Whirlwind, Part 2

I had been here in Ukraine for 90 days, and things weren't looking too good so far.

I was fired from my job, short on money, and stressed about how I'd be able to stay here past my expiration date. I didn't really have many friends here, and needless to say, I was a bit stressed.

About a month or so prior, another American expat who lives in the same city had gotten into an argument with my now former boss on a message board. The guy's style of writing and obvious naivety in engaging in online squabbles led me to believe he was just another quack. He had previously worked at the same school, although several years prior, and apparently received the same kind of send-off as I did. Many of the statements he posted about my now former boss, rang true, though. I decided to message him and see if he had any advice for me.

We met a week ago, two days after I was fired from my job. We went to a local cafe and talked about my experiences here, and he offered his advice. He then took me to meet a good friend of his, who happened to be my now former boss's former business partner. I spent much of the day talking to them, relating my experiences as well as everything my former boss had told me about them. They assured me that my former boss was full of shit (as I suspected), and by the end of the day, I had a new job and no stress about being here illegally.

My former boss had flipped his story around. He said that his former business partner tried to extort money from him. The former business partner told me that it was the other way around, that my former boss kept trying to take more and more of the income from the school. Knowing what I know now, I'm much more inclined to believe the latter.

I also met with the owner of another school, the one that my former boss said ran a prostitution ring. He cleared the air for me on many things as well, and confirmed everything that my new boss told me. Even though their two schools are competitors, they do share in a level of cooperation with each other, and I'm now teaching classes at both schools.

So here I am, a week later, feeling much better about my chances here, and already making more money than I made after 3 months at my former job. I was also even paid all of the money owed to me by my former employer. I know I'm extremely lucky to have received that money, so I don't want to push my luck much more. My future in Ukraine is looking much brighter now.