The Teacher Diaries-Chapter 7-First Impressions

Chapter 7

First Impressions

You know the scene in movies where the heroes walk next to each other in slow motion, wind blowing through their hair and profound music playing in the background-much like the astronauts proceeding toward the shuttle in the movie Armegeddon; kind of spelt out our entrance into the school on our first morning. Except their was no music, no wind-it was hot as hell-like 44 degrees Celsius, and of course we were only teachers. So, ya if you really think about it, it wasn’t really like that. It would have been good though-being celebrities again.

In spite of the above, everyone welcomed us with such exuberant happiness. ‘Welcome, Welcome!’ were the cries of the staff members as they caught a glimpse of ‘The Team’. ‘Asalamu’alaikum,’ peace be upon you, some of them going out of their way to shake our hands. We were a bit overwhelmed, but in a good way, like the bride that’s never allowed to stop smiling for the day.

Although everybody was warm and friendly, the only thing that captivated me was the way the school looked. If anything, the school really wanted to test the theory of first impressions. The first thing I noticed on entering was the huge free standing Swiss clock, named ‘Ebel’, which welcomed us with open arms. Next was the luscious greenery, looking like it needed a designer label attached to it. The perfectly painted walls in ice, gave me the feeling that its purpose was to cool down the immediate surrounding. And don’t get me started on the football pitch. The impressive turf was not the conventional type. It was more like an indoor pitch, but outside, made of a type of soft cement instead of grass, and it was covered by arching banisters curling around the top, creating a roof-like structure-standing guard against the sun. It gave me the feeling of the massive half-human, half-animal bodyguards to the pharoahs. Maybe I’m just exaggerating, but one thing is certain the school was beyond profligacy. It had only struck me then, we were part of  an upmarket institution that pervaded extravagence. This I came to discover even more, after meeting its clientele.

The school, which if you roughly translate its Arabic name, means ‘Gateway to Interlectual Development,' was shaped like a huge star and was probably visible from space. This in itself as a design concept was a far cry from the norm back in 1980 when it was built. It was definitely ahead of its time considering what Jeddah looked like back then. It was also the first exclusive playground for the elite minority. Even though the school is that old, it still, even today, has that contemporary asthetic appeal. The vision behind its design was simply brilliant.

The director-general of the school, I called him AK, held a meeting with us in the conference room. His second in charge, who Nizam aptly named Dr. Nose, gave us another speech as an extension of what Sean had already given us the night before. After listening to them about the status of the school and the importance of the student body, we proceded on a short tour. It was all about orientation that day. The estate was divided into two schools, the elementary and high school, all of which had various departments, equiped with all the resources one could only dream about back home. I will go into the details of these departments later as I encounter them. One thing I really want to say is that the school has its own restaurant. They serve breakfast and lunch, and of course teachers get a 50% discount. Anyone who knows about me and food, will know this definitely puts a smile on my face. I can just see how some readers are already laughing at this statement. 

We were then allocated to our different departments. I was placed in the elementary section, grades 1, 2 & 3. I didn’t mind at all, the content was easy and I could probably adapt to six year olds quickly-I mean how hard could it be? They’re only babies, aren’t they? Was I in for a surprise!

Patrick Dogan was a very meticulous yet fair person. He was fair, slender and had a slight feminine demeanor about him. He had typical Irish features minus the femine part. If anything he’ll probably kill me for even thinking this about him. He was my immediate manager-the one who was going to show me everything there’s to know about ‘The School.’  He was excellent at his job with at least ten years experience in this particular section at this particular place.

Administration called a meeting in the library at 1pm that Thursday. It was actually a fully fledged library, not just a room filled with a few shelves and books. Teachers from both schools, were present. I didn’t know the number exactly, but it looked like we were a total staff complement of about 80. Rows of chairs were packed neatly next to each other resembling a scene from a 1980s home cinema, where movies were played on a 16mm projector. AK started the normal Thursday progression with prayers and stories of the Prophet, giving us the the feeling that it was actually the mandatory Friday sermon. Next, Dr. Nose welcomed us to the rest of the school, letting them know briefly about our purpose there.

Then something strange happened that made ‘The Team’ look at each other with extreme skeptism. Our thoughts to each other was as clear as daylight, ‘What the hell!’ Teachers were complaining and venting about unpaid salaries. Apparently teachers never got paid vacation money from the year before, and what was even more scary was that some teachers didn’t even get paid two months prior to that. It seemed that the local teachers were worse off than the rest of the faculty. How could this be? This was the playground for the rich and famous, wasn’t it? Is this what they thought of teachers? Little did we know that the school was in extreme financial trouble, but I’ll get to that much later.

After the meeting, the driver was instructed to take us to a local photographic studio. We needed twenty passport photos for all the forms and protocols needed to make us leagal residents.

After the long and tedious process of each of us having to pose and look our best for the camera, we went to a local supermarket. I, of course needed industrial strength detergents as I had one hell of job waiting for me back home.


Chapter 8


....to be continued....