Job Discussion Forums

[While I was out]

Respect to Neil McBeath.

[steppy-boy]

As I said, McBeath deserves a medal. In fact, he deserves 24 medals, one for each year in Oman (and a special commendation for his two year stint in Saudi). He reminds me of the old diggers who fought it out stubbornly in the mud and filth of the trenches watching their comrades be picked off one by one. Their bony chests may be covered with medals as they bravely march on Remembrance Day, but it is nevertheless a painful sight to behold. Mc Beath, I take my hat off to you. 24 years in Oman!! 24 years in the trenches. Well done old fella.... I shed a tear for you and others like you.

[cmp45]

[steppy-boy]

ummh ...that's a rather harsh response, isn't it??

[Duffy]

Steppy,

You put your head up over the trench and not expect to get sniped????

Peace to all and I hope that everybody are in the place/s they want to be.

duffy

[eha]

'..Peace to all and I hope that everybody are in the place/s they want to be...'

Duffy. I'm shocked. What an egregious flouting of grammatical and conceptual accuracy.
Surely you mean: "I hope that everybody are in the place where I'd like them to be?"

[Duffy]

EHA,

Either I am being corrupted by Indian/English 0r I had a G&T too many, I'l let you decide

Duffy

[eha]

G & T of course refers to that old stalwart that teflers have relied on for decades: Grammar in Teaching? I think you should go back and have another--- look at chapter --- one.

[steppy-boy]

cmp45, I stand by my assertion that to spend a third of one's life in the desolation and cultural poverty of the Gulf can only be attributed to either lack of imagination to live and work elsewhere, laziness, an inherent but illogical stubborness to see reason, or simply for the money and benefits. There is no accounting for people's preferences and tastes of course, but I can assure you that 90% or more of teachers in the Gulf would rather be elsewhere if they could. It is simply the money and benefits that keeps many there almost like bonded servants. One only has to hear the endless sighs in the staff room : "thank God it's almost vacation time" and the unseemly scramble come vacation time to book a flight out of the area, to see my point. I have known teachers who simply could not bear another day in the Gulf and were willing to pay 50% more for a flight just to get them away asap.
For myself, I am now sipping a wonderful chilled Chardonnay in a lovely cafe in some boulevard in Paris, enjoying my life to the fullest.

[cmp45]

[veiledsentiments]

Steppy... your posts have always been mostly inaccurate uninformed crap, but this one tops them all. You do not now or ever have the right to speak for 90% of the Gulf teachers...

Just go away and don't let the door... etc.. etc..

VS

[Neil McBeath]

Among the other pleasureable aspects of working in Oman is the fact that all workers in the government sector get two days off for National Day - or more accurately, in lieu of National Day, so I have not been staying current with this thread.

Returning to it, however, I have realised that among Stroppy Brat's other deficiencies are the inability bto count. Twenty four and a half years in the Sultanate, plus two in Saudi Arabia, plus the year and a half since my return are actuall 28 years, and these account for almost half my life. as I arrived in the Gulf when I was 30, however, those who CAN count will see that I am still short of retirement age and, although I say it myself, not nearly so decrepit as Stroppy Brat suggests.

The old men he tastelessly describes as being "a painful sight to behold" are in their 80s. They are the remaining survivors of the Second World war. The were part of those amusing events like the Retreat to Dunkirk, the Narvik Expedition, the battles of Al Alamein, Anzio, Normandy, Arnhem, the Ardennes and the Reichwald Forest. They then had the hilarious job of liberating and cleaning up joke factories like Bergen-Belsen and Flossenburg Concentration Camps. Have you found an aisle to roll in, Stroppy Brat? Because when you liken me to those men, you do me too much honour.

I am a treacher. That's what I do. I teach. I have had the very good fortune to find a job that I like, in a country that I like, with people who I like. Working in Oman has been, for me, a highly pleasureable and rewarding experience. Among other things, I have learnt to speak Arabic, travelled exensively both in Oman and elsewhere; indulged my taste for expensive watches and cufflinks, and I have been able to build a financial portfolio that brings in more than my salary, guaraneeting me freedom from financial worry.

I have taken two masters degrees, completed thirteen consecutive Great Dhofar Road Races (30 km through the hills of Dhofar and down to Salalah - before you sneer), I have published dozens of articles and hundreds of book reviews. To date I have had an enjoyable, varied and productive career.

So now that we have dealt with the veterans of World War II, and my own career, let me ask you a direct question, Stroppy Brat. What, precisely, is YOUR achievement?

CMP45 asks a relevant question, just who ARE you, to pass any kind of judgement on how other teachers choose to order their careers?

This thread started when Sticky Dates had the nerve to say that she was happy in Nizwa. For that, she was accused of being gullible and naive. She had not coped with the rigours of Sohar College. She did not really know what it was about. Secure in her inland idyll, she had not shared your experience of slogging it out on the beaches of Sohar.

I did a Google search for Sohar College, and I came up with a thread that led me back to this forum. It is dated November 5, 2005. It reads:-

Hi,

I've been posted to Sohar College and I can tell you it's a great place to teach. The admin people at the College are excellent.

And who wrote that? Pollyanna?

No, it's Steppy-Boy himself. In the days when he was happy. Before he started to throw his toys out of the cot.