It is interesting to me the levels of support that are here. There are many couples here...men and families that have followed the wife/mother on her new adventure. Some couples are both teachers. Some men are working their jobs by Internet. Some are house husbands, some are enablers: enabling those of us that don't have menfolk to make repairs, give wonderful advice on technology, stuff like that. There are men that are the teachers and the wives have come as support. There are the teacher wives that left husbands at home to take care of the families. What a level of support! Then there are those of us that are single/divorced who have the support of their families and friends back home. We have each other's backs here, especially those teachers that have already been here.
Yesterday I was fortunate to attend an informal meet and greet here at the hotel with four teachers that have been here to let us ask questions so we know what to expect. One lady put it very graphic for me: it is as if we have just gone through Brown vs. the Board of Education and we are the Little Rock Nine. Wow! Remember how long and hard that fight was! Abu Dhabi is a growing country. The New School Model is only about five years old and this is about the third year that they have been hiring and importing teachers. We have been told all along that we need to "go with the flow" because we aren't in Kansas anymore. Literally! Throw out the "Western" way of thinking! Their education system is nothing like ours. Students aren't disciplined here like they are at "home." Trust me, I witnessed something in a store yesterday that Child Protective Services couldn't have prevented me from having that "Come to Jesus Meeting" with my boys! Things are different, and those that have been here before us are helping us to get acclimated to this.
I have been on a two week glorified vacation in this wonderful hotel. I have been taking advantage of lazying around because I know that next week things will start to pop. We have two days of orientation, then they put us out of this wonderful five star hotel and we go to a hotel in our respective cities. So next week I will make that 3-4 hour trek out into the desert....
Yesterday I was fortunate to attend an informal meet and greet here at the hotel with four teachers that have been here to let us ask questions so we know what to expect. One lady put it very graphic for me: it is as if we have just gone through Brown vs. the Board of Education and we are the Little Rock Nine. Wow! Remember how long and hard that fight was! Abu Dhabi is a growing country. The New School Model is only about five years old and this is about the third year that they have been hiring and importing teachers. We have been told all along that we need to "go with the flow" because we aren't in Kansas anymore. Literally! Throw out the "Western" way of thinking! Their education system is nothing like ours. Students aren't disciplined here like they are at "home." Trust me, I witnessed something in a store yesterday that Child Protective Services couldn't have prevented me from having that "Come to Jesus Meeting" with my boys! Things are different, and those that have been here before us are helping us to get acclimated to this.
I have been on a two week glorified vacation in this wonderful hotel. I have been taking advantage of lazying around because I know that next week things will start to pop. We have two days of orientation, then they put us out of this wonderful five star hotel and we go to a hotel in our respective cities. So next week I will make that 3-4 hour trek out into the desert....
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