December 1998 Mexico.
By this time we had become quite friendly with a Canadian couple. He was from Canada and she was from Honduras. They had three children-the eldest girl being the same age as our Oldest boy. He was absolutely obsessed with going back to Mexico to live. He had all sorts of weird schemes. He successfully involved us in one in the end - and we were fair game as we were not satisfied with our prospects in Brisbane. I was worried by the Asian crisis and the lack of students and also about the limited social life for our children in Kallangur.
After a year of both of us working we had actually saved some money. Maria had been working with the Beerwah cluster of primary schools as a Spanish teacher and mainstream primary teacher. So, in 1998 December we went to Veracruz for Christmas. We were desperate for a break and the kids badly needed Spanish lessons!
So, off we went , and what no-one else ever knew, not even the kids, was that we were half expecting, planning even, not to return to Brisbane from this trip!
Of course we had no money! About two thousand dollars after the airfares –that was all our savings.
When we arrived in Mexico City we were received rather ungraciously by our old Mexican friend in his huge house. He was happy it seemed to visit us, but was not so happy when asked to return the favour . When we arrived, it was almost as though he wasn’t expecting us! Marie and I felt uncomfortable about this and Marie never really forgave him! It was the beginning of the end of a good friendship. Our friend had become a bit cranky with the passage of time..
When we got to Mexico I immediately became enthused about the idea of applying to Greengates to teach again.(I had taught there in 1987 for one year) So, I kept visiting the school to try and butter them up. Actually, they were good to us because they agreed to allow our eldest son (then 13) R to spend a term in the school without paying any fees. R stayed in a homestay family with a Mexican family close to the school and we thought it was well worth it. He later told us he hated it. All thirteen year olds hate change of any sort. But actually it was good for his Spanish, and in my opinion,for broadening his horizons.
Marie and Serge and Julie remained in Veracruz and went to a local government school there. not the most well-resourced school in the world but i never had any complaints from them about this experience in Veracruz.
I was most impressed with the maturity of Adrian – Marie’s nephew.
I went up to Mexico city in order to stay close to Roger. I used the time to look for jobs. I kept visiting Greengates. I then contacted Lancaster school and The Edron, both international schools in Mexico city, albeit of a lower status than Greengates. I got an interview with Lancaster and very nearly clinched a job as Deputy Head, and a teaching job for Marie. but not quite! I also went up to Tequisquiapan to see a new school which was being set up by some British ex teachers from Greengates. I liked the set-up. The town was beautiful-about three hours from Mexico city by Bus. The school looked as though it might be promising.
After my efforts at Lancaster and Greengates had come to nothing I decided to look at Tequis again –this time with Maria and the kids. In the meantime I was disappointed not to be accepted back at Greengates. My friend and host told me later they were never really interested.
Anyway, Maria and I went to Tequis in January with the kids and after sizing each other up we were both offered jobs ( to begin in April for Maria and August for me.).
The result was that I went back to Australia to try and rent the house and pack up!
I got home and started to pack and arrange things with the house. In the meantime Marie went to Tequis and almost immediately I started to get E-mails from her which indicated she was not happy with her situation at the school. Basically, they treated her in the most appalling fashion. She had to share a house with the childless owners who were clueless about the needs of children, and then she was asked to teach thru Spanish rather than English as promised.
She had no car and was generally treated like a dogsbody by the Brits. It was very unlike Maria to complain about anything-especially people! So, when after a couple of weeks she still sounded miserable we decided to call it off. They were not gracious about her departure either.
So, back to square one again. Everyone returned to Brisbane.
But the kids had had a great six months in Mexico getting to know their relatives!
Roger had the Spanish -.job done!
When Marie got back she was disappointed to find out that her replacement at Beerwah had been appointed to a full-time position at Beerwah primary school cluster. Moreover, the replacement’s first language was French, not Spanish. Maria had been with the cluster for three years. The trip to Mexico had therefore effectively cost her the job. Soon, they offered her a temporary contract at the high school where I had been. She lasted four weeks (two more than I had done some years earlier!) and gave up because of the rudeness of the students.
Meanwhile I continued at Embassy College (originally called ‘Lorraine Martin College”) and the contract teachers soon started to lose their jobs. I was put on to the advanced class of teaching which I enjoyed very much. However I could see that we were going nowhere financially.
I registered for a PHD at QUT but got stuck after a few months after my supervisor went on an assignment to Kosovo. I started looking overseas again and toyed with the idea of going to Saudi Arabia on my own and sending money back to Australia. But, at that stage, the idea of splitting the family was something we were determined to resist at almost all costs – the last resort.
By 1998 the Asian crisis at Embassy College had gone from bad to worse. The Assistant Director of Studies was not popular with anybody because she was a self –important, pretentious and insincere, She didn’t like me either. She started to cause problems for me by putting me on classes I didn’t like. This caused me to make my first trip to the Doctor to try to get something to help me sleep.
I was falling into a depression. The doctor prescribed anti depressants – but pride would not let me use them. Instead, I just drank a little more beer at night to help me sleep. I became less available emotionally to Maria and the family.
The Asian Crisis
I was becoming desperate.-the situation at Embassy worsened with the arrival of yet another Director of studies . She was even worse than the previous one, a heartless individual who would have pushed her grandmother off the bus to save her job. Most of the contract teachers were gone by this time, and, although i was the most senior teacher, I knew it was only a matter of time before I would be targeted eventually .It was clear that I would not have a job for much longer or that the job itself would become intolerable sooner or later.
