This post is fueled by chocolate chip oatmeal cookies and wine...
September went fast. I'm trying to keep busy so that the time flies, and it certainly is. I am working out almost every day, cooking, going out on odd little adventures (like shooting at Sharjah shooting range), and of course school is keeping me on my toes. I keep trying to plan things to look forward to. There are big things, like going to China in November and going home in December. But it's the little things that keep the weeks rolling, like going out for dim sum or Lebanese with the girls or hanging with friends on the roof by the pool.
School. I have mixed feelings about it. I like my coworkers (most of them, anyway), and for the most part I like my students. They're challenging at times, but no where near the kind of challenge that is presented in today's American classrooms. I don't have to worry about kids stripping off their clothes and running around the building, throwing desks at me, rioting, or cursing me out. Which has all happened to me before.
Our bureaucratic, micro-managing administrators make it tough. They decreased my department's staff by one person, and yet our rosters have increased over 30% since last year. They've raised the cap on the class sizes; some teachers don't have enough desks or text books. Why? It's a for-profit organization, that's why. It sticks in my throat more and more as they accept students who require so much assistance and yet support services is stretched to the limit already. It's tuition, it's money, an unlike the states the schools here are not required to provide any special services. We're one of the top providers for students with special needs, and yet we're still limited.
Still, for all that we bitch about our administration, it can't be denied that we are the highest paid school in our organization, with one of the best benefits packages in the UAE. Ergo, bitching is a natural part of my job. It's actually in italics in my job description, I'm certain.
I have friends here, and some of them are pretty good friends. There are a few that I can talk to about almost anything. Still, they're not like my friends at home. I get homesick periodically, and tend to drink wine, listen to Tori Amos, and blog about it... It's hard being surrounded by women all the time. I think I've pretty much decided that this is the one and only time I will be working with an all female staff. There need to be men there to balance out all this estrogen!
People are already talking about their plans for next year. Some of the staff that thought they would continue on next year are on the fence because their new teaching partners are crazy. A few of my really good friends are looking to move on. I go back and forth about it myself, and every time I start thinking about it I get all muddled. Financially, economically, it would make sense for me to stay here a third year. I would come home with a nice nest egg, more teaching experience, and would hopefully have sated my travel bug for awhile. It certainly doesn't look like the economy at home is getting any better. The baby boomers who were supposed to retire aren't, thanks to cuts in pensions, losses like Fannie Mae, etc. I read about school districts cutting back all over the place; I don't want to come home without either a job lined up or enough money to float me until I can find one.
Personally, it's complicated. I miss people so much. This is not the kind of place that is accepting of a rum drinking, fantasy/ sci fi/ steampunk loving pirate. I have to live that part of my life online via Facebook and try not to let the nerd in me out in public. Still, I do have some good friends here, good people. I know my friends at home are supportive of me and my choices, which I can't tell you how much that means to me.
There are lots of things I wish...
So here I sit, on the fence, with the song "Should I Stay or Should I Go Now" looping endlessly in my head. Trying to keep busy, dealing with whatever bureaucratic nonsense comes along, savoring my little adventures and looking forward to the next big ones.
Love you lots.
