Whither Your Reporter?

In Russia, all roads may lead to Moscow. But at the moment, all roads forward in my life seem to lead from there.

For three months now, I have been trying to get the head of my school to sit down with me and discuss seriously the renewal or extension of my contract. In November, he brushed me off, saying it was far too early to be dealing with the matter (he was more than likely right). In December, he was too preoccupied with the current financial crisis and told me to come back in January. But January at last rolled round, and this week, the meeting finally came.

At present, he told me, he could commit to my contract only through the end of June. This was not because of any deficiency in my teaching but because of the current economic climate, which made it impossible to make any longer-term promises. More experienced teachers than I have been told the same thing.

There is some possibility of my having full employment here over the summer, but if I were to stay, I might have to accept working on a pro rata basis. Essentially, this would mean the company would provide me with accomodation and would pay me on a per-hour basis, not a standard monthly salary as at present.

Whether or not this puts me in a quandary is something of a pickle. Having my plans currently up in the air makes it hard to assess the situation completely. I may be heading back to graduate school in the autumn, and if so, the end of June might not be such a horrible time to leave Russia. Most likely, I would spend the summer on the East Coast, taking a short-term sublet in New York or Philadelphia and using the time to find more permanent housing for my graduate career, and possibly to travel along the East Coast of the United States.

I have long had fantasies of taking Dinah Shore's advice and seeing the USA in a Chevrolet (preferably a two-tone Bel Air convertible with white walls). Or at least, of seeing the East Coast of the USA in a series of bus trips. My aim in these travels, besides seeing more of my own country, would be to get some sense of where I might like to live--to find out whether there are places other than Brooklyn where I have a strong chance of having a contented existence. I suspect strongly there are; Brooklyn does not have a monopoly on nice neighborhoods of stately old row houses, and it would be nice to get a real feel for Boston, Philadelphia, Baltimore, and maybe even Washington. When I was in New York, I always fancied myself too poor to venture out on such an excursion, and I now regret not having taken it. Had I done so, perhaps I would have been happier.

Other possibilities exist, however. Before coming home to America, I might take some time and see Vilnius. Contradictory stories exist about how exactly our family came to be the Wilheims, but at least one of them is that the name means "home on the Vilnius River". Indeed, I feel hard-pressed to find a good reason not to go to Vilnius, while I am over here--though as usual, my feelings about money cloud my judgment. Only 20 hours of train travel now separate me from my ancestral homeland, and it would be a great pity indeed not to bridge that gap at some point. Summer might be the ideal time to go.

If I am not destined for graduate school in the autumn, however, the possibility of moving on from Moscow also seems great. A friend and former colleague at my school is now, apparently, considering a short-term teaching stint in Japan. I have frequently seen advertisements for the program to which she is applying advertised on EFL teaching boards, and the thought has crossed my mind that this might be a good situation for me as well. The work is largely in universities, has more regular hours than my current position, and would offer, I think, the chance to save money at a good clip before entering graduate school the following fall.

Naturally, money factors into these considerations. This week, I was delighted to realize that, once I remit some money back home at the end of the month, I shall have under me almost exactly as much money as I had when I came to Russia. That might not seem like much of an accomplishment for eight months of work, but it does reflect a fair amount of sacrifice in time and effort. Additionally, I have managed to reduce my credit card debt by nearly a third in that time, and would have earned an actual profit on my time here had it not been for my trip to St. Petersburg, my computer problems last month, and a couple of other minor financial mishaps along the way. And then there is the knowledge that whatever I manage to remit home over the next five months will be pure profit.

So if travelling lies in my future, I feel I have the resources for it. Whither your reporter? God only knows. But it bodes to be somewhere interesting.