Job Discussion Forums

[zakiah25]

Dear JohnSlat
Come on, now - you can tell us because you're amongst friends. Besides, you're leaving Saudi in a couple of days so admit it ....... you're really one of those sensitive New Age guys who can get in touch with their feminine side! I'll bet that you can't wait to get back to the Utopian South-West area of the U.S.A. and rush straight into the kitchen and whip up some new culinary delight!
I recognised it immediately when you recently revealed your "alter-ego". Did you choose a superhero, a famous person or an American President? No, you told us that you were Mary Lou Potell!
So, tell me - what's your favourite quiche and what are the secret ingredients? Maybe we can swap recipes? ...........Pretty please........!!!!
best regards
Zakiah

[bnix]

Actually, quiche is in rather short supply here in Korea. However,there is another rather spicy delicacy which is always in great supply. But....anyway...let's get on to the "important" questions

1,Zakiah(!).How is your camel Mortimer getting along these days?
2.Zakiah(!) How do you feel about being "out-avatared" by Capergirl? Will a "Battle of the Avatars" ensue? Can we place bets online?

[zakiah25]

Bnix
His name is M...A...N...F....R....E....D and he's ok except I'm still looking for a new trainer and a new jockey after he bit them at his first training session. Also, I don't dare show my face back there at the training track or I'll probably be arrested after he also bit the tail of the Diwan's racing camel.
I'm stuck in this TEFL game for life as I'm sure that Manfred will never win one Omani rial from racing!
I like Capergirl's avatar too.
regards
Zakiah

[johnslat]

Dear zakiah25,
I sometimes wonder why I bother qualifying my posts ( emphasis added ):

" because men TEND to be more " nasty " than women. This is a BIG generalization, so sorry, but generalizations aren't ALWAYS wrong. Men MORE READILY exhibit aggressiveness and ego whereas women MORE OFTEN seek to communicate and interact. Well, that's been MY EXPERIENCE, anyway, although there ARE A SIGNIFICANT NUMBER OF EXCEPTIONS. "

And yet, from reading some of the responses, you might think I'd written:

MEN = ALWAYS NASTY, AGGRESSIVE; WOMEN = ALWAYS NICE, KIND

I'll repeat - from MY experience, women do not usually exhibit the sort of aggressive nastiness that men so often do. Hey, maybe I've been running around with the " exceptions " in the case of women ( or maybe I just haven't " scratched their surfaces " ). And maybe I've been hanging around with the " wrong " kind of guys. Could be, I suppose. However, to get back to the topic of culinary skills. Well, as my chauvinist Dad ( in an age before PC became universal ) once told me, " The best chefs in the world are men ". ( This was also pre-Julia Childs ). And good old Dad, an ex-Marine himself and a cop, discovered in his sunset years a liking and a talent for cooking ( and, of all things, pastries ). I, however, like, I believe, so many guys who have spent a lot of their adult lives on their own ( married twice, but even then, the " little women " were no great shakes in the kitchen ) am a " one-trick pony ". In other words, I have pretty much one " specialty dish " that I can whip up when the occasion demands ( And it ain't quiche - it's a little something called " Island Chicken " - Irish, take note; anyone wanting the recipe, just let me know). Oh, I can broil a steak or a hamburger ( though I hardly ever eat red meat these days ), and I've even been known to produce a rather succulent turkey on appropriate feast days, but that's about the extent of my " culinary prowess ". As for " Mary Lou ", well the reson she weighs 300 pounds is she never cooks - she's a fast-food junkie ( unlike myself - it's a Dr. Jekyll / Mr. Hyde thing, you see ). So, sorry zakiah - you'll get no quiche recipes from moi.
Regards,
John

[zakiah25]

Dear JohnSlat
Yeah.... Yeah.....Whatever to that macho stuff!!
I like the sound of your "Island Chicken" - does it have secret herbs and spices?
regards
Zakiah

[PanamaTeacher]

Zakiah Do you think cooking is femenine in a man? I can cook a couple of things (eggs and stuff) but I hate to wash dishes. But whenever a girl visits me they start cleaning the kitchen up and putting things away. Now to me that's femenine. And they like to fluff up pillows. Why?

[zakiah25]

Panama
No, not at all - I'm merely saying that cooking can be one way in which a sensitive New Age Man can get in touch with his feminine side, I don't think for one moment that cooking is feminine in a man.
I'm glad to hear that you can cook, your girlfriend probably was being very considerate when she fluffed the pillows or maybe she thought that you looked completely exhausted after slaving over a hot stove boiling an egg!
A man who can produce a Spanish omelette and a nice glass of chardonnay could win my heart!

[johnslat]

Dear zakiah25,
Well, it may ( or may not ) be " macho ", but it's the goshawful truth. Island chicken for 8.
2 large packages ( about 6 or 7 pounds ) of skinless, boneless chicken
b r e a s t s ( I'll bet it'll get " bleeped " otherwise )
I plastic ( gallon ) mixing bag
add chopped or pressed garlic ( to taste - I use about 4 good-sized cloves, but, not being a vampire, I LIKE garlic. It also helps that I live alone )
add chopped onion ( again, to taste - I use a good-sized onion )
add olive oil ( probably about a cup, cup and a half - but here's another possible " gender difference " - real men don't " measure "; we do it by the " hmm, that looks about right " method ).
add soy sauce ( see above )
add lemon ( Real Lemon's good ) extract ( ditto )
add oregano ( ditto )
add basil ( ditto )
add dried parsley ( yup, ditto )
shake it up, baby
store in fridge for at least one day
put on aluminum foil, on that thingie you have in the oven - you know, the whatyamacallit - the baking thingie
cook on one side on broil for approx. 15 minutes
turn over and cook on other side ( on broil again, of course ) for approx. 10 minutes.
There you have it - enjoy.
Regards,
John
P.S. " A man who can produce a Spanish omelette and a nice glass of chardonnay could win my heart! "
Well, I can produce the glass of chardonnay ( though not in my present environment ) if you have a corkscrew.

