Job Discussion Forums

[MuscatGary]

[veiledsentiments]

If I recall correctly, his mother died of diabetes issues, but that was some years ago and treatment has greatly improved. Fortunately he has access to the best care and treatment in the world, so hopefully he will be around for many more years. Even if he is uninvolved in the daily running of the country, he is such a unifying symbol of the country to his people. Of course, no matter who he has named as a successor, there will be a power struggle... that is just human nature. But I suspect that most of it will happen in such a way that expats won't even know until all is settled. All of this is speculation and teachers in the UAE went through this same debate with each other when it was clear that Sheikh Zayed was dying. It turned out that it caused barely a ripple for teachers, in spite of the unpopularity of his heir.

But having known teachers who were in Iran when it imploded and Kuwait when Saddam invaded, everyone should plan for the worst. Most savvy expats have all of their important papers together in one file that can be easily taken. Regularly transfer your cash out of the country. And if things really went bad when you were out of the country and it closes to expats, assume that you will not get any of your stuff back. Most teachers lost everything in Iran and Kuwait... they were mostly sad about the loss of their carpets.

Seriously I don't see much chance of a scenario where expats have to flee for their lives. I don't see any evidence of any group of people in Oman blaming TEFL teachers for their problems. No matter who ends up ruling Oman next, there will still be kids to educate and they will still be hiring TEFlers.

Using what happened in 2011 is to me a red herring in this topic. The riots were not a surprise... plenty of bored young men easily led into mischief - taking a lead from other countries on TV. What impressed me was how quickly the government put a stop to it, with a minimal loss of life. It mostly became pretty silly... with the students demanding easier exams and higher grades. Not exactly a 'down with the government' 'kill the blue-eyed blonds' kind of thing.

VS

[johnslat]

Dear VS

" . . . they were mostly sad about the loss of their carpets."

And in Iran, a few lost their life savings. But I'm sure every expat teacher knows better now than to keep much of his/her money in-country.


Regards,
John