The complexities of life

Because I live on campus and don't go into town much, my social life is quite limited. There is an advantage to being able to walk to work in ten minutes and not suffer through traffic. However, it means that the people I work with are all around all the time.

As you know from previous rants, there are a number of colleagues I find it difficult to work with. However, outside of work, I rather like them. I went out for a school year-end dinner a few days ago, and I rather enjoyed myself. Many of these colleagues that I find unpleasant to work with are actually pleasant and rather charming -- outside of work. They are interesting and funny.

Unfortunately, the largest part of my interaction with them is at work. I wish that I didn't have to work with them; their professional behaviour (or misbehaviour) wouldn't bother me. But, I find it hard to separate my work and social relationships because of my living conditions.

I think I need to get out and meet more people in Dubai more often. I'll mark that down as a goal for next September.

Greener pastures

I've been teaching ESL or EFL pretty much full-time since 1983 (except for a few years when I was getting my Masters degree in TESOL - I worked part-time then) - 27 years in total. Wow. It seems like a long time when I write it down. I've taught at middle school and high school, in university credit and non-credit courses, and at language institutes. I've taught in 4 countries: Canada, Korea, Brunei, and the UAE.

In all that time, I can honestly say that I've never ever worked with a lazier, nastier, less professional group than I've been working with for the last two years - not everyone of course - just the six or so senior teachers who have been here the longest and who seem to dominate every meeting. It has not been very pleasant. I really haven't had a good time.

Some of the teachers in the department have been really enjoyable to know and to work with, but I'm moving on.

I've applied for and been accepted in the Department of Writing Studies - same university but a different department. For 27 years, I've been teaching English as a second or foreign language. And, while I will continue to teach non-native speakers of English, I will be teaching "serious" writing - not English as a language (at least in theory). It will be interesting. I've been teaching writing for years, but this will feel different. As the new guy, I'm sure that I will get a fair number of the lowest level writing classes, but I may actually get some classes where the focus is really on content not form. Woohoo!

I feel sad that I've been forced out of a field that I am comfortable in, and I feel like I'm abandoning several of my really nice colleagues - leaving them with less strength to fight a number of teachers who should have been kicked to the curb years ago. But, I have to do what is best for me in the long run. I hope that I will be able to leave a ton of negative emotion on the floor when I head off for a couple of months in a Taoist martial arts academy. If all goes according to plan, I will spend 10 weeks meditating and getting my chi flowing smoothly.

I'm not sure if I'll be able to keep up the blog. I know that Facebook is blocked in China and my sense from a number of forums is that China intermittently blocks Blogger as well. It might be good for me to unplug for a couple of months.

I'll be in Shanghai on the 15th, so, if I don't post anything for a while, it may be because I'm becoming a hermit...or just being blocked by the Chinese government.