[Irish]

PanamaTeacher:

Zakiah is right on the money! Personally, I think guys who cook are great, not feminine at all. Whenever I've dated men who've been kind enough to cook for me, I've always insisted on doing the dishes to show my appreciation--fair is fair, after all. There's no gene predisposing us to fluffing pillows. We're just trying to say thanks.

John:

Hey, Island Chicken sounds good. About two weeks ago, the local paper ran a front page story about how the number of feral chickens is on the rise on Oahu. Since I'm on the "Poor Grad Student Diet" (ramen noodles, bruised bargain-bin vegetables, corn flakes, and coffee), those chickens are starting to look mighty tasty. If I manage to catch one, I'll definitely try your recipe. (I guess that would make it "Feral Island Chicken.")

Might as well not bother with qualifiers in your posts. You may be a gym rat but most of us get all of our exercise by jumping to conclusions.

[zakiah25]

Thanks John - I'm going to try your recipe. I'm sure that it will be wonderful with a glass of chardonnay.
But don't you think that the name "Island Chicken" is rather bland? With your Saudi Arabian background, we will have to think of a more exotic name for this dish.

[johnslat]

Dear zakiah25,
Well, how about " Desert Chicken " then ( hmm, maybe not - that'd be a better nickname for me ). Ah, Chicken a la ma fi mushkila - inshallah?
Chicken for Dummies? Well, OK then - you come up with a name.
Regards,
John

[Irish]

Hmm, this is tough. How about John's...

Macho Chicken? Contradiction in terms.

Badass Chicken? Nah, same problem.

Ditto Chicken? Fits with the way the recipe is written but unfortunately evokes memories of Rush Limbaugh and his "Dittoheads" (shudder).

Da Kine Chicken? "Da Kine" roughly meaning "whatyamacallit" or "thingie," another key word in the recipe.

Enough Garlic to Make a Grown Man Weep Chicken?

Real Men Cook If They Want to and Dare You to Make Somethin' of It Chicken?

Chicken a la Underpaid Teacher?

Okay, I'm clearly not up to the task. Next?

[johnslat]

Dear Irish,
Actually those are all pretty good. I favor:

Macho Chicken - the oxymoron you can eat ( sort of like " Jumbo Shrimp " )
Regards,
John

[johnslat]

Dear Sunaru,
Hey - you can't stand the heat, get out of the *#@%& kitchen. We're workin' here.
Regards,
Chef John

[misterkodak]

Maybe in this industry we just get so many people who "don't work and play well with others" . It's the good, the bad, the stupid, and the ugly. I've seen enough of the bad, stupid, and ugly nationality of your choice here to last a lifetime. From the Canadian girl who came here because she thought "It would be like Bodrum" (she was 34 with an 18 yr. old boyfriend . She lasted exactly 3 months) to the other American guy who I never saw sober in or out of class (he lasted a month until his dershane fired him for asking students for money). This guy was highly "qualified". He had been a texas ranger, a bounty hunter, a green beret, and a naval submariner. "I got out of the navy to join the special forces" NOT!
The language industry is plagued with high-strung people . Last week, our department head said something like "What do you know about teaching? I have more certificates than you!". Then again, he had the department using the same texts for 5 years in a row, wasn't at all forthcoming when asked for advice about teaching problems, spent most of this year gossiping, teaching CALL lessons to Elementary kids "Hey.. turn the computer on, load the program,.. don't bother me" . "I have never seen him at all today". Yes, the God of English has smiled upon him. He's not even a" native speaker" (does anyone else cringe every time they hear this term?).. just another high-strung sumnabunchin icehole. This type seems to permeate the industry. God's gift to ESL.. I've got more certificates, I worked in .... for 6 months, I went to .... university. Everyone has to be "one up" on the others. Regardless of how they get there. Heck, I think I'm going to fire up the laser jet and zip off a few more certificates . How about "CELTSD" (Certificate of English Language Teaching to Seniors with Dementia).? Or a certificate in "English Language Teaching using Adult Entertainment "? "
The whole mentality slays me. It dangerously reminds me of my military time. Who cares if I have a GED.. I've got more ribbons and commendations than you!" I'm a better man!! It's like the "Desert Queen" mentality which developed in our unit during deployments. Yes, Jill or Jon may be ugly back home, but after some time in the desert, they start to look like a model. In this industry, he/she may not even have a decent command of the English language or an education but.. once you get them outside their native country they're "specialists" right?
Backpackers vs. Whiners? Hmm. It's a tossup. Backpackers may do some damage, and may leave some irate natives behind but at least you know that they WILL GO AWAY. Whiners always spew about the same things "I hate this place, I hate the boss, I hate ... It's not like this back home" (I don't recall anyone holding a gun to their head when they bought their plane ticket or signed their contract). but you never know when or if they will go. I've met people who have been here more than 10 years teaching ESL and they "hate it". It only makes you wonder....
Quiche? It sounds good but I'd prefer some really good barbecued spare ribs these days. Heck, on some days I'd settle for an MRE!!!!