Job Discussion Forums

[capthappy20002000]

Hi,

I have been offerred an ESL job with HCT in Fujairah. Experiences and opinions on HCT in Fujairah and the town of Fujairah are highly appreciated. I have already read the postings on HCT on this website and the well known anti-HCT blogs, but there is virtually nothing on Fujairah, which I am taking as a positive sign.

Thanks,

[Never Ceased To Be Amazed]

The lovely fella who helped drive the ADWC into th' ground by jes' standing by and letting Tubby and th' CLAW have their way is now at Fuj.

The silence is indicative of shell-shock...

NCTBA

[elmoro]

never worked for hct, so can't tell you much about that. i have taught indigenous folks (men and women) and all i can say is that it is a truly unforgetable experience.

no news is not neccessarily good news!!! especially in a country with censorship and spies (funny, how we as westerners love freedom of speech in our own countries but when faced with socio-economic darwinism, we become little gestapo agents) i heard that there was a runner recently at the fujairah campus, so ...........?

anyhow, i have lived in fujairah. all i can say is that there is no traffic. i know that the current housing options are much better than before. it really depends on the type of person you are. if you like quiet, you will have it. if you want "the life", be prepared for weekend trips to the east side (dubai, ad, etc.). can't tell you about the nightlife. i know it is there but never indulged (notice choice of words)

elmoro

THE HORROR, THE HORROR!

[helenl]

Yes there was a runner - because he was overloaded (25 in a class) with both students and hours with little support other than from colleagues.

Add to the workload the interminable meetings EFL in HCT seems to thrive on - it's a wonder more haven't bolted.

[Sheikh N Bake]

Loved those Power Point meetings.

"Ahem--Professor Powerpoint, we must have standards!"

"Indeed, Professor Snarf. We must transform the Emirates, through ever-increasing work loads and ever-more brilliant teaching, into the world's center of creativity, innovation and intellectual and social freedom. To that end, please begin your Power Point presentation. I trust you have crammed in no fewer than 23,000 slides with at least 50,000 charts and boxes."


AT DWC we had a couple of Arab ladies from some admin office whose one single PP presentation suggested that they basically did EVERYTHING IN THE WORLD to do with education. If there was anything in the world of education they didn't do, according to their bullsh%t charts and bullet lists, I can't think of it.

Then we had the Western lady who came to our department meeting for an informal chat, armed with--of course--a Power Point presentation. Because the Big Boss was there.

[veiledsentiments]

I was so lucky to get out of HCT just before PP was getting commonly used. Our old-line management talked us to death without having to resort to charts and graphs. More seriously, this was one of the main reasons that I resigned... the second being the ludicrous final exam procedures.

Loved the teaching and the students though... and my investment account looked very nice... all about trade-offs and those two buckets... and why more haven't bolted.

So, it sounds like Fujairah is short of staff - even before the bolt. Did they get the extra students from UAEU without getting enough new teachers?

VS

[Sheikh N Bake]

Many but not all DWC "ladies" (what a ridiculous appellation) were hateful. Believe it or not I find teaching Saudi army officers far, far more rewarding, even in a DLI environment.

[veiledsentiments]

Interesting how our experiences teaching the women of the Emirates were such total opposites.

VS

[Sheikh N Bake]

I imagine your gender had something to do with it; you were better able to relate to the "ladies." After the 2000+ intifada and especially 9/11, US male faculty become the object of derision and misguided accusations of belonging to a certain ethnic background. (One thinks of Fagan.)

[btmline]

I'm long gone from the UAE but would be happy to provide info on Fuj. It was a fun place to live - nice folks, decent worklife (yes, at HCT). Previous poster was correct - nightlife is limited, but there's a bit there, and since it's so small, people did socialize easily.

It wasn't perfect, but didn't have any of the horrors described at other HCT campuses.

Please PM if you'd like more info.

[veiledsentiments]

[helenl]

While I would agree with btmline comments it is a bit of a double edged sword.

Socialize easily? Yes, but it is very much a small town in every sense of the word - people know where you are and what you're doing and feel free to comment on your business - and you meet the people you work with everywhere.

Is this necessarily bad? No. But sometimes it can be irksome especially if the busybodies (and every town/HCT campus has at least one) decide to focus on you.

When I was there, one woman kept score on who was invited to which party/function and felt entitled to take the host/ess to task if it was felt they were treating someone unfairly (i.e. not inviting them to the dinner party) - same person also criticized people for paying 5 dirhams for the usual 4 dirham in town taxi fare rate "you're just driving up the prices for the rest of us" Used to drive me nuts (can you tell ) However, with metered taxis they can't complain about that now.

As for horrors - it used to be a pretty good place for everyone, but people are being overloaded in terms of class sizes and hours especially in EFL. How long it will last, who knows?

[kaw]

A friend of mine started there a bit after I left and have since heard that it's a nightmare and they're counting down the days when she can leave. I'll try and find out more specifics but it sounds like the usual HCT rubbish that goes on in most other colleges.

[elmoro]

as for teaching the indigenous males in fujairah, all i can say is that i was shocked at the number of them who openly admit to being "freelance boy pediatricians". they have no shame in sharing this in class. sometimes they would just blurt out information in class as if it is normal activity. thus, my motto, "THE HORROR, THE HORROR!"

by the middle of the year, i was so disgusted that when one of the students came to me for advice on his habit of chasing filipina ladies, i just hugged him and expressed how glad i was that his problem was adult girl related.

as for the indigenous ladies, well, they are far more pleasant to teach, but that is defintely due to the fact that i took/take FULL advantage of the social norm or maintianing as much distance as i can. i entertain them in class and exit abruptly. everything is not roses and green fields for them and they have their share of issues, but my knowledge of that is second-hand at best.

IGNORANCE IS BLISS!

elmoro

THE HORROR, THE HORROR!

[veiledsentiments]

Yes, do tell us of the purity of your experience in reaching some sort of sexual maturity. What you have is a culture of extreme sexual segregation. What you get is the same culture of the usual boys school in our own culture. So sorry that you were 'shocked.' But... Not so common in the US, but the same sex boarding schools of the UK are famous or perhaps infamous - depending on your own prudery level - for the same situation. These ME cultures used to control this problem with early marriage. Now marriages are being delayed and what with "dating" not allowed... this is what happens. Boys will be boys...

And from what I have noticed many girls and women of our own culture have family situations that one would define as ranging from unpleasant to nightmarish.

We all have "issues" of some sort, but one must always be careful of leaning too much on one's own cultural prejudices. These are problems that these cultures will eventually have to deal with.

Sometime ignorance is just plain ignorance. And those living in glass houses shouldn't throw stones... we have our own houses to clean up...

VS