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Friday 3 December 2010

How the days go by


Day 94....

I woke up for the second week in a row thinking I had school on my day off at 6am in the morning. I jumped out of bed and a few profane words had escaped my mouth. I scrambled to think what am I going to wear, nothing is ironed. While thinking of creative ways to dress, I was also thinking what am I supposed to be teaching today, what are my lesson plans and most of all why didn’t any of my alarms go off. In this frenzy of madness I kept trying to figure out what I did last night. I was so tired I couldn’t remember anything. Then finally when I realized the last thing I had planned for my students was the unit test, I thought to myself where are my test papers? I remembered they would be on my desk, then I all of a sudden it hit me it’s Friday (in Kuwait Friday and Saturday are our days off). I calmed down and for the second straight week laughed at myself and went back to bed and did not get out until 12pm.

The simple reason to why for the past two weeks I have woken up on Fridays in such a panic was because this actually did happen to me once on a Wednesday two weeks ago. The power in my apartment must have surged and as a result my alarm clock didn’t go as it was reset. I woke up at 7:11, school started 7:30. In 30 seconds flat I was out the door and grabbing a cab. Every morning we take the bus which leaves at 6am to get us to the school. I tell the cab driver to go fast. I was making great time and then I hit all the traffic, so an hour later I make it to school, missing first period and my first class of the day. Needless to say it was not a good feeling. Punctuality is something I constantly enforce to my students and no longer was I perfect in that regard and some of my more troublesome kids in a class that I did not miss decided to make a point of asking why I was late today for school, trying to find an edge on me. But in my infinite wisdom I told them it was personal and that seemed to be a good enough answer.

Now you may have been thinking to yourself looks like Eric gave up on his blog, quite the contrary actually! In reality, the demands of a full time teaching job has been taking a toll on this young educator. Waking up at 5am in the early morning and not getting home until 4pm, then crashing for a few hours, followed by scavenging for food as well as wondering what I’m going to teach tomorrow has really taken away from all the leisurely things that I had been so fond of doing.

By no means am I complaining. This career has provided a lot of challenges, which I in my opinion I have not met. The first challenge is being completely organized. Something I struggle with. I think this mostly has to do with my inexperience as a young budding teacher. However, it is not all about just being organized, it’s the culmination of being organized, lesson planning, dealing with all sorts of interruptions during the day, substituting for other classes, dealing with individual students, and all the administrative responsibilities on the side.

Having a job that now pays a salary and not by the hour has changed my mind set in some ways. For me the most noticeable way is how I break down my day. In all my previous jobs which were to pay my way through university they were all wage based hourly jobs. Every time an hour went by I would think to myself another 10 dollars or whatever the minimum wage as at the time. I would then break up each shift up in a way to help pass the agonizing pain of my ultimate boredom thinking, all this money I’m putting in my school better be worth it and it has. Now when I get to the school at 6:30 every morning, Heather, Stephen and I go get our ritual coffees and we discuss many topics about school and our kids and so forth. However, in our minds we don’t think I can’t wait for this day to be over or this job is so boring its melting my brain, or how can we make the time pass faster. It’s will we get what we need to get done today done? Everyday it’s a race to the finish, only to end up at the starting line the next day once again.

Something that I have found even more profound on a personal note is I don’t think of even making money will I’m at school, one reason could be because there is a sense of job security since I have a teaching position. Money actually never crosses my mind, how much or how little or even am I making enough that I am happy with. I think I have truly fallen in line with the saying, “find a profession that would do for free and do it,” or something like that anyways. There are two things I know I love to do. One is talking which I am sure all of us are aware. And the second well it’s removing the weight of the world from the shoulders of many young students, whether I teach them or not.

