It's summer. Warm but bearable. Rainy but tolerable. Green and beautiful, like every summer. And like every summer we dream of the beach, beer with freshly fried fish, romantic nights with the scent of the sea, wild vouchers in beach discos. But… many will be left with only their dreams. The media calls it a crisis, framing it with unemployment, layoffs, reduced turnover and other such nasty little words. For us, though, it's chronic poverty. The salary doesn't stretch for the basics, let alone the seaside. We dig through the net, looking for new work and constantly stumbling upon 'Excellent English proficiency', 'Good German language', 'Spoken and written French'. And every time we see the salary of '1200 BGN starting plus a percentage of sales and social benefits' (whatever hides behind those benefits), we start to mentally qualify ourselves as donkeys and cattle, because until now we haven't learned that wretched English. Because that's exactly the job ad where they can't help but notice you with all your years of experience, but… 'How could I not have learned it!' Well, that's how. Because there's always no time to go three times a week after work to language courses, and besides you always have to stay put. You tell yourself 'Right now, when I set aside money, I'll enroll' and the money disappears again for bills, or for the kids. And you're back stuck under the crooked pear tree with the language.
It's summer. And there won't be a beach. Because just the drive to and from Sozopol will cost around a hundred BGN, and you need to change the front tires, which if you're lucky will cost 150 BGN. And what? 250 BGN just for the trip. What about the rest? You calculate and calculate and it turns out that you'll see the beach this year through a twisted pasta. Well, you'll have to settle for weekends by dams and pools. Bummer 🙁
Now read carefully, because what's below is exactly for you. One way or another, the beach isn't happening. Business has stalled and work has dropped significantly. If you still want that job with '1200 BGN starting plus a percentage of sales and social benefits', the one with 'Excellent English proficiency', do something about it. They call it 'summer language courses'. No, not the kind where you drag yourself after work somewhere, lugging a bag of textbooks and notebooks. Come on, summer language courses don't need to cause us any extra problems and discomfort. We have enough of that in everyday life. We're talking about online language courses. You turn on your computer, put on your headphones with a microphone and learn. Not three times a week, but every single day, as much as you can manage and as much as you desire for those '1200 BGN starting plus a percentage of sales and social benefits'.
Judge for yourself what's more worthwhile. Take a loan and go to the beach, or spend that same money on a three-month online course? Yes, you'll skip a beach, but in return you'll get the job that will provide you with the salary you need. Because I don't believe you haven't felt it in your bones having to do financial acrobatics just to pay all your bills and get through the month. Instead of a 'personal loan for personal needs', so you can dip your feet in the sea, 'summer language courses', which will fill the empty line 'languages' in your CV. And not just fill it, but fill it with exactly what appears in every job posting – 'excellent level', 'spoken and written', 'good proficiency', etc.
A person always has a choice, even in the dead end of a crisis. You can give up or you can be ambitious. You can despair or you can grit your teeth. You can spend as if it's the last time or you can invest the last thing you have. You can indulge in 'summer vacation pleasures' or set aside time for 'summer language courses'. Actually, the two are absolutely compatible, as long as you have the desire to get that nice salary 🙂