I was over the moon with relief- the money wasn't great but the position was good and the prospects seemed positive. Now, in retrospect, I am astounded at my naivity at the time.
The climate would be good-and the children would have an English speaking environment. I had hopes that the professional environment would be more stable than in the international schools I had had experienced in developing countries in Africa, Central America and the Middle –East. All of this sounded great to me.
I don't think Marie was so keen - but she wasn't strongly against the idea . As has sometimes been the case in in my career perhaps I made the decision too quickly! Anyway, we were going to Australia! What a relief to have a plan after almost a year of uncertainty! I remember my big brother Roger was not impressed.
But my feeling was-what other option do we have? Did we have any other practical option? We had spent ten months in Belfast looking for work. I had had several interviews. Nothing, absolutely nothing. I knew that I was not going to get a job in Northern Ireland and that I had to look for something overseas. All our savings from Dubai had been used up.
So, we had no choice. It was all very well for my brothers to say " Don't take it "
What was the alternative? They believed that I would get a job in Northern Ireland. I could see that I wasn't going to get one-the job hunting season was, in fact, over for that year.
ARRIVAL IN AUSTRALIA
In Ireland, May to June was spent in correspondence with the school. The surprising thing was that most of it was in correspondence with the Blowfly, not with the Yorkshireman the Principal. I was the deputy Principal Principal. The blowfly kept referring to himself as the Business manager. I remember thinking this very curious at the time. Of course he was not the business manager but the ‘Owner’ of the school.
Well, we said our goodbyes and arrived in Melbourne on July 24, 1991.
The first of many shocks was the weather.
It was bloody freezing! It must have been about eight degrees at the airport. We were given a frosty reception by officious immigration officials who shouted at us and generally ordered us about like prisoners in cattle-truck of a concentration camp.
Some welcome!
Then we were met by the Chairman who appeared to be in his dressing gown again, and the Yorkshireman, who, I subsequently discovered, had just been released from hospital. I don’t know what was wrong with him but I soon came to suspect that he was suffering from the pressure of conflict with the blowfly. The blowfly was there in his jumper and builders boots. We all piled into a van for the 40 minute ride to the school where, noting our surprise at the inclement weather, the yorkshireman proceeded to tell us how how awful the climate was in the area –it was, according to him colder, windier, wetter, and hotter at certain times of the year than any other part of Australia!.
I thought he was joking –but he wasn’t – it tured out to be indeed one of the coldest places in Australia.
However, things improved when we arrived at the school as we we were actually quite favorably impressed by the building. The building was an old convent which had been renovated by the owner and converted into a school.
However, the intial favourable impressions were not to last long.
It was feeling like November in Belfast (indescribably cold) and the Nixon family could not hide our disappointment-from each other at least. I remember that Maria was expecting our daughter in about six weeks time. The next disappointment was to discover that there was no rental property available for us as promised by the blowfly and the Chairman our correspondence. They had said there would be a fully furnished house available for rent and that this would be included as a ‘benefit’ in my contract.
Of course, I was so desperate for the job I had not insisted on even seeing a contract from the Chairman in London. This turned out to be a very costly mistake indeed. The blowfly had in fact done nothing with regard to accommodation –nor, it seemed, had they ever any intention of providing a furnished rent free house as a benefit! They put us in a freezing cold bungalow across the road from the school which he owned, and and merely pointed us towards the three estate agents in town and told us to go and look for something suitable. He made it quite clear he wanted us out of this fridge–like bungalow within ten days! We were quite shocked by the lack of hospitality.
But still, young,relatively inexperienced, resilient, we were undaunted ( we couldn't afford to be daunted by it as I had not the money to return to Ireland even if I had wanted to) we determined to make the most of it.
The Yorkshireman as as helpful as he could be under the circumstances, and I could see he was going to be easy to get along with. But, he was a bachelor and was not really aware of our needs as a family at the time.
After a few days we were introduced to my assistant from Adelaide. She was a quite exceptional assistant, and turned out to be a great friend as well. Right from the very beginning she and her husband were by far the friendliest of the people we met - they even loaned us their car in the first few days. I don't know what we would have done without them.
As in Ireland, we did not find it easy to make friends in Australia, but this couple were the exception
They were a remarkable couple in many ways and a credit to Australia.
