour before the baby shower, although I did not get the amigurumi elephant done that I had planned to accompany it (there's still time! Another 2-3 weeks before the actual due date). I only did one repeat of the outer border row, since I didn't have time to do more think it needed more than that.

Still showing up rather pink in the photos, at least on my computer screen.

I love finishing projects. Actually, I hate it - I abhor weaving in the ends and all that tedious stuff, but I love the feeling of the project being finished. It's all neat and tidy (hopefully), and even if it's a little wonky, I can still check it off as complete and move on to the next. It's rare that I can say this is absolutely finished and I never need to do anything more with it (in any aspect of my life, really). Plus as a bonus, it's a physical creation that I can touch and say, ooohhh, so soft!

I'm happy with how the blanket turned out, but I wouldn't use the pattern again - it's just a little lacier than what I would want for a practical baby blanket (although hopefully it will be nice as a decorative piece), and I found it a little strange, especially with such a solid border.

So because I have no self-control and finishing things is addictive, I started my next project the evening after the baby shower. This baby blanket is adapted from a free pattern from Lion Brand Yarns, although since I was using a non-bulky yarn, I increased the repeats/size. I originally bought the lighter teal thinking I would use it as the main color and choose a pattern with the darker teal as a border, but I started to have doubts, so I went back and purchased the white. Definitely a good idea, I think. Very happy with the way it's working up.

Only problem when moving back to multicolour blankets is the number of ends to weave in increases exponentially. I started carrying the white along, which makes it slightly better.

The yarn is from Lang Yarns, called Nelly, and it's a cotton/acrylic mix. It's thicker than what I've used for the other blankets, so the resulting blanket will be cozier (and probably not usable during the warmer months - any friends in the Arctic circle procreating these days?). 

In addition, I have started a scarf using this amazing "Sweet Eleanor" pattern, which is universally adored in all the comments. So obviously I am doing something wrong...I'm only a few rows in and I plan to keep plugging away, but currently it looks a hot mess.

Seriously, what is this? I've triple-checked the pattern - the fault definitely lies in my own stars.

 I think the main problem is that I chose a freakin' variegated yarn again. I should be banned from buying these things, as I ALWAYS pick some pattern that plays against the yarn, rather than with it. In my defense, I thought I had chosen one with a slow/gradual color change, so I was hoping for something like this:

Knit pattern available here.

Look how gorgeous that is! Such an epic fail on my part. Most likely the scarf will soon be frogged and I will re-appropriate the yarn for a project that has a chance of succeeding - perhaps some socks or a super ugly shrug.

I do love the pattern, though, and I want to give it another chance - perhaps with some beautiful yarn that just arrived 2 days ago in a my first "Swiss Yarn Box" from Kaya Lana, a birthday present from B. I was sooo excited to open this thing - and I was right to be so! They sent two skeins of yarn - 50g of a cotton/silk mix in a beautiful grey blue and 100g of a hand-dyed merino from Yorkshire in brilliant green. The merino seems like an excellent candidate to redo the Eleanor scarf. And in a brilliant marketing move on Kaya Lana's part, they include a discount code (10% off) for ordering more of these specific yarns. Which of course I might really need.

Does anyone else get the itch to craft when autumn comes?