It's been One Week and .... well not much so far!

Friday 2nd October 2009
I'm sitting here right now, and it has returned. Yes, that feeling of bored frustration which comes of …. well, of sitting HERE not quite knowing what to do to fill my day. However, that said, I don't WANT this day to be gone because it only leads to Saturday and the REAL return to work and to the classroom.

Yes, I was back to the college last week but there were no classes (but that was expected). The first week is still full of registration and timetable-making activity for the Head of Department. Always it is a system “in flux” quite simply because people are coming in to register all the time and that plays with class sizes and the number of classes there are as a whole. Same thing everywhere I've worked.

I don't mind not knowing my timetable till late. However, it would be unnerving to a less experienced teacher who is about to begin teaching that he/she does not know WHAT or WHO he/she is going to have. I do not worry so much about this for as couple of reasons. Firstly, I can easily fill in the first few days with some other activities before things settle down and before the coursebooks come in to everyone's hands. I've had plenty of THAT these last 14 years of teaching and it is not the worst that can happen. Secondly, I do not worry about it because this side of organising things is not done by me. So any problems are not ones to worry about because they are not CAUSED by me. I hold the view that we, as teachers, do what we can with what we have and it is not worth worrying about things you do not have control over as a teacher. You do your job, they do theirs. Yes, sometimes it can be a little stressful if the delays in getting coursebooks are longer than you'd like. Yes, sometimes you have to do that extra bit of preparation while waiting for the books. But this is part of the job and thee are far greater things that you COULD worry about more.

So all I will do is turn up sometime before 7.30am tomorrow morning and see what I have. In any case, I am ready as I already photocopied a nice medical-related lesson which I used previously. Job done, and lessons are only 50 minutes which is no time at all. Oh, and let's not forget about intros, name learning, brief chats etc. etc. which will happen the first lesson or so.

Anyway, that's all to come. Now for what was. So what, if anything, of interest happened last week. Well, there were one or two moments to write about involving the new teacher and there was also a brief encounter with my old class of soldier boys.

OK OK let's get THAT ONE out the way first of all. As you can guess, the LAST set of people I want to lay eyes on this semester is ANY of those morons that I had to endure the classroom company of during this last six months. But I know that I can't avoid them as they WILL be around some days of the week. Well, Encounter #1 did indeed happen last week but in a rather unexpected way. It was about Sunday or Monday lunchtime and I was heading out a little early to go home for lunch. As I came through the reception area of the college there was a group of people hanging around at the reception desk. I didn't take much notice of them until I saw one of them looking over at me. They were not dressed in military uniform – well not the ones I saw. Then I heard a voice say, “Oh! Teacher David!”, and I noticed ..... the one I LEAST wanted to see of all - “Leg Man” as I nicknamed him looking over with that stupid grin on his face. He was in the traditional Saudi 'thobe' (white “cloak”) and I also noticed a guy in the Saudi “gutra” (red-checked head 'scarf') and realised it was “Monitor Man”! I carried on walking but faster. I DID acknowledge them with a quiet, “Oh hello”, and I did raise my hand but that was it. I sped up through the doors and in the direction of lunch. Heard a voice behind me, “Teacher David! Teacher David!”, but NO WAY on earth I was going to turn around or stop. On and on I went turning the corners which would take me out of sight of those toe-rags. When I was sure I was safe, I looked behind and nobody was there. PHEW! Got out of THAT!

Now every time I pass through reception I take a better look to see if I need to escape quicker.

OK, so on to the new guy. And what a self-important, jumped up little man he does seem to be! Word is that he's been recruited as a teacher but that HE is the “favoured one” to take over at end of January when our current HoD is leaving. NOT a prospect I can say I look forward to much judging on first appearances. SO what brings me to my judgement above after only one week? Well there are a number of things.

He HAS been in the Middle East before. Normally that should count in his favour as he knows the way they do things out here. So things that a new arrival teacher has to do should be well-known to him. As you may remember from my early writings, he has to go through the procedures of the Admin department with forms to fill in and sign, he has to sign his contract, he needs to visit Security to get his Temporary ID badge and he needs to have his Medical over at the Employee Health centre and hospital. All that is two or three days worth of stuff which DOES need to be done though it is a lot for anyone to get through. Oh, and also he needs to give up his passport to get the temporary Iqama. And then there are procedures which need explaining like the 3-month probation, like the process of getting his Iqama, like the 5-month no-holiday rule, like the signing in and out procedure, and more besides. It IS a lot to take in when you've just come off the plane a few days before, but like every workplace thee are procedures for every new employee which ARE necessary.

He is rarely at the college! Where is he and where does he go? Nobody really knows but he seems to be going round upstairs talking to the ones in command up there about this, that and the other. By doing this, he IS sometimes breaking the “chain of command” which is something that you must not do here and can get you into trouble and also bring trouble for your boss.

Early on in the week he was discussing this with our HoD. Now, I am sitting in the same desk as before because basically the HoD would rather have ME there than THIS NEW GUY. Anyway, BECAUSE I am there I hear these little meetings and THIS one was for sure a good'un. They were discussing a few things and then he said about how he had been going round and discussing stuff with those upstairs. The HoD then said to him about how this was breaking the “chain of command” and how that would bring problems for the BOTH of them. “Oh, I don't worry about such things! It's not your problem!”, the guy said. Well he was reminded that it WAS a problem and is NOT the way to do things round here. “It's not your problem and don't worry about this! I don't CARE about it!”, he said again. “Well, what about being part of a TEAM?”, the HoD demanded to know. Well, they went on for a bit then the HoD said how difficult he had been and how much of a “prickly pear” he had been since he came here. At THAT point this guy said how he really “didn't have to listen to this”, and walked out.

