I am Awesome / I am Becoming Brazilian

So this is my current work schedule:
(Those are not all separate classes; I just couldn't figure out how to change the color of the boxes.) As you can see, it sucks! Waking up at 6:30am, those horrible useless breaks that I waste trying to take naps, classes until 10pm, only to wake up again at 6:30. NO FUN. When I had horrible schedules like this in high school and college, I got through it by thinking, "when you graduate and have a degree, you won't have to live like this, with this annoying schedule that makes you tired." But I still am, and I think poor Alexandre is tired of hearing me complain, tired of me being so grouchy without a proper sleep schedule.

But things are looking up. I had pretty much decided to drop the morning classes, but I was just trying to find a good way to do it. The semester for the M/W morning classes finishes at the end of the month (it's at the other school), and I have the option of leaving without causing any problems for anyone. The problem was the Tu/Thu class. I just started it. My boss asked me to teach it because the student complained that she didn't like the previous teacher and was threatening to quit. My boss prefaced his request with "the student is really annoying and picky and probably isn't going to like you, but I don't want to say I didn't try."

The thing is, this student is an executive at a big ophthalmology clinic. I go to her office-- she doesn't even come to the school. She pays more for that; I receive the same; my boss makes a bigger profit, since he's not even paying a receptionist or anything. Unjust consequences of capitalism! I was planning on just trying the class for a couple of weeks and having her cancel it, but... it turns out she likes me! Yay! Not to toot my own horn, as my grandparents would say, but the other teacher was with her for 2 months, and they only got through 6 pages of the book. All the woman can say is, "My name is..." and "I'm fine, thanks." I think she's learned more in the 4 classes with me than she did in the last 2 months.

We got to talking about more than just grammar today; she was talking about her position at the clinic (helpful, since I was confused), and she started talking about how her schedule is really hectic, especially with these classes at 7am. She said that she told my boss that she wanted a night class-- 9:30-10:30pm-- but he told her I wasn't available (!!). When I heard that, I lost all my qualms about stealing away his student. I told her that I am, in fact, available, that I'm trying to slowly transition away from that job, and how I give classes at home, and if she likes the idea, we can give the classes at my apartment at that time on Tuesdays and Wednesdays. She LOVED the idea. I told her how much I receive (out of how much she pays... it's less than half!) and she was appalled. She said, "I'll just pay you what I was paying him. It's so much better for me. I can go to your apartment after the gym and we can both sleep in." She's not annoying and picky-- she just doesn't want to waste her money.

So! -1 for stupid Boss, +1 each for me and the student. Starting in October, I won't have to wake up early anymore, I'll be working fewer hours, and I'll be making more money per month.

Also, one of my students from the old job called me up the other day. She said that she and another student had quit the old school-- too strict and too expensive-- and said they wanted to take classes with me. (I had given her my number months ago because she had mentioned wanting basic Spanish classes-- just to read it for work.) She asked how much I would charge per hour for the two of them + one of the girls' boyfriends. We agreed on a price that's almost 4 times what I make at the other job, but that's still cheaper for them. They want Saturday mornings, and are okay with doing one Friday night a month when we go visit Alexandre's parents. If that works out, I'll drop my lunchtime classes. (Working Saturdays doesn't seem nearly as bad when I can earn 40% of my monthly income over the course of 8 hours.)

Sooo... yay! This can only be good, as I won't drop any classes until another one is secured. But one by one, I'll hopefully be in business for myself. :o)