During teachers college I rented a room from a sweet lady named Mrs. Clow. Every now and then when I was cooking we would have various conversations about whatever was on her mind. The one thing she had told me her father had once said to her is, “get an education. An education bears no weight; you can carry it with you wherever you go.” That has been something that has stuck with me ever since she had said it. I think many of us know what it feels like to have the weight of the world sit on our shoulders and push us down and not being able to lift it off. By educating all the students I come across this year, the next and every other year, I want to provide them with, knowledge and the tools they need of an education that bears not weight, to help remover the weight of the world around them. There are few worse things than being powerless in a situation because we don’t know what to do. By giving these students all I have to offer through my experiences, knowledge and wisdom, I hope to remove some of the weight off of their shoulders and replace with a weightless education that will follow them for the rest of their lives. Although I may never know the impact I will have on these students I hope for it to be only in the most positive sense. Whether it means those days that I have to come down really hard on the class or an individual which I have, or the days in which a second chance, and a kind smile is the answer to their success and can be the difference between them showing up to class or not.

As result, with each passing day I realize more and more how much teaching is exactly what I want to do and I couldn’t picture doing anything else. Every day I reflect and I am unsatisfied with how I taught, only thinking I can be better tomorrow, or if I was to restart this year all over again how differently I would do it. I know I will never be happy with how I teach. If teaching was a sport all I want to be is in first place, that way I would know that I am doing the best possible job for the students. I guess that is just a mentality of always wanting to be the best from having been an athlete for so long. However, I will continue to improve myself the best I can. Will I ever reach the top of teaching, I hope not. I don’t think you could. But if I did somehow, someday I certainly would not want to know in fear of becoming satisfied and no longer finding new ways to improve myself.

Saturday 9 October 2010

Appreciation


After Each time I write a blog post I always wonder what I will be able to write about next. Sometimes I think I wont have anything to talk about because after a while I feel like I`ll be writing about the same thing over and over. However, that is not really the case, it just takes time for my next significant thought to develop.


The thought that has been looming on my mind the past week or so is my worldly appreciation. It has been quite difficult for me to synthesize and process this thought to myself, as it very overwhelming to contemplate. One way to give perspective to what I`m trying to describe, is to think about your purpose of travelling. For many this purpose can be to visit friends, family, vacation, or to go see a country out of interest. It is obvious when we go to other countries for these purposes we will visit the areas of historical value, important buildings and see the tourist areas.

It is obvious my reason for travelling is for the purpose to work. However, the more I think about it the more I realize, I`m not really travelling, in fact, I have moved for a period of two years for work to start my career and life. This is what has had the greatest impact on my experience. It is knowing that I am not staying for a short while and that I do not have to go see everything imaginable in Kuwait, because I only have 2 weeks or a month to visit. Kuwait, for the next two years will be my home.

As I sit here in my living room, as I so often do looking out my balcony watching the traffic, people playing cricket, the sunsetting and my thoughts wander through my mind, this one simple idea really sinks in fully, this new place has become my life. The thrill of examining and exploring in the first two weeks has ended. In those two weeks it felt like we were on vacation. That we really did not move here for work. The idea of having a full time job had not truly sunk in fully at that point either.

With the realization of Kuwait, actually being my home for the next two years, all the buildings, people and lifestyle has quickly become less novel and just a natural everyday occurrence in my life. It would be a mistake for me to say that I look at the urban geography here like I would in my home town of Mississauga, or my university home of St. Catharines. There are still obvious adjustments I am still making, but things are not as foreign as they once were. There is a more natural feel to the everyday here for me.

It would also be a lie for me to say that I do not still feel out of place at times. However, I feel more confident going to places that I once felt awkward about. The staring we get does not bother not bother me as much. Perhaps this is where I will start giving some more definite examples of of my appreciation I have gained since being here.

I will start with the staring. I am always surprised to see how much attention you can attract when its obvious you are not from the surrounding nations. Having lived in Canada your entire life, you become quickly accustomed to living with people of all nationalities, religions, beliefs, values, cultures`; I have literally grown up with the entire world in Mississauga. Through the years seeing someone walk past me who is entirely different than myself in every aspect would not receive anymore thought from me than the two seconds they are in my range of vision. Even then those differences mean very little, as it is as natural as the air we are both breathing in that one spot. Having lived in Canada, the amount of exposure to the world I have gained to the rest of the world without ever leaving the country is phenomenal.

