The Aresan Clan is published four times a week (Tue, Wed, Fri, Sun). You can see what's been written so far collected here. All posts will be posted under the Aresan Clan label. For summaries of the events so far, visit here. See my previous serial Vampire Wares collected here.

Tuesday, March 15, 2011

Hit on in Helsinki

When I was living in Helsinki, teaching English, one of the major barriers to getting more teaching work was trying to get the proper permits. I was teaching a few people privately, getting paid under the table and I had a couple places interested in giving me some classwork here and there, but without a work permit, my options were limited. Fortunately, one of the places I worked with, put me into contact with an American who'd gone through the same situation as me and managed to get a work permit after jumping through all the right hoops. I emailed him and he sent me a detailed response explaining the steps and what he did.

As a courtesy, he arranged to meet me, if I had any further questions. He was an older man, slim and balding, and with certain effeminate affectations that made me think that he was possibly gay. We talked about finding work and teaching and such at a bar over pints of beer. I couldn't say for sure, but I got the sense that he was attracted to me. He didn't openly hit on me, but there seemed to be a certain vibe about his interactions with me. We parted amicably and afterwards I told Tom, my British friend who was also working as an English-language teacher about it. Tom's advice was to talk about manly things to let him I'm a real guys guy. He said, in a gruff voice, "You should say, 'Oh, I love a good truck rally,' or 'Rrrr, I do love to see a good bear-bating,' or 'Do you know where I can find a good titty bar around here? I like nothing more than to look at naked women' or things like that." Sadly, I've never actually applied this advice.

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