Ok so moving to Cape Town wasn't what I expected. In usual Bradly style, I jumped in with both feet without any plan whatsoever. As exciting as this approach may be, the risks are immense. With the job market being what it was and with me being complete unfamiliar with city life, my first 4 months here were... interesting.
All I can say is thank goodness for family. I stayed at my sister's place for the first few months while I got on my feet and let my tell you that if she weren't there, I probably would have gone running back to Bredasdorp with my tail between my legs.
My first idea was to get a job at a school as their IT admin / computer teacher. This was relatively viable given my passed experience and was invited for a couple of interviews. The process was long, waiting weeks on end for various meetings to take place. In the end, the school jobs dried up. While I was waiting, I looked around for some tutoring/au pairing type jobs that might serve as a stepping stone into other education type jobs.
There were a couple of hopeful opportunities but there was always someone slightly more qualified than me. Frustrating. And so my search continued and one by one my options starting dropping like flies.Then there was Living Maths, the organisation that had been looming in the back of my head since I moved. When I first got to Cape Town, I went to see Steve about working as a facilitator. He was glad to have me, but I had to stop once the job interviews starting rolling in. At that stage I couldn't see it as a viable income either because I wouldn't have that many classes to begin with.
So after all my job interviews failed and my opportunities for employment had completely dried up, Living Maths had become my sole option. After a meeting with Steve, he blew away with two amazing opportunities. 1) become a full time Living Maths teacher and get paid per hour. Or 2) Take on the General Manager's job and get paid a salary. It was a no brainer. I'd fallen in love with the organisation and totally synced with what they were trying to achieve.
And so in July 2013 I become the GM of Living Maths. Honestly I'm not sure what Steve saw in me, but he took a chance on me. For that I am grateful.
It wasn't easy in the beginning trying to learn the ropes. There were some days when I thought I'd bitten off more than I can chew. I was completely out of my comfort zone and I was being forced every day to face my own shortcomings.
I'm now very comfortable in my job, I feel like I've got things under my thumb finally. There's always room for improvement and this year Steve is going to start giving me more and more responsibilities. I'm totally up for it though.
So that's my employment situation. As for general city life, there's much to tell. I moved out of my sister's place in the beginning of August. I moved to a fantastic little one bedroomed flat in Rondebosch. It's so fantastically central that I never really have a problem with traffic when getting to my classes or the office. I'm across the road from the Riverside Mall and more importantly Tshisa24 (a pizza place :D)
Now here I must admit that while I had every intention of cooking for myself in my new place. The temptation to just pop out and get something is too great. With my job and private tutoring students, I have no time at all during the week. So when I get home, cooking is furthermost from my mind.
My place is a short drive from my sister's place so I visit there quite often. I would never have thought I'd enjoy board games as much as I do now. Time as Lyndsay's place is mostly spent around her ridiculously large "coffee table" playing the most awesome table-top games.
The rest of my family are scattered around and I see them less often. Reggie and my mother are both in the northern suburbs so I see them quite rarely. I try my best to get out to them when I can but unfortunately petrol is expensive!
So anyway, let's summarise:
My life is great. My job involves a lot of teaching, working with great people and building an awesome organisation. My time is my own. While I do have set class times during the week, I don't have fixed office hours. I go into the office regularly though because it's in the fricking Cape Town Science Centre! This year my aim is to grow even more into my position as GM and to see Living Maths reach new highs.
I'll stop here for now :) Thanks for reading. Oh and to my Bredasdorp friends. I miss you guys lots and lots, you will be visited again soon enough.