Now a month and a half later, I am realizing I am encountering people who have moved from their own countries to Kuwait to work, but they have had very little exposure to a multicultural environment. From this I have gained a greater appreciation for having had an opportunity growing up to understand many other cultures from the country I was born. In the same instance, I also appreciate the curiosity of those who stare at me. I literally could have been the first white person they may have ever saw, now that may be an exaggeration, but you get the point.

Another great part of my appreciation since moving is the simplicity of life here, or so it feels like. If there is one thing I know about Canada, or developed industrialized nations, is boy do we love our material possessions. Here I have been humbled by all classes of people who live in Kuwait. Material items and temporary pleasures and satisfactions from what I have noticed are non-existent. There is a strong feeling of community here. People are always together, doing things. In Canada there is a stronger sense of independence among the people. We have so many toys that keep us much more occupied and independent from one another. Instead of meeting up and doing thins together, we will text, send messages or simply communicate through face book, but we will never actually physically interact in time and place.

In Kuwait, you will never see anyone alone. People are always doing something together; whether it is the people playing cricket outside my window, or sitting downstairs drinking some coffee and eating some food,you will rarely find someone off on their own. For example, back home if you had not been in contact with anyone for a few days no one would even notice or even worry. However, here, if I haven`t seen someone in a few days, let alone a day you really notice it. Having that sense of independence and going on your own does not exist here, and something I fully appreciate. Also, it is something that we are doing without noticing. Since I have been here, I have not done a single thing by myself. If I am going to go somewhere, I will round up the usual suspects and we march together. It just does not make sense to do something by yourself. The only things I have done on my own, is go the gym, go for a run, or walk to the nearby seven eleven for food. But even then, I am bound to run into someone I know. The alone time that I do have is always spent in my apartment, but even then my it is known where I am, and thus I am not fully alone; as my door is always open for whoever to come in.

Now what about these temporary pleasures and satisfactions that I speak about? Well first of all, all that fast food and junk that we eat back home to help deal with our stresses, I don't even consider ever here. Watching T.V. shows, movies, and so forth or spending my money on material items to buy away my worries doesn't happen either. All those temporary fixes I find we do so often in Canada, have become luxuries to me here in Kuwait. I can't fully explain it, it might be something in the air, the water, or the food, but the simplicity in life that I have found here away from the petty drama, and superficial worries, have been replaced by that of substance. That substance for me has been the the relationships I have developed. Sitting down and just being beside someone with a simple conversation has taken on a greater meaning that you could ever imagine. In this case, I would have to say I more than appreciate the luxuries we have back home, but they have become so commonplace that we quickly become bored and unsatisfied with what we have that we want more and more, until finally we don't know what we want and everything seems so boring mundane and less than exciting.

Here, I have gained the greatest appreciation for these luxuries, watching my dvds of Entourage happens rarely, my only source of junk comes when we go to the souks and stop for the coffee and two donut deal at Krispy Creme. What I have learned and have come to truly appreciate is my reintroduction to social interactions. In Canada, yes we interact socially, but that can only be done if you're doing something. For example, to sit down with another person is boring and there is no value in that, unless your're watching a movie so you can be distracted from having awkward silence. You literally have to have an actual plan of doing something to be around someone, or else there is no purpose to see them, and as a result creating a very independent society. Now don't misunderstand me, I absolutely love my alone time. However, having the choice, I'd rather be with people as much as I can and the alone time that I do have, should always be a luxury.

Now for a quick change of pace, one aspect that I truly and absolutely miss is the changing of the seasons. How strange it is to tell you that I still feel like I am in the middle of the summer and not entering the second week of October blows my mind. This lack of changes become quite tricky believe it or not. You wouldn't think it, but life at times seems to stand still, stagnate. It feels like there is no forward motion at all. Each day can feel exactly the same, no change in temperature, not a cloud in the sky, and nothing that tells you are you are 5 days away from the weekend. You will quickly miss the brisk fall air, the sharpness of a cold wind, those cloudy days that can determine your mood. The snow that lets you know Christmas is just around the corner, and the deep thaw that lets you know there is life after a cold and brutal winter. Yes, the weather that I too am so guilty of complaining about in all my years is something that I do miss greatly and have come to fully appreciate. Often times, no matter where I am, my mind thinks of the changing of the seasons. The changing of the seasons has for me become synonymous with the passage and growth of my life; as there is obvious and change and progression that you can measure. However, here that can be easily lost as nothing really feels like it changes, and it is certainly humbling how the something like the weather can have such a significant impact.

