Interview Roadtrip Part 1
Ah! Two posts in one night! Do not attempt to contain your excitement.
Yesterday I did my first second-round job interview (I'm not counting the Skype interview with someone's search committee, because it was 25 minutes and seemed sort of perfunctory). Let's call it the church of St. Dorf's-in-the-Burbs. Except it's technically within Philadelphia city limits. St. Dorf's was built in the late 1800's as part of a planned vacation community for some Philly elites. I'm told that it's become less of a richie-rich enclave these days. I had a lovely time chatting with the lay people of the parish; the priest is a great guy who I would be able to learn a lot from. It's a parish that needs to do some rebuild work, although it seems to have the motivation and the resources to do just that.
Still ... I guess my overall feeling is a pretty resounding "meh." Which is sort of immensely disheartening. What if this is the only offer I get? I think I could work there, but do I really want to? What did the dream I had the night before -- the one with the goat -- MEAN?!?
Tonight, I'm in Richmond, VA, where I interview tomorrow with another large church headed by some straight white guy. Let's call this one St. Ed's. I know very little about St. Ed's, except that it is a big, thriving parish which is looking for someone to run its young adults and outreach ministries. I never really wanted to consider Virginia, but after a highly respected Berkeley grad told me how much she enjoyed coming down here after graduation I decided to entertain the idea. So, having never been to Richmond before in my life, I drove down today and have been installed at the Doubletree on St. Ed's dime. (Side note: this is the crappiest Doubletree I've ever seen!)
Buried lead: Richmond is about 5,000x more adorable than I expected. The residential architecture is spectacular, entirely charming, and very well-kept for the most part. I have also been heartened by the presence of many and sundry hipsters. (I remember this one time I was on a bus in Chicago with a bunch of people in suits, and when a dude with multiple tatt00s and stretched-out earlobes got on, I thought to myself, "Thank God, someone normal." Apparently Richmond is the third-most tattooed city in America. I do not know what that means; I just read it in an newspaper ad.) I went on a four-hour "walk" that included a very long ramble through the college campus (Virginia Commonwealth U), hipster neighborhood ("The Fan"), an hour in an aggressively hip coffee shop, and a trip to a vegetarian restaurant where I had some incredible grilled tofu (no, really!) and a good glass of wine served by a really adorable girl (all for less than twenty bucks, tip included). So, if nothing else, I can definitely live in Richmond. There's a local art museum, and a ton of bars with shows in them almost every night of the week. I would probably actually become a lot more culturally aware living here. If nothing else, I now know it's a lovely place to visit for a quiet get-away.
Although there are a whole lot of statues of Confederate guys on horses around here. I won't pretend that doesn't slightly creep me out. (Also, has anything happened here since then? Did any of their cultural heroes drive rather than ride? All signs seem to point to no.)
From here, I'm going back up to Philly to spend the weekend with yet another church. In time, I'll come up with a code name for that one too. The Skype interview resulted in a call-back to a DC-area church, which I'm pretty excited about as well. There, I would run a kid's Christian ed program -- which on paper doesn't seem like my thing, I'll admit, but I think what they need is someone to do volunteer management and administrate the crap out of their church school, and THAT is my thing.
Yesterday I did my first second-round job interview (I'm not counting the Skype interview with someone's search committee, because it was 25 minutes and seemed sort of perfunctory). Let's call it the church of St. Dorf's-in-the-Burbs. Except it's technically within Philadelphia city limits. St. Dorf's was built in the late 1800's as part of a planned vacation community for some Philly elites. I'm told that it's become less of a richie-rich enclave these days. I had a lovely time chatting with the lay people of the parish; the priest is a great guy who I would be able to learn a lot from. It's a parish that needs to do some rebuild work, although it seems to have the motivation and the resources to do just that.
Still ... I guess my overall feeling is a pretty resounding "meh." Which is sort of immensely disheartening. What if this is the only offer I get? I think I could work there, but do I really want to? What did the dream I had the night before -- the one with the goat -- MEAN?!?
Tonight, I'm in Richmond, VA, where I interview tomorrow with another large church headed by some straight white guy. Let's call this one St. Ed's. I know very little about St. Ed's, except that it is a big, thriving parish which is looking for someone to run its young adults and outreach ministries. I never really wanted to consider Virginia, but after a highly respected Berkeley grad told me how much she enjoyed coming down here after graduation I decided to entertain the idea. So, having never been to Richmond before in my life, I drove down today and have been installed at the Doubletree on St. Ed's dime. (Side note: this is the crappiest Doubletree I've ever seen!)
Buried lead: Richmond is about 5,000x more adorable than I expected. The residential architecture is spectacular, entirely charming, and very well-kept for the most part. I have also been heartened by the presence of many and sundry hipsters. (I remember this one time I was on a bus in Chicago with a bunch of people in suits, and when a dude with multiple tatt00s and stretched-out earlobes got on, I thought to myself, "Thank God, someone normal." Apparently Richmond is the third-most tattooed city in America. I do not know what that means; I just read it in an newspaper ad.) I went on a four-hour "walk" that included a very long ramble through the college campus (Virginia Commonwealth U), hipster neighborhood ("The Fan"), an hour in an aggressively hip coffee shop, and a trip to a vegetarian restaurant where I had some incredible grilled tofu (no, really!) and a good glass of wine served by a really adorable girl (all for less than twenty bucks, tip included). So, if nothing else, I can definitely live in Richmond. There's a local art museum, and a ton of bars with shows in them almost every night of the week. I would probably actually become a lot more culturally aware living here. If nothing else, I now know it's a lovely place to visit for a quiet get-away.
Although there are a whole lot of statues of Confederate guys on horses around here. I won't pretend that doesn't slightly creep me out. (Also, has anything happened here since then? Did any of their cultural heroes drive rather than ride? All signs seem to point to no.)
From here, I'm going back up to Philly to spend the weekend with yet another church. In time, I'll come up with a code name for that one too. The Skype interview resulted in a call-back to a DC-area church, which I'm pretty excited about as well. There, I would run a kid's Christian ed program -- which on paper doesn't seem like my thing, I'll admit, but I think what they need is someone to do volunteer management and administrate the crap out of their church school, and THAT is my thing.
posted by HighlySelective at 5:40 PM
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