When “Opinions” become “Facts”

In any school, you may be placed on a “team” with people you don’t like or have anything in common with. This is not a problem because you are not forced to share an office/dining hall with them. You have your required meetings and then spend the rest of your prep or lunch with your friends. Since the seven LTs are the only Native English speakers in the school, though the Arabic teachers have been great, we don’t “hang out” with them. We are STUCK with each other. Familiarity breeds contempt and things came to a head recently. 

We are pretty much from different worlds and have different outlooks, experiences, and opinions on EVERYTHING. This would not be a problem if we all had non-confrontational personalities. Nope. Only one is like that. Then you have me, the freak! As the screaming match was going on 2 weeks ago, I loudly (yes I can talk over anything) commented that I thought I was coming down with something because I had agreed with the one PITA 3 times that week. That defused her and she started laughing but the other….slam, stomp, and gone. We don’t have to agree, we just have to agree to disagree. GTFU. Your opinion is your opinion. Nobody else has to agree with you. The Australian teacher and I, who disagree the most, decided it might be fun to add some Xanax to the water bottle the following week. 

This is how they celebrate here!!

Cut to this week, where celebrations for National Day overshadow our ability to teach. This year is an important milestone as it is the 40^th year for the United Arab Emirates.  Seriously, think of the 1976 Bi-Centennial but on steroids!! I know Lou is reading this…remember the fireplugs around our neighborhood being painted red, white, and blue? That’s NOTHING! People have painted their cars red, white, black, and green. I drive down the highway doing a 120kmh slalom around the decorations that have blown off other vehicles.  For our “big” National Day celebration today at school, I was the only English teacher wearing UAE colors….the ginormous red, white, black, and green hair clip went over well, though it was a little difficult to get my head it the Yaris this morning!! Thanks to Iza Marcrum for loaning it to me.  It seems to have scored me some Wasta!!

National Day Bow Clip

Here we go with more opinions and facts….we were given a calendar for the school year BUT were also  told that things change at a moment’s notice. We expected this to happen for the Eid Holiday when it was expected that a 5 day weekend would turn into a 9 day weekend. It was even alluded to in the local newspapers. NOT! So when the word started getting around that there would be a change in the calendar and we would be given this Thursday off, nobody believed it!! People STILL don’t believe it, though it has been declared a National Holiday. There were teachers who took the mistaken 9 day weekend for Eid , I am wondering if those same teachers will show up for work on Thursday. Good Luck with that.  I will be sitting on the beach. 

There is school tomorrow but we have been told that none of the girls will show up. The same has been said for next week when we are “supposed” to be reviewing for their exams. I figure with the way things have gone, all of my girls will show up! Let’s hope not….