As I sit here thinking of all the things I have come to appreciate, I realize there is not enough time to go on about. Mostly because I have to take a shower and start lesson planning for tomorrow, something which I did not accomplish at all this weekend. However, to conclude about the things I have really began to appreciate, I would have to say that no matter where I live and for how long, I know that I will never change as a person, as bold as that may sound. My ideas, opinions and attitudes my change, but I thin the core of a person will never change. I will continue to gain greater appreciations for the world as I continue to live in and experience Kuwait, and with the travelling that I will do. As exciting as it is to travel and for all the moments I will live in while I am away, nothing will replace home. But from this experience and short time away, I have come to miss and develop a great appreciation for what I have and will always have, family.

Saturday 25 September 2010

Krispy Cream Donuts


Looking back on my previous posts I don`t really feel as though I have truly described my daily life routines since arriving in Kuwait, or at least the routines I have newly established. The first week here, there typically was not a routine. Practically all the pictures I have posted were from last second decisions to go out and explore the immediate area we are living in. We would spend up to as much as 3 hours walking in a very close perimeter to our apartments. One reason for that was the fear of getting lost was great. Secondly, the things that are close to us were so fascinating, and what we did come across amused us a lot. For example, many of those funny signs I posted are within a 30 minute walk in any direction.

However, after our first week of arrival we were at the school for half days and then full school days to work on our classrooms and such. By this point we had fully explored our neighbourhood. Now we were looking for new adventures. Which gave rise to the exploration of the souks (pretty much a flea market), but way cooler. Visiting the souks became our nightly activity the week before we started teaching. We would head to the souks and the nearby mall to see what we could get deals on. And pretty much you could get a deal on everything, but you really have to act like you`ve been in the country for a long time, and you know that they are trying to rip you off. After that the prices drop rather quickly and the more you bought the better the deal. So essentially you have to try to max out the discount you can get.

You know you`ve done this when they start to get upset with you when you`re practically making them pay you to take their stuff. If you're still not satisfied with the price they are giving you then you say, "no thanks". You then proceed to walk to the booth right next to that one which has the exact same things. When you approach the next both you hear the famous Kuwaiti line, which also must be their motto, or philosophy, "I give you good deal." That line has provided a lot of humour on the side for us.

Also, another important factor to note, is the use of taxis to get around. If they know you're not from the country they will always try to charge you from 1/2 to a full Kuwait dinar more than what the price should be. Right now the Kuwait dinar is worth about 3.5 more than the Canadian dollar, which is quite a bit. However, it is not a problem trying get the right price to go places. You say to the driver how much you will pay to where you want to go. You have to make sure the price is agreed upon very firmly before you start driving. If not, you will run into some trouble and they will charge you more once you get out. But if you don't like the price they want, you just wave them off and flag down the 100 other cabs that will, "give you good deal," and the price you are willing to pay.

Needles to say the haggling and bartering down of prices has been a lot of fun, even if you have no intention of buying their product. However, if you're really not interested in buying anything at the souk, (or the Friday market we went to last week), never make eye contact or stop by the booths. This is because the second you show the slightest interest in their product, you are swarmed by the three other workers showing what they have to offer, the prices, and the reassurance that you have to buy from them because you wont find a good deal anywhere else.

In both instances concerning purchasing from a souk, a Friday market, or a taxi driver, its always good to make friends with a few of them, because then you get the best deals possible; since you assure them continued business. We now get the best deals on movies and we have two taxi drivers who will come get us with a simple call and a half hour notice. Just a brief note about our one driver Sammi, his english is excellent, and he always informs us when we are going places what the maximum price we should pay for any particular item, as well as what places specifically to go buy certain items for the best prices and quality. Needless to say, he has been a tremendous help in familiarizing us with the Kuwaiti lifestyle.

