When I came to Abu Dhabi, I wasn’t expecting things to be easy. In fact, I tried not to expect much. This was a good plan because I never could have predicted what this job would actually be like. I have tried to explain the way things are here to the folks at home, but unless you have taught here it’s all rather difficult to fathom.
I try to remind myself often that "we don't see things as they are, we see them as we are” and I am the outsider here seeing everything from my own limited perspective and thinking about everything in relation to my own limited set of life experiences. And just trying to learn what I have to learn.
On the practical side, I think Arabic classes are next on the agenda.
Despite it all, I have to say I actually love it and all its muddled, awkward, complexities. It’s just very different from what I am used to and as a result I am exhausted from processing my day to day experiences. But I have decided this is one of the richest experiences I have ever had and I am learning more every day who I really am. I am getting to know myself in contexts I could never have imagined even existed for me; in relation to people and environments I might never have had the fortune to encounter had I never come here. And it feels rich, stimulating and very alive. I feel like I am truly living in each moment.
Anais Ninn said, “We travel, some of us forever, to seek other states, other lives, other souls.” So I try to remind myself why I came here. I try to take each day at a time, each class for what it is, each girl for who she is in that moment and I try to take it all in; I just try to breathe and stay calm, and be grateful for this chance to get see these lives, meet these girls, and experience this culture.
I know I cannot change anything about the way this school is run; it’s not my place to do so. There is no point in dwelling on all the problems and absurdities and thinking about the way things should be. There is nothing here to change but myself. Really, the only reason I came here was to learn and if I can do that and teach someone a bit of English along the way that will be fine.
It’s hard. Did you think I would say that? Of course it is! I could go on and on about all the things I have observed but that might make for a wordy, rambling, posting and I am trying to avoid those. Simplicity is bliss especially when your days feel like chaos.
The hardest part? Without a doubt, it’s the language barrier. Imagine trying to teach a group of thirty immature, rowdy, but kind-hearted, teenage girls in a language that they do not understand. Imagine teaching three classes of these girls, for five or six hours a day sometimes. Imagine that you cannot understand one word of the language your students are speaking in your class, nor understand their writing. You have no idea if they are saying rude things or how to help them when they ask you a question. All you have are facial expressions and body language and the few girls who have a limited (but more than the rest of the class) grasp of English to translate for you. But again, you have no idea if what they have translated is appropriate or correct. Imagine not actually teaching them what they need which is intensive ESL, but rather curriculum designed for students already proficient in the language and therefore far above their level. We misunderstand each other all the time and as a result I have seen some pretty appalling behaviour. But I know if the situation was reversed, I would probably behave in the same manner, maybe even worse. I don’t blame them. It's not their fault.
Each day we fumble, stumble and bumble around, the girls and I, trying to understand one-another, just trying to survive, taking it all one day at a time. Maybe it will get easier. Or maybe my perspective will change.I try to remind myself often that "we don't see things as they are, we see them as we are” and I am the outsider here seeing everything from my own limited perspective and thinking about everything in relation to my own limited set of life experiences. And just trying to learn what I have to learn.
On the practical side, I think Arabic classes are next on the agenda.
Despite it all, I have to say I actually love it and all its muddled, awkward, complexities. It’s just very different from what I am used to and as a result I am exhausted from processing my day to day experiences. But I have decided this is one of the richest experiences I have ever had and I am learning more every day who I really am. I am getting to know myself in contexts I could never have imagined even existed for me; in relation to people and environments I might never have had the fortune to encounter had I never come here. And it feels rich, stimulating and very alive. I feel like I am truly living in each moment.
Anais Ninn said, “We travel, some of us forever, to seek other states, other lives, other souls.” So I try to remind myself why I came here. I try to take each day at a time, each class for what it is, each girl for who she is in that moment and I try to take it all in; I just try to breathe and stay calm, and be grateful for this chance to get see these lives, meet these girls, and experience this culture.
I know I cannot change anything about the way this school is run; it’s not my place to do so. There is no point in dwelling on all the problems and absurdities and thinking about the way things should be. There is nothing here to change but myself. Really, the only reason I came here was to learn and if I can do that and teach someone a bit of English along the way that will be fine.
