It's not, I lied. But yesterday I went to take a nap at 5:15, set my clock to buzz in half an hour. Woke up at 9:47, so I missed guys' night, dinner, drinks, games, movies, women!? (maybe, but probably not) But it was nice. Boring stuff isn't always bad. I got paid today too, so it finally sank in I think, that I am living here, not just just on vacation.
I made a big list, and got a lot of it done. Today was by far my most productive day here as far as schoolwork goes. Had my first parent conference yesterday after school. It went very well. So that was good news.
I made like 3 versions of each quiz I'm giving tomorrow. I am differentiating the crap out of this instruction. I'm so into this! Who knew. And, for probably the first time...I know I said it before but this time I actually mean it. I think it's the first time I actually feel literally no regret for leaving my old job and going to school to be a teacher. I love it. That seems like a pretty good place to end. Goodnight
02 February 2011
28 January 2011
Hook, Line, and Sinker...
Hook, anyway. I know it's been a little while - I haven't really done too much exciting. "But Andrew, it's your first week living and working in Qatar! That's pretty exciting!" Maybe so, but blogging something like "Went to school, came home. Ate dinner, planned a lesson for tomorrow, ate ice cream, slept," would not be a very exciting blog. So I'm going to wrap up a week's worth of blah into a night's worth or pizazz. Maybe? And pizazz isn't underlined; apparently it's a correctly-spelled word. I have some awesome neighbors here, everyone who lives in this building is a teacher at ASD. Hospitable through and through. I went for dinner across the hall - excellent Italian pasta and wine, salad, the whole works. Ordered pizza the other night; it's not the same as Tony's, but it'll do for a while.
I'm managing my way around the school, and the students seem to like me. That's what I was more nervous about than anything. And, by the way, to all of you who said "They won't get your jokes:" they do. And they are more cultured than most of the kids at home. Put THAT in your pipe and smoke it. If anything, I'll be more confident in my joke-telling ability, which was already flawless. America, look out. As I write this, I have my laundry in the dryer for the first time since I've been here. It's a little bit of an adventure, but not too bad at all. Have a 4-day weekend this weekend also. Sort of. Friday and Saturday are a conference at ASD open to educators in the Near East and South Asia region. Sunday and Monday is a conference for our school alone. It's going very well, it's very helpful. I would imagine that not too much of this has been different than if I had a job back home and decided to blog about it, so I apologize. There will be more cultural stuff to come though, I promise. And more pictures. But for now, a few lines of text will have to do. Have a super afternoon.
I'm managing my way around the school, and the students seem to like me. That's what I was more nervous about than anything. And, by the way, to all of you who said "They won't get your jokes:" they do. And they are more cultured than most of the kids at home. Put THAT in your pipe and smoke it. If anything, I'll be more confident in my joke-telling ability, which was already flawless. America, look out. As I write this, I have my laundry in the dryer for the first time since I've been here. It's a little bit of an adventure, but not too bad at all. Have a 4-day weekend this weekend also. Sort of. Friday and Saturday are a conference at ASD open to educators in the Near East and South Asia region. Sunday and Monday is a conference for our school alone. It's going very well, it's very helpful. I would imagine that not too much of this has been different than if I had a job back home and decided to blog about it, so I apologize. There will be more cultural stuff to come though, I promise. And more pictures. But for now, a few lines of text will have to do. Have a super afternoon.
23 January 2011
Evidently, Pennsylvania Dutch is not an internationally-known ethnicity
So I stepped foot in my classroom (that would be cool to say back in the States, let alone here!) for the first time today. This week there is standardized testing, so the schedules were a little different than normal. I have 2 sections of pre-Algebra and 3 sections of Algebra. I introduced myself, and went around the room doing introductions and whatnot, and I asked them to tell me where they were from. About the 4th girl in said "...and I'm Dutch." I said, "Nice! I'm Pennsylvania Dutch." That brought a whole new conversation into the room. The only way I could really get the point across was to ask if they knew about the Amish. They did. So at least one of the classes is semi-convinced that I drove a horse and buggy around at home.
What an amazing day, though. My schedule is great, I teach from 8:00 until 12:10 on days 1 and 2, and from 10:00 until 14:10 on days 3 and 4. It's great, and the students are awesome. Every Tuesday, the students have early dismissal for PACT: Professional and Collaborative Training. Spending time each week for teamwork, what a novel idea.
That's is for now - I don't want to beat a dead horse with how nice it is here (the phrase hurts my transportation's feelings), but that's all I can say so far. Evidently the fact that I played in a soccer match 19 hours after I got off the plane circulated around the school, and when I met some of the teachers who were not even on the faculty team, I hear "so you're the guy who decided to beat jet leg with a game of football, huh?" Yep, that's me.