So by now I know you are questioning the title of my blog post, which I will address right now. So the whole time we have been here I haven't really visited anything with a western feel to it. There are some malls I have visited, but there was very much an eastern feel to them. However, yesterday we decided to go to The Avenues mall, one of the three popular malls, to buy some more clothes for work. This mall is as western as it gets. There's an ikea, amongst many of the other western stores or equivalents in there. After having bought a new tie, shirt and dress socks, I was getting grumpy and hungry, and we still had to go grocery shopping. Plus after the three hours of walking around we've done my poor feet were starting to get rather sore. Just as we were making our way to the grocery section of this ginormous store, low and behold free 6 packs of krispy cream donuts were being handed out. It was a glorious site. Me, Nigel, Eddie, and Shane did not now what to do but to capitalize on this amazing deal; as we watched the three ladies being swarmed by everyone who saw them giving out the donuts from shopping carts. The hilarious part of this all was an Arabic man came up to us was muttering something to us in Arabic, and handed us his box of donuts. I was confused. Was he just being nice and giving us his box because he didn't want them. Unfortunately no, because as we watched him, he swam right back into the crowd to get himself another box. I stood their curious about his decision to hand us his box of donuts. Being four western men, he trusted us the most to hand us his box. About 30 seconds later he came back to us, very proud of his acquisition and we helped him but the boxes into a bag. The true meaning behind this story is related back to the routine we have established in about the month we have been here. Always on our way to the souks, there was a crispy cream donuts in a mall on the way. We would always stop there and get the deal, a large coffee and 2 donuts, for one Kuwait Dinar. So when we saw this free give away, it was a dream come true. I never ate Krispy cream donuts in Canada, but now its the only junk food that I even touch since I've been here. So by the end of the day I had eaten 9 crispy cream donuts, and the first 6 of those in about 10 minutes or less. So the moral of the story, if you are ever looking for a good deal, come visit me in Kuwait.

Wednesday 22 September 2010

End of the Week


Well Its been over a week since I have last posted and a lot has happened. The two most important events are: we finally for the most part have internet in our apartments, meaning not everyone has access yet, and the process of getting our civil id cards is under way.

For the past three weeks if we wanted internet we would have to go to this dirty run down internet cafe, which was cool to try out at first, thinking we would have internet any day which we were repeatedly reassured and did not happen. After long days and the need for privacy going to the internet cafe became less and less of an option. Public smoking is allowed so once you leave that place, even if its for few minutes you smell like smoke and feel like tar. Secondly it can get really loud in there, people yelling in languages that don`t make any sense, and you can feel rather uncomfortable at times in these types of places, and in particular many of the girls did!

The other huge success of this week was the school finally getting our civil ids processed for the past three weeks nothing was being done and our passports were simply held onto. Personally this was a big concern of mine, and of my fellow colleagues. After applying some pressure to get this done because we all want to travel in November when we have a week break to see the world, we finally had our blood tests and chests scans completed today! Sunday we go in to get our finger prints processed. Although its not a sure thing that it will be ready, the guy in charge of handling the passports and processing our civil id`s said it would be ready just before our break. So it looks like i`ll be heading to the airport with no real plans and hopefully I`ll be able to meet up with some beautiful people who I know already have their civil ids from other countries. So we shall see where I end up when the time comes. Other than that long break, I`ll be able to do sweet weekend trips to, all the surrounding countries, Qatar, Dubai, Bahrain, Egypt (I really want a ride on the sphinx), it truly feels like the world is at my grasp. So yeah i`m excited.
Other than those two problematic situations, the issues at school with scheduling and timetables are really starting to smooth out, our principal has been on lock-down trying to get everything fixed and has done a good job.