Now, you may like it or not this “chain of command” thing, but it is the way here and needs to be respected. Laughed at, yes. Ridiculed, yes. But stuck to ALSO yes. And in any case, we are all in this together yes and we DO need to work together. I did not see anything wrong in what the HoD was saying but this guy's approach was just self-centred and arrogant.

He has “that” kind of tone of voice too that is irritating. He sounds like he does not really want to listen to you when you're talking to him and sounds like what you say isn't really of interest.

Well, after THAT encounter this new guy wasn't seen again almost the whole week in the college. I did see him one post-lunchtime occasion as I was going back to the college and there he was walking back in the direction of the accommodation blocks. Cup and saucer in hand he was! OK OK – it was a mug, not a cup. And OK, there was nothing actually IN the mug but the image of this man walking around carrying his cup and saucer will amuse me for many a time to come yet.

I don't have much more to write about him as I hardly saw him. But whenever his name is mentioned around the college there is rarely a good word that follows. All through the procedure of actually getting him here he acted like a rather pompous git and TWICE refused the job offer he had been given. Well, to be fair he was FIRST offered the job of Head Of Department and then, after that, he was offered a Teacher's job. So THAT isn't something that is going to fill ANYONE with any confidence or joy at the prospect of coming here. But now that he IS here so he needs to try to fit in. yes, it's a nonsense place to live and work but there ARE admin things that everyone needs to get done and as far as I know he has completed few, if any of them. He will only make trouble for himself in the end and then THIS will bounce back on the rest of us.

But on a lighter note …. Hehe!! Just another eccentric character to join us out here and wouldn't life be so much MORE dull if we recruited boring people to come here. So from THAT point of view I a GLAD he is here as it will provide PLENTY of good material to write and talk about. Hats off to ya mate!

The English department is still three teachers short of what they need so our timetables are going to be rather heavy for a while. Well, not that this bothers me for reasons similar to the above. Again, I do what I can with what I have available to me and I'm not going to break MY back when my employer is at fault. I guess that by Christmas we might have what we need but who knows! And for sure very little will happen to get them here as two job offers that SHOULD have gone out were simply left unprocessed.

The teacher colleague I arrived with at the same time is still not back yet. Well, probably he IS now as I missed a call from him this morning so he IS most likely here somewhere. Word is that he got sick down in Morocco and had to get treatment by some doctor or hospital somewhere. I suppose he will be there tomorrow.

Hmm what else? Well, it was a nice easy week and although I did “loyally” come in for 7.30am every day I also sneaked off at 11am for lunch and returned well after 1pm and then sneaked/went off home again soon after 3pm. What did I do all day? Well, I was armed with my books of puzzles, I had my phone to go skype-ing, drank lots of tea, talked to colleagues and …. well, not much more. What is ONE week to kill when I had FIVE WEEKS when I FIRST arrived??!!

After many good morning espresso coffees during the summer, I had got quite a taste for it and that “morning kick” was something I thought would be nice to continue. So at the first opportunity I was down at the Carrefour supermarket and THERE IT WAS! An espresso and cappuccino coffee maker for the princely sum of …. 95 riyals!! Well, JUST the thing I wanted and I took it without much hesitation. It is a 110V model of course and is rather weighty so I am not sure if it will be worth taking it back with me when the Final Exit comes in March 2010. But that is a decision for then, not for now. BUT as I DO have a 240V to 110V transformer back home, there IS a case for taking it with me TOGETHER with my juicer and, indeed, any other electrical items which I may yet buy here. Don't know really – maybe it's just as easy to sell them when I go as there WILL be some items I won't be taking with me like my Mobily USB modem.

Ah yes, my internet connection. No, it is certainly NOT any better than when I left it! In fact last week I had almost NOTHING at nights and the only time I had anything was for the short time I was here at lunchtimes. Well, I DID go down and pay for the usual 5GB package. But now I am wondering WHY I have that one. With access so poor and connections dropping and with speed going up and down apparently at random, I am not sure it is worth paying all that money. Maybe from next month I will go down to having just the 1GB package which is half the price of what I have now. WHY waste my money on such rubbish? What I have now is, basically, the best of a bad bunch and that's not saying much!

So here I am. Week 1 Day 1 of semester 2 is approaching fast. The hardest thing has been once again getting used to the isolation of living here especially when most of this last 5 weeks has been much more free with people to see and places to go and the freedom to “roam”. Yes, this may well be the only place right now that I don't live in without a suitcase. And yes, it may well be something familiar, and yes, perhaps my diet is better here. Oh, and yes the pay packet is nice too. But life is not just a pay packet and life is not just about my bank balance and THAT is something important.

There is a small list of things I do like about being here, but I have to think HARD about it. I mentioned those above. But, in contrast, there is also a larger list of things that would HAVE TO change for me to stay on here and they are “biggies” and things which I cannot really change. The heat of the summer, the feeling of isolation, the lack of any kind of “community spirit” amongst us expats or even any kind of community at all, the fact that we are so far from the nearest town (18km by taxi), the fact that we need a taxi if we want to go anywhere, the lack of any kind of “green nature” to see and enjoy up here (though there is more down south of the country). Oh, AND the fact that I feel my time here as a teacher is wasted and indeed WAS wasted this last six months.

I have spoken to other colleagues. One guy in particular said that what he does is ALWAYS think about his next holiday, about when it will be and about how good it is to be away. That is his way to survive out here, and he has been here more than five years now. Although I agree that this IS a good way to survive your time in a place like this, it means that your ACTUAL time is in some kind of “void” or black hole. Fancy working and living in a place where your only joy is when you can next be OUT OF IT!! Living for your next “escape”! A survival plan it is, but for me it is no way to live your life.

Well, one good thing about being here is that I have plenty to write about. So stay tuned!