On the professional level, I would never have survived for as long as I did without the unwavering loyalty of my assistant–even as I floundered near the end . after almost two years, I was finally stretchered to relative safety at this school by three remarkable females in those awful times-Marie (my wife) my assistant, and another experienced female member of staff. They both gave me strong supportive advice on how to deal with the blowfly!
they all had a calming influence on me and saved me in the end from a total breakdown. I have lost touch with many acquaintances from this period. Marie has also friends, some of whom she still remains in touch with, but, in spite of making many good acquaintances in our short time – I have gradually lost touch with them all.
Back to the school…
The school itself was nearer 25 students rather than the 60 indicated by the chairman and the blowfly in his correspondence. I immediately noticed that there appeared to be serious tension between the blowfly and the Yorkshireman, the Principal.
I made the early mistake of thinking that yorkshireman was my boss, and concentrating on my relationship with him- when i should have been developing my relationship with the Blowfly and his wife , who he had appointed as the Bursar.
I was to regret this later. Bob was friendly and I liked working with him. But the reality was his relationship with the the blowfly was in the dying stages. the blowfly had the Principal 'on the ropes and halfway to the floor'
The Yorkshireman had just come out of hospital. I was told he had been suffering from stress. My short acquaintance with the blowfly explained why. The Principal was only to last for about six more weeks in a crisis.
As each week went by I realized, with alarm and a sinking feeling, that the Yorkshireman was losing heart for the fight, and that he was planning his own exit! I could see now that my arrival had actually assisted him-because he now had someone to replace him.! The inevitable end came after a huge argument which took place in the blowfly's office, and , and as always with the blowfly, the end was violent (at least verbally, if not physically). during my two years there I witnessed many ugly and verbally violent dismissals of staff, both clerical and academic.
I never actually saw the Principal leave, but if the gossip were to be believed. he disappeared, if not in a puff of smoke, a cloud of dust, last seen heading north out of area - leaving his belongings in my house of all places! I had offered to 'store' some of his belongings, not realising that he was planning to leave them with me after his exit. It was a mistake on my part to help him, as I was now 'tainted' in the eyes of the blowfly, his mortal enemy. It was guilt by association.
How naive I was in those days.
I could now see what sort of a man the blowfly was – he was ignorant in educational matters, but more importantly he had a vicious side to his personality which made him very dangerous indeed to work with –especially if confronted. Ultimately, I myself was to fall victim to him by making the mistake eventually of confronting him.
After about 6 weeks, I wasted no time in telling the Chairman that I was very disappointed by these developments, that my wife was expecting a baby at any time , and I had no intention whatsoever of taking over the reins of the school.
In retrospect, I definitely put far too much faith in the chairman this time. I could tell the chairman didn’t like my reaction.
When under pressure this has been a costly trait in my personality – I put too much faith in some people and not enough in others. This has led me to overeact and make misjudgements in critical situations when under pressure.
I was so naive. To use an expression I found myself ‘in the Mushroom club’ – i.e in the dark and being fed shit! At this time I reflected hard again about my interview in London: I then remembered that the chairman had asked me in London if I would be prepared some day to run the school. I didn’t realize at that time that the blowfly and he were plotting to get rid of Yorkshireman, and put me in his place!
How could I not have realized it? Someone less naive than myself might have realized this much earlier!
I later came across some school Board documents that showed that the Board (the chairman and the blowfly and a couple of other lightweight stooges) had planned it all so that I would take over and step into Yorkshireman's shoes . The blowfly had even arranged for me to have a temporary work visa so that I was dependent upon the school for employment in order to induce me to comply with this arrangement.
According to the minutes of one meeting which I later unearthed, The blowfly gloated at a Board meeting that Don ‘would not be able to move from the school without his consent and that was a good thing’!' That is how the mind of a bully works.
But they had not reckoned on me not wanting the job! I had made up my mind about the blowfly intuitively and very quickly-I did not like him , or his wife, and did not want to work for them. My view of them contrasted drastically with the Chairman's s assessment in London at interview that they were “an uncommonly decent couple” The chairman was to later change his mind - but too late for me!
I was temporarily ‘saved’ from catastrophe by the opportunistic appearance on the scene of an ambitious and lazy board member who mistakenly thought the job would be a cushy number. Like many people he completely underestimated the blowfly. He took the job and I continued as Deputy. For a few weeks things went well.
But then this new Principal started to take time off on the pretext of business in a far -off part of Melbourne, and it wasn't long before the blowfly started to get fed up with him.
It was still only September.
We had been in Australia about ten weeks.
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