I have really been able to really build great relationships with many of my students over this past week which has felt like a lifetime, in a very good sense of the word. In the morning, at lunch, on all my preps and after school I have students all rushing into my class room, sometimes just to chat, or just to hang out, or teach me Arabic, or just to give me a good old hard time about why I insist they must raise their hands before they speak. It`s a great feeling knowing that students would rather spend their lunch with you in your classroom. I must admit at times it does become overwhelming. Being the talker that I am I do lose a lot of time preparing for classes. But its okay to me knowing the students always feel welcome to come to me at anytime is a very humbling feeling. However, I always let them know they are always welcome to come by as long as I don`t have a class. So they take me up on that offer. In fact my fame has spread so much that I have students that I have never met or even teach come into my classroom to say hi and chat with me. So that has been a super bright spot for me in my young career as a teacher. To me there are not too many more important things than having a very strong rapport with the students, aside from being the best possible educator I can be.

All and All the experience of living in Kuwait has been definitely an interesting ride in the short time I have spent here. However, I continue to look forward to the many more challenges that lay ahead of me and the tremendous experiences I will have to enjoy. So now that I have internet my blogs should be a bit more consistent. And yes you're probably thinking I have a lot of grammatical errors and mistakes in my post, but I dont really care I've been up for 13 hours so maybe next time I'll think about editing my post.

Thats all for now!!!!

Tuesday 14 September 2010

Dear Diary


Dear Diary,

Today was the first day of school. I got up at 4:50am today, because the school bus leaves at 615am and boy did I not feel like waking up. I didnt have too much to do in the morning when i woke up, but i wanted to make sure i had lots of time because I am very slow in the morning. It was strange to have to pick out my own clothes instead of having my mom lay them out for me the night before, but i was able to overcome this great difficulty.

There was a lot of confusion today at the school, as many of the students schedules were not done properly and they had no idea where to go. Let me put this situation into perspective. Last period apparently I was teaching two history classes at the same time. On my timetable, I had the girls for last period. (Kuwait does not have mixed classes.) About ten minutes in to this class a boy from the 306 comes to my class and tells me that I am supposed to be in that room teaching them history. However, 307 is my classroom for the entire year. I don't even want to explain the disaster that I ran into with the boys class. I had to scramble to find another teacher to cover one of the classes, essentially leaving both classes without any supervision; at least the girls are much more mature, responsible and can fucntion without any supervision. So by the end I sent the other teacher to watch the girls class, and I watched over the boys until the bell rang.
Needless to say, by the time I was able to regroup from the chaos, the boys were so far gone into doing their own thing that class was a lost cause. Thankfully classes are only 45 minutes.

Despite all the stress that occured throughout the day and lack of communication from the adminstration I was able to overcome the many obstacles we were faced with today. How well I was able to do this is another question, but I survived and I'm ready to take on the challenges of tomorrow, as I find it to be quite exciting. But to end the day a few of us went over to the American school of kuwait and played ultimate frisbee for a few hours with the teachers there. It definitley was a great way to decompress for sure. I only have tomorrow and thursday left this week and then it's the weekend, and then i'll really be able to reflect and evaluate what I will need to do for the following week to capture and engage my students. But for the first day on the job I have to say Im still smiling so tomorrow will be another day with new obstacles. That is all for now Diary, good night

Monday 13 September 2010

First day on the job

Well tomorrow is officially my first day of the start of my career. I'll have to admit it is off to an interesting start. By interesting I mean, I dont know exactly what is going on. The adminstration has been in complete havoc. It is too difficult to fully explain the predicament that every new teacher at the school is in, but needless to say it is not the typical start to a new career or just the beginning of the school year. However, anyone who is familiar with the twists and turns of the education profession will know anything can happen at any point in time and we just have to deal with whatever comes our way the best we can.


Despite all all the confusion and last mintue panic for tomorrow, I think it will be a good test for my teaching abilities. I mean I dont even have my class list yet, for any of my classes. So as a result I will find out quickly what I made of in the face of this adversity. To make things even more clear, I finally recieved my finalized time table today. The first time I even saw my timetable was last wednesday, just before the the long weekend here. But I did sign up for an adventure and amazing experience. So it would appear as though I'm getting all that I have asked for. There's not too much more I can really express about tomorrow. The only real question is will i survive the wrath of highschool students, oh how the tables have turned.