Have a good night everybody, more to come. Obviously.
What an amazing day, though. My schedule is great, I teach from 8:00 until 12:10 on days 1 and 2, and from 10:00 until 14:10 on days 3 and 4. It's great, and the students are awesome. Every Tuesday, the students have early dismissal for PACT: Professional and Collaborative Training. Spending time each week for teamwork, what a novel idea.
That's is for now - I don't want to beat a dead horse with how nice it is here (the phrase hurts my transportation's feelings), but that's all I can say so far. Evidently the fact that I played in a soccer match 19 hours after I got off the plane circulated around the school, and when I met some of the teachers who were not even on the faculty team, I hear "so you're the guy who decided to beat jet leg with a game of football, huh?" Yep, that's me.
Have a good night everybody, more to come. Obviously.
22 January 2011
Post-Soccer
No, not a new breakfast cereal from the makers of Smacks. I went to dinner at the Ramada, at a very nice restaurant called Maxim. Silver platters, pallet cleansers between courses, etc...Four of us went. Everyone is amazingly nice so far, and I don't anticipate any of that changing. I start tomorrow...kinda (very) nervous. Oh well, c'est la vie, right? It's 9:30 right now, and I'm not sure if it's the long day I had today or the jet-lag, or a combination of both and/or anything else that is rushing through my head, but I'm exhausted. Goodnight all.
Are you ready for some football?
Yeah, I wasn't either. But I played anyway. ASD Faculty 3, ASD students 2. Victory! While I didn't score a goal, I at least played a bit of defense and made a few nice passes. It'll come - I haven't gotten my legs under me yet. Fourteen hours to go until I start. Had a good breakfast and lunch today: Johnny Rockets and Ric's Kountry Korner. Eggs, sausage, toast. California burger. Not quite ready to culture myself yet! Took a walk along the Gulf Coast too, it's beautiful. The Knowledge Enrichment Centre was closed though, so we toured the city. I have an excuse now if I act dumb: "Sorry class, the centre was closed. I won't be enriched until I can visit during business hours." Let's see how well that goes over. Also took a tour of the school - awesome. Beautiful, it's like a nice university campus. So excited. This was supposed to be a pretty short post, but I guess I did more than I thought. This is Andrew, signing off.
Viva Les Bleus!
Viva Les Bleus!
21 January 2011
Qatar Hero
Wow...exhausted. What a whirlwind the past week has been. Friday, an e-mail comes across my computer that a school in Qatar has a undefined-in-length math teacher long-term substitute position. I send the principal of the high school my resume and references. A week later and I'm setting the defaults for my web browser to translate from Arabic to English.
Email me for details if you want, but it's been hectic. But at least that part is over - now I'm showered and unpacked and waiting anxiously (and nervously) for Sunday to come: that's when I start. So from whenever I wake up tomorrow until whenever (and if) I go to bed tomorrow, that's how long I have to get ready. Crazy. Anyway, I didn't get to explore too much - I got out of the airport around 19:45. It's 21:30 now, and I haven't left the flat. But from what I saw on the ride over here, it's going to be amazing. Pictures to follow but for now, goodnight!
Email me for details if you want, but it's been hectic. But at least that part is over - now I'm showered and unpacked and waiting anxiously (and nervously) for Sunday to come: that's when I start. So from whenever I wake up tomorrow until whenever (and if) I go to bed tomorrow, that's how long I have to get ready. Crazy. Anyway, I didn't get to explore too much - I got out of the airport around 19:45. It's 21:30 now, and I haven't left the flat. But from what I saw on the ride over here, it's going to be amazing. Pictures to follow but for now, goodnight!
14 July 2009
I'm not vain, but I know this song is about me
So things with C are going as well as I could hope. That's I guess all I'm going to put about that. Again, sorry it's been a couple of days. The funniest thing that happened to me within the past couple of days actually happened to a coworker of mine.
Evidently, you can buy belts to keep maxi pads up. I had no idea. This old woman customer did. The package, in fact, read "belts sold separately." So she came to the counter and asked where. We had no idea...who knew? But, after a phone call to our wholesaler and no luck there either, my coworker hung up the phone and started laughing. I didn't know why. I asked. She said the woman on the other end of the phone line told her "tell the customer to check with the douche bags." haha. I would have laughed too!
I got my dining room mostly done. And I weeded about a quarter of my yard. And mowed. An old friend is coming to visit on the 24th, so I have to have everything done by then. Thank you, friend, for actually giving me a reason to get off my lazy ass and get that room done.
