I need a job ... why I’d make a good roving reporter for Oprah ...

I really need a job. REALLY. I knew it would be tough when I came here and I’ve tried to get myself out there but I’m in a country where my profession as a social worker is not really established.

I’ve always worked. Asked the girl child and boy child I’m sure they’ve felt like neglected children when I’ve been off helping other people make sense of their lives. Did they get sympathy from me? NO – can you hear the boy child and girl child yelling from there. It’s a bit like the mechanic having hopeless cars, the builder with lots of jobs to do around the house and the doctor not treating his own family.

So I’m looking at options. What can I do? I could easily do the expat wife thing to keep my days filled but really - not my style. I’m too opinionated, been through too much and want to contribute and participate in the society in which I live with the skills I have gained over the years. It’s how I feel at home – how I get to know the culture, the people and the country. It would be too easy to transport the social parts of my life here, not leave the compound and it would be as if I’ve never left Australia.

I really want to learn Arabic. How hard is that? Really hard. Firstly, lots of people said ‘don’t bother everyone speaks English, you only have to know the basics’. Well I figure that if someone has gone to the trouble of learning English a renowned difficult language to learn then I can learn Arabic. This has not been easy to do. Firstly you have to find classes and then you have to practice every day – best by immersion. I’m getting there. I’d love to be able to have a decent conversation with someone and I practise in the shops. It’s great to get feedback and refinement of my pronunciation. I will endure with it.

Getting back to jobs. Like I’ve said before lots of people have said over the years 'you should write a book girl’. Well, I don’t know about that. I love reading them and record all the ones I have read – indexed of course. But writing a book is a whole new ball game. Hence my blog - small snapshots of an interesting life, one that has had many mountains to climb and had to recover from being shattered a few times. Mosaic. A good word. Putting together a thing of beauty from the shattered pieces of something else. I think my life is beautiful. It is the only one I’ve got so why shouldn’t it be.

And what are my main attributes?

• Do I have opinions – of course!
• Have I had life experiences, too many (would like a reprieve please?).
• Have I been to interesting places – yes and currently living in one.
• Am I willing to be challenged – well that’s my whole life.
• I’ve had 30 years experience as a professional helping people dealing with life.
• I know what it is like to be different, to feel alone and to come out the other side.
• I know what it is like to be a parent and have to fight every day for the rights of a child who is different.
• I have a great sense of humour and I don’t take rubbish from anyone.

So yes I think I could be a roving reporter for Oprah – just one of the options out there .......