Aside from the chaos with the school. The overall experience of kuwait the last two weeks has been phenomenal. It truly does feel like a life time since I have been here. I've posted a lot of pictures recently and I still have more to come. Unforuntatley the internet is still not working in the apartments. So I have to come to this internet cafe, which I dont like doing because smoking is allowed everywhere in Kuwait, even inside the malls. That has probably been the single thing that has been hardest for me to adjust to, the public smoking.

All the teachers who live in the apartments have really come together. Two weeks ago we were complete strangers. Now we are making dinners together, going to the gym together shopping and conversing like we have known one another for ages. I think right now the meshing of all the people I have met has been the greatest part of the experience. Kuwait really doesnt seem that foriegn when you are surrounded by people who have the same goals and aspirations. We have people from Australia to Ireland here and everything inbetween; that in itself has been quite an experience interacting with teachers from all of the world coming to kuwait. kuwait itself is actually a country that has more foreign workers than nationals. The total population of Kuwait is about 3 million, while about 2 million of these people including myself are foriegn workers. So its really hard to feel out of place when it seems that everyone here is out of place.

Well I'll end this blog off here for now. I have lots more to write, but I need to go back to my apartment, watch some super cheap dvds i picked up and try to ignore all the potential problems that are going to happen tomorrow!

Saturday 4 September 2010

My Travels to Kuwait

Sorry for the delay in updating my blog, we`ve been without internet for some time now. There is an internet cafe nearby which I`ve used once. But I am able to tap into a wireless connection on my balcony periodically, but it is not that reliable. I hope to have internet in by the end of this week.

Well a lot has happened since I last posted, but I will dedicate this post to the travelling. Both flights went smoothly, despite my first flight being thirteen hours long. I would say that I had slept a good 6 hours on the way to Dubai. About 6 seconds after we were in the air I blanked right out, listening to ``come away with me`` by Norah Jones, on repeat and for most of the flight. I was out for a good hour I think. I woke up just in time to be able to get my dinner, which most people were already halfway through. The gentleman beside me said he tried to wake me, but I just wouldn’t budge. I laughed and told him it’s near impossible to wake me up once I`m out. Aside from that not much else happened. I had a window seat which was nice until we had to close the windows as we were get near Ireland and England, because we were starting to get daylight. That was a weird feeling, travelling from the night into daylight.
When we finally landed in Dubai, the sun was setting. In about ten minutes it was dark again. The sunset was spectacular; just a hot red disc glowing in the sky, and you could look directly at it. On my way to the next terminal I met my first teacher, Eddie. He was a bit confused as to where to go, as I overheard him asking one of the airport staff. So being the nice guy that I am, I stepped in and told him what gate we had to go to. Interestingly enough, he was assigned a flat right across the hall from my apartment on the fifth floor, so yeah we hang.
The flight to Dubai was a blast. However, about ten minutes after getting on the plane, I heard a girl asking my name to other people and trying to find out where I was. The whole time leading up to going to Kuwait, I kept telling myself something is going to go wrong and I won`t get into the country for one reason or another. So as she got closer to me asking people I sunk lower into my seat so she wouldn’t notice me. I wasn’t sure what she wanted, but I wasn’t going to let myself get kicked off the plane. As she moved away from where I was sitting I noticed a piece of paper in her hand and realized it was the itinerary. Realizing this, I got out of my seat and approached her, relieved knowing that I was going to make it to Kuwait after all. She was a teacher too, just rounding up all the teachers she could find on the flight. So the last hour of flying was full of excited teachers who barely slept except me, which I made sure everyone knew.
Once we got to the airport in Kuwait, the real challenge began. Will our papers get us in? At that point if they weren’t I was ready to head back home if that was the case. I was running on auto pilot by that point and doing another 20 hours or travelling really didn’t seem that bad, at the time. I had been preparing myself for the worst case scenario since the start of the flight. And, I’m through immigration ready to pick up my luggage, the journey is finally over.
When we finally got everything gathered and exited through the airport doors, we got a blast of 46 degrees of pure heat, which was amazing!!! It wasn’t too long before we got to our apartments. To give justice to the chaos that ensued once we arrived at our apartments is hard to do, it’s one of those had to be there situations, but I found it highly hilarious.
By the time I finally got settled in and to sleep it was 2 am Wednesday Kuwaiti time, or about 7pm Tuesday back In Canada. I flew out of Pearson 940pm on Monday August 31. Needless to say once my face hit my sheets I feel right to sleep. Which was a good idea, because we had to be up and ready for 9am to go to the school. Thus ending my voyage to Kuwait and the beginning my many adventures and experiences I will be having.