And my going back to school efforts are finally getting somewhere too. I got a letter that said I would have to return it to a certain building to be accepted as a grad assistant (thereby giving my free tuition). So I went there. They told me to go somewhere else. They gave me the wrong directions to the building. After getting to the right place finally, I filled out paperwork and was told to go back to the building...the same room actually...from whence I came not 10 minutes before. They said I was in the wrong place again, and sent me to the third floor. The third floor said I was on the wrong floor. The second floor could get me straightened out. The second floor could NOT get me straightened out, they said "the grad office can"...about half a mile away. The nice woman called though, and got everything taken care of on the phone. Thank you, nice lady on the second floor. So now all I've got to do is register for classes. I hope I can still work a decent amount of hours at the pharmacy. Not because I love it, but because I need money while I go to school. We'll see...I think there may not be enough hours in the day for everything I intend to do this fall...I'll make it happen. So that's my last couple of days in a nut shell. I bought food but have no pots or pans. Off to the outlet tomorrow to get a (hopefully) cheap set. I'll let you know. oh, and I woke up before work today. Like a long time before work. And cleaned, did laundry...before work? wtf. And it felt great. I'm going to try it again tomorrow. But I don't work...so I'm just going to wake up early. Victory! Weeding, sanding, painting, banking, driving, shopping, eating, sleeping. Maybe I can make a haiku for my day? I'll try...maybe like a database essay...haiku will be the summary. Full text will be...full text
I'll do it at the end tonight. For the last time.
Today I woke up
Earlier than I had to
It was a good day
****UPDATE!
I forgot, this was very sad today...one of my favorite customers (no, they're not ALL bad) told me today that she gets her results back from her Leukemia test tomorrow...
I was oddly sad when she told me. And moreso after this -- she points to the sky (ceiling, we're inside) and says, "I'm not ready to meet Him. But if He wants me, I guess it's my time." What do I say to that? I just said "I'll keep you in my thoughts..." which normally is just something I'd say to be friendly. But I actually will.
Evidently, you can buy belts to keep maxi pads up. I had no idea. This old woman customer did. The package, in fact, read "belts sold separately." So she came to the counter and asked where. We had no idea...who knew? But, after a phone call to our wholesaler and no luck there either, my coworker hung up the phone and started laughing. I didn't know why. I asked. She said the woman on the other end of the phone line told her "tell the customer to check with the douche bags." haha. I would have laughed too!
I got my dining room mostly done. And I weeded about a quarter of my yard. And mowed. An old friend is coming to visit on the 24th, so I have to have everything done by then. Thank you, friend, for actually giving me a reason to get off my lazy ass and get that room done.
And my going back to school efforts are finally getting somewhere too. I got a letter that said I would have to return it to a certain building to be accepted as a grad assistant (thereby giving my free tuition). So I went there. They told me to go somewhere else. They gave me the wrong directions to the building. After getting to the right place finally, I filled out paperwork and was told to go back to the building...the same room actually...from whence I came not 10 minutes before. They said I was in the wrong place again, and sent me to the third floor. The third floor said I was on the wrong floor. The second floor could get me straightened out. The second floor could NOT get me straightened out, they said "the grad office can"...about half a mile away. The nice woman called though, and got everything taken care of on the phone. Thank you, nice lady on the second floor. So now all I've got to do is register for classes. I hope I can still work a decent amount of hours at the pharmacy. Not because I love it, but because I need money while I go to school. We'll see...I think there may not be enough hours in the day for everything I intend to do this fall...I'll make it happen. So that's my last couple of days in a nut shell. I bought food but have no pots or pans. Off to the outlet tomorrow to get a (hopefully) cheap set. I'll let you know. oh, and I woke up before work today. Like a long time before work. And cleaned, did laundry...before work? wtf. And it felt great. I'm going to try it again tomorrow. But I don't work...so I'm just going to wake up early. Victory! Weeding, sanding, painting, banking, driving, shopping, eating, sleeping. Maybe I can make a haiku for my day? I'll try...maybe like a database essay...haiku will be the summary. Full text will be...full text
I'll do it at the end tonight. For the last time.
Today I woke up
Earlier than I had to
It was a good day
****UPDATE!
I forgot, this was very sad today...one of my favorite customers (no, they're not ALL bad) told me today that she gets her results back from her Leukemia test tomorrow...
I was oddly sad when she told me. And moreso after this -- she points to the sky (ceiling, we're inside) and says, "I'm not ready to meet Him. But if He wants me, I guess it's my time." What do I say to that? I just said "I'll keep you in my thoughts..." which normally is just something I'd say to be friendly. But I actually will.
Subscribe to:
Comments (Atom)