Jobs, Yobs, Vacations and COVID

 After my surgery I was still out of work. I eventually had to give in to AJ’s extortion and pay the SAR25000 demanded by them to renew my iqama, otherwise I would have no chance of finding work. A local recruiter told me that BAE (British Aerospace) were looking for teachers to work from home in May. As the salary was rather attractive, I immediately put my hand up. The first three weeks of May I was emailed a couple of assignments, mainly

preparing transcriptions and test questions for the cadets at KFAA (King Faisal Airforce Academy). The last week of May I was told to report to KFAA where I would be assigned a class. Work started at 0600 with the first class starting at 0700. We then had six 45-minute periods of teaching the same class.

One problem I faced was the fact that the English school is about three kilometers from the base gate, and I have no transport here in KSA. The way that we dealt with the situation was like this: I would get an Uber at around 0515 which would drop me about one kilometer from the base gate. There I would wait at the side of the road for a colleague to pick me up and take me to the school. Usually, I wouldn’t have to wait more than 15 minutes. After classes I’d find someone to drop me at the side of the road (preferably in the shade) where I would get another Uber to take me home. Again, the wait was usually 15-20 minutes in 45-degree temperatures. The cost of this transport arrangement was close to SAR2000 / month. Not ideal but what can you do? Times are tough.

My first class was a pleasure to work with. They participated, asked questions and were generally enthusiastic students. When exam time came around they all did well, with a few 100% scores and a few in the 90%s. We had a good and cooperative working arrangement which worked well for all of us.

Then I got moved to a more “senior” class.

The term senior, in this case, simply means that they had been on the course for a longer time. It in no way implies that they were proficient in English, had any interest in learning,  wished to participate or had any understanding of the importance of English (IELTS 6.5 required) for their chosen future “careers” as air-force pilots.

Never in my teaching career have I had a class like this one. Other teachers suggested that because I was a “temp” I should have expected to be given classes that Saudi or permanent teachers preferred not to teach. These students declined to open their books, complete any

Motivated only to sleep

exercises, or answer any questions. Instead, they would tell me that the classes were a waste of time (on the evidence, undeniable) and that they would prefer to sleep or chat amongst themselves. They would walk into class late and immediately put their heads down and sleep or shout amongst themselves (in Arabic) and generally ignore me. They also would make comments about me in Arabic and laugh and otherwise mock me.

They would tell me that they did not want to be there and that they were “senior” cadets. My pointing out to them that I was a senior teacher and that I also did not want to be there, but here we were, had no effect. It was horrible. I did have one student who actually wanted to better himself, and I spent my days teaching him, while trying to get the rest of the mob to keep the noise so that I could communicate with this one student. On one occasion I was obliged to call for an officer to deal

My students being motivated by the lieutenant

with them, and he took them outside and made them do pushups and bunny-hops in the dirt and the sun. On their return one troublemaker burst into tears; I searched my heart but found no trace of any sympathy for him. Behavior improved for a few hours but there was still no sign of any motivation or desire to learn. As a teacher who loves teaching and interacting with students, I found this dispiriting.

After a couple of weeks of this, I was ready to resign. As it turned out I was saved the trouble by being told by BAE that as a temp I was no longer required. When I realized that I would never again have to deal this unpleasant, undisciplined, and immature bunch, my overwhelming emotion was one of relief.

12/7/21
Synchronicity in action: Out of the blue today I got a WhatsApp from two former students at Oxford Flying School in Dammam. I taught there in 2018. In general, the students there were motivated and eager to learn and we had a good working relationship. Here is a message I got from one class when I was reassigned:

After my experience at KFAA, I needed to remember this to restore my faith and belief in myself.

***

We have an Eid break coming up soon and I had decided to spend 10 days in Northern

Cyprus, one of my favorite places. I have been stuck in Riyadh for over 18 months, so I am more than ready to travel again. I applied for and paid USD80 for a Turkish visa (previously it was free) and bought my airline tickets. A few days later the KSA government announced that Turkey was now on their red list and that when I wished to return to KSA I would first have to quarantine for 14 days in a third country. Accordingly, I canceled the Cyprus trip.

So then I thought maybe somewhere a bit closer to home, Bahrain. Using Booking.com I booked a nice hotel with pool and private beach. The hotel thanked me for my booking and pointed out that due to COVID their restaurant was only doing take-aways. The spa, the pool and the beach were also all closed due to COVID restrictions. Accordingly, I canceled my Bahrain trip.

Then I thought maybe Abu Dhabi – it’s also close by, and I understood that they had COVID under control. I would be required to have a COVID test on arrival at Abu Dhabi airport and if that was negative, I would be free to proceed with my vacation. I paid USD200 for a UAE visa and health insurance, booked a nice hotel on Booking.com and bought my air tickets. A few days later KSA announced that UAE was now also on their red list and all flights to and from UAE were cancelled. Accordingly, I canceled my trip to Abu Dhabi.

Luckily, on Booking.com, one can cancel hotel bookings without any penalties, Turkish Airlines have refunded most of what I paid for my ticket and now I need to speak to Etihad about refunding the money I have paid them. I have not traveled out of Riyadh since end 2019 and it seems I’ll still be stuck here for a while.

Rounding off a rather rough patch, last week I learned that my son-in-law had contracted COVID and yesterday my daughter tested positive. She had been vaccinated a few days

previously, but unfortunately not enough time had elapsed for her to be fully protected. On the plus side her symptoms are mild compared to my son-in-law (who is not yet vaccinated), so it appears that the vaccine is giving her some degree of protection.

So we wait for life to return to normal and hope that this is not the new normal.