Monday 30 August 2010

My Travels to Kuwait

Well if you don`t know by now I am headed off to Kuwait to teach for two years. I`ll be teaching grade eight social sciences, exciting I know. Well the idea of this blog was quickly inspired after I accepted the job offer at the Dasman Model School of Kuwait. I think it was really out of the boredom that resulted from two and a half hours of history curriculum class that we had twice a week, among my other classes. Me, Simon, Sammy, Cornelia, and Sarah, would sit at our table in class not paying attention to whatever was going on, as usual, and joke about the kinds of adventures I would have. As a result, the idea of me actually starting a blog about my worldly travels came to fruition.

This being my first official post before I leave Canada, I have struggled over the weeks leading up to today thinking about what I wanted to write about. I`ve attempted to write this first post a few times, but each time I would come up with something different later on, leaving me unsatisfied with my previous ideas. I finally decided to wait to the last the day before I left to capture whatever it is that I am feeling. So here I am, it`s three A.M. and I jumped out of bed because I can`t sleep despite how tired I actually am.

What is it that I am thinking? Well I know for most that is a scary thought to actually know what`s going through Eric Mackinnon`s mind, because honestly I don’t even know ninety percent of the time. However, the one thought that has been dominating my mind today and yesterday was the fact that I am going halfway across the world to teach the children of parents who I essentially have no connection with at all. I have been entrusted by those who have hired me to provide a level of quality education. To nurture, foster and build young and growing minds.

I know I get the jokes time to time about me actually being in charge of the ``future,`` and how could such an event be allowed to happen, what has the world come to. Although they are good faith, I believe they stem from my at times eccentric personality. However, in all fairness, that idea torments my mind. I am in fact part of a community of educators whose passion is to educate and inspire children. To help create individuals who can think for themselves. To demonstrate that learning is not something they do from Sunday to Thursday, but it is a lifelong and continuous process. When I am at the front of the classroom, I am more than just a teacher, I am a role model. Each and every single one of my words and actions can and will have either a negative or positive impact for the rest of a student’s life. Students look to us for more than just the answers to the questions we give them. They look for guidance in their own lives. Teaching is more than just giving a passing grade of A, B, C, it`s about passing students through life. This is what torments my mind, not being able to deliver anything but the best of my abilities to each of my students when I demand the same from them. The passion to teach has been something I`ve truly wanted to do since I was nineteen and in two weeks from now I`ll finally be at the front of my own classroom.

Well as I continue to mentally prepare myself for a good 20 hours worth of travelling with waiting and flying, I think it would only be fair to thank everyone in general for all your support through the years. Everyone I have known has helped me each in different ways; some just being there for a good laugh, and others who have been around for the deep troubles and profound talks about life. But I think two people who really need some mentioning are my parents. Sometimes I have no idea how they were able to survive me. I was always up to something. However, I know could not have got to where I am today without their continuous support throughout the years, whether it was from lending me money or coming to watch me compete when I was wrestling. I know this will be especially hard on my mom, but what mother would it actually be easy for. It was hard enough for our mothers to finally let us walk on our own as babies, even a mere three feet away from their reach; although this time I`ve learned how to fly and I`m only going a few thousand miles away.

I guess I should also thank my siblings for enduring me the last twenty seven years and mercifully letting my live. Haha, but don’t worry you get me back in the summers, so consider this time away from me as a much needed vacation.

With that being said, I know I`m not fully prepared for the adventure that lies ahead, but it wouldn’t be my style not to think about what I`m doing and jump head first into the shallow end of the swimming pool. So feel free to read my blog as often or as little as you want. If you find you`re having trouble sleeping at night and need something really boring to put you to sleep then I suggest you read my posts about my ongoing adventures, as a better solution than warm milk.