The new wave

I’m going to have to take back some of the (slightly negative) things I’ve said about Saudi students. My new groups are excellent. One is noticeably better than the other, but they both work hard, don’t cause trouble, arrive on time, don’t ask to leave early and are very obedient. They’re a world away from the borderline retarded classes I was lumbered with in the past.

In a recent writing task one of my students wrote “I like to travel, but certain circumstances mean I can’t”, another wrote “I know this city like the back of my hand”. After six months of reading stuff like “I am go unifersty for bicauz study” it’s a big (and welcome) surprise to teach students who want to learn. Job satisfaction at last!

You still get the occasional bit of unintentional comedy, like this conversation a student wrote yesterday:

Manager: “So, Bilal, you want to be a chef, but what can you cock?”

Bilal: “I can cock Italian food, but I don’t know how to cock chicken”

I didn’t have the heart to point out his mistake, the explanation might have been a bit awkward, and it was written as a conversational dialogue anyway. I just hope he doesn’t ask for a “cook book” for Christmas.

The compound social scene, like my joy juice, is brewing nicely and should bear fruit this weekend with the arrival (apparently), of 17 (seventeen, seriously) new teachers. There’s only space for 9 more teachers on the compound, so I don’t know how that’s going to work. But it’s certainly good news. The new guys that have come to the compound are cool too. Most of them are young; they all drink, play sport, watch sport, play risk and seem to want to get involved socially. When the social core of last term was decimated by summer school and expiring contracts, the prospect of a fun autumn term looked slim, but things have certainly taken a turn for the better in the past couple of weeks.

I haven’t blogged much recently; the schedule has been pretty hectic, so much so we’re currently getting overtime, which is nice. However, I’ll try to remedy this as the new wave of teachers should free up some time in the imminent future. Today is Wednesday, aka Arabic Friday. It’s garlic chilli chicken special day at the Indian restaurant across the street from the University. This is a must have not only because it’s delicious, but also because it signifies the start of the weekend. Garlic chilli chicken on a Wednesday lunchtime in Al Jouf is the equivalent of that after work pint on a Friday afternoon in England. Back to the compound in a few hours, the joy juice is on ice, and it’s the start of a three day weekend thanks to a Saudi national holiday this Saturday. Mashallah, let’s drink!

I do it for the fore-fathers and the street authors