Wise words. This time from Woodrow Wilson, ex-USA president of, I think, the 1920's.
Yes I DO know what I'm waiting for. Well, I know the $$$ part anyway. Other? Not sure at ALL.
Got my book on "The Essential Guide to Saudi Culture and Customs" now. Rather smaller and thinner than I had hoped and so far it's a mixed read. Starts off with a potted history of the country and of Islam and of the Prophet himself. Well, BEFORE that bit I skipped right to the end for the Etiquette and Do's and Dont's kind of stuff (NO I'm not a great whodunnit reader - don't have the patience for that kind of stuff. And anyway if you watch Columbo you ALWAYS know who the bad guy is from the start!).
So what did I learn? Well the history etc. I wasn't THAT interested with. Ohh come ON! I might not be there longer than end June so WHY dive into THAT so deep! No, it was the culture/customs side that was more interesting.
According to what I've read and adding to what I knew before, Arabs don't care much for people they don't know. Pushing you aside in shops etc. is, so the book says, part of the game. "It's not rudeness, they just don't know you!", the book assures me. Oh OK, yeah, that makes me feel a lot better. Yup, something REALLY to look forward to - being pushed aside in the course of getting my groceries.
Actually, hmmm .... I seem to remember reading a similar thing about so-called "babushkas" in Russian shops that they push and elbow you aside "hard enough to bruise you!". Well I never did go out there after reading that (and more besides). Put it this way - you want to feel at LEAST that you can complete your daily search for bread and cheese and not be comparing injuries with your expat colleagues like it's some kind of rugby game or "morning after"!
Ahh but the book does go on to say that the more you go in a particular shop, they will get to know you and the smiles will come fast once you get past that stage. All depends on what kind of shop that is I guess. I mean, do you aim to keep going in shops you don't like just to get to know the locals? Got to be better ways. But, as opportunities for mixing with locals are apparently not as common as I'm used to, maybe it's a good tactic. OK, so I hope for a good cheese shop out there ....
Right then, it's update time. And err ..... well, not much more to tell you. I had a phone call from the main guys who are dealing with my application after a couple of emails I had sent with some questions. Are they getting tired of my questions already? Well, I don't have any more for now guys so CALM DOWN!
So what did they tell me? Well it was a useful phone call actually (even though I was outdoors in the freezing cold at the time). I was told that it would likely be another two weeks before my contract was received back from Saudi due to Christmas and New Year delays both at the UK end and the Saudi end. Well, as I mentioned before, 29th December is the Islamic New Year so fair enough. And it has been an unusually long holiday period over here due to midweek Xmas / New Year. Anyway, I just wanted to know that things were happening.
Also they said they hadn't received the results of my medical yet. For a moment, I braced myself for the worst, but then breathed again when they said this was OK. If there HAD been anything found, they would have reported it right away. OK, so no problem.
What they DID tell me was that most likely I would be out there for end January. This would mean a few days teaching in that last week. It would then be end of semester one and I would THEN have ..... TWO WEEKS HOLIDAY!!
WHAT a way to start!!
Been thinking about that first time(s) when I'll be in that classroom (or whatever form it takes). Although I feel confident in my knowledge and general teaching stuff, what I'm NOT sure of is how I'll deal with the very different teaching style at first. I mean the very teacher-centered way, the probable lack of student-student interaction that there'll be (and therefore the more talking I'll have to do!). I rather suspect I'll be flung in at the deep end without being able to see it all in action first simply because of my late arrival.
My Dad pointed out something - if they were so keen to get me out there, HOW are they managing right now being one teacher short? No NO - I am NOT blowing my own trumpet. If a school is a teacher short, then others will be having to fill in and do extra hours or overtime or whatever. My arrival will end all that. SOMEONE won't like me then :D :D
Maybe it annoys them too that they WANT to get me out there but the bureaucracy is slowing THEM down too. So HOW would they have managed if, as originally planned, they wanted me to contact them in January? When would I be out there in THAT case?
All this waiting makes for a lot of thinking time. And, as Joe Strummer and the boys once yelled, "Should I Stay Or Should I Go?". Well, I'm talking about when we get to end of June. My decision originally is to be based on if I have enjoyed the experience as a whole. Now I am thinking that if all this bureaucracy takes so long, then it seems a waste of time to give up the job so soon after a mere 6 months. And then there is another question - if I decide to only do the six months, then what are my chances of getting back at another time? Would they have me again? Would ANOTHER Saudi or Middle East employer take me on after seeing how short a time I spent in Riyadh? Do I REALLY want to blow my chances of any future big-money employment out in that region?
The answer to that last question is a great, big NOOOOO!! The others? Too much of the unknown at this time. I can't say right now. But it is food for my own thought.
All I can do, my friends, is refer you back to the title of this blog post entry ....
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