I decided to study for a Masters in TESOL so that I could get a better job.
You might think that Embassy College would have been pleased to see me developing myself professionally. On the contrary, when I asked them to reduce my contract to four days a week so that I could study at my own expense they said no!
They said I would have to become ‘casual’ again. I knew this was the thin end of the wedge. They could then effectively sack me without any of the hassle of sacking a permanent teacher. I decided to do the course anyway and worked casually sometimes three sometimes four days a week for several months while I studied for my Masters online at USQ Toowoomba.
In July 1998 there was an advertisement for a job in ‘The Australian’.
"English teachers needed for oil company in Abu Dhabi-top $!"
I applied and heard nothing for a week or two and so I phoned the agent for the oil company who had placed the Ad. A very friendly and garrulous Yorkshireman assured me that I was very well qualified for the job and that I was almost certain to get it-and did I know of any other friends who were interested because there were 24 positions on offer!
I thought it was too good to be true-and I was indeed right. Weeks went by, even months and several phone calls later until I became convinced that my married status and family had once again scuppered my chances. the Yorkshireman couldn't understand it" but I could. He thought the company would have been very keen. However, ‘I'd been there and done that’-as the Aussies say. Companies prefer single people because they have to pay less than for candidates with families (schools etc)
We gave up hope about November and had one of the most depressing Christmases I can remember. It was the new millenium Christmas, I remember watching the millenium celebrations with feelings close to despair.
Then, on Boxing Day there was a phone call from Abu Dhabi . A Man with a Middle Eastern accent, who was actually Jordanian asked me if I was still interested in a job with the oil company. Because it was Boxing Day I had taken a glass of wine was generally in a merry mood. I told him of course I was still interested! Then he said he would like to interview me
“Would now be a convenient time?’ he said .
I was a little taken aback by this. I was still not used to the unprofessionalism of the esl 'industry', but had little choice but to agree. There followed a very brief interview on the telephone (another farce) which ended in him asking me if I would like to come to Abu Dhabi for further interview . Since the company were paying I said yes of course!
I could hardly contain my excitement. The only slight hitch was that the he wanted me to go on Monday - in three days time and I was due to start my course for my Doctoral thesis induction at Queensland University of Technology on the Monday. There followed 24 hours of intense excitement which was terminated by an unexpected phone call from our man from Jordan saying that the interview had to be postponed for a week. This allowed me to attend the university course and still go to Abu Dhabi.Win/win!
I remember driving with the family to the airport in ‘Bluey’ our Falcon 1982, and wondering if this was really going to be it our final and much anticipated escape from Australia! Maria was so excited.
The flight to Singapore was uneventful although on the way from Singapore to Dubai I had a very mild asthma attack caused by the wool of the beautiful woolen blankets courtesy of Singapore Airlines. I arrived in Dubai with a blocked nose - not an uncommon occurrence for me by any means. Not to worry, any discomfort I might have felt was soon to be removed by my V.I.P. treatment on my arrival in Dubai. A chauffeur driven car whisked me away from Dubai to Abu Dhabi where I checked in at about seven o'clock in the evening.
My evening was spent swatting for my interview the next day, but I was informed on my arrival that I would have to have a medical in the morning which would last several hours. I was really quite surprised at the length of the medical.
Next morning at seven I went down to the hotel reception- and I noticed another mature - looking man and I thought to myself that maybe he was also going for interview-so I started a conversation with him and sure enough he was going for interview-I think his name was Marvin. Anyway, Marvin and I were taken away by the driver to the oil company whereupon we started on the medical examinatioin. Well! What a performance! I had never been through such a medical before. Every conceivable test was carried out. I kept meeting Marvin in a different room either he was coming in or he was going out of, or vice versa and both of us were usually in a state of undress! It was hilarious - and the medical lasted almost four hours!
Most of it was okay but I was a little bit worried by the respiratory tests. The Romanian doctor asked me to blow into a tube to test my powers of respiration. It was really quite an intricate procedure. My first efforts produced an instant paper graph which seemed to worry my Romanian friend. He said "Not good" so I did it again and he didn't look much happier but he allowed me to continue with the other tests. By the end of the medical Marvin and were worried individuals – and we wondered what was going to happen next. What really made us laugh was the fact that people kept asking us where we wanted to go as if we had any idea! We of course had not eaten because of the medical tests and at about one o'clock we were then informed that we were going to be taken to the interview. Nothing happened for about an hour and we simply sat and waited. At around two o'clock the Jordanian man who had interviewed me on the phone arrived and invited Mervin in first. Mervin was accompanied by a local UAE Arab. After about 45 minutes Marvin appeared smiling and happy.
I was then called in and asked exactly the same questions that I had been asked on the telephone in Brisbane! Yet another farcical interview.
It was weird. It was clear to me that in fact the whole process was just a formality as there were no questions of substance. When I tried to ask some really important questions like could I see the accommodation and what about the schools and could I see classrooms and the resources etc. etc, the man from Jordan became quite irritated as if he wanted to finish the interview quickly. He was shuffling his papers -and all his body language was saying “it's too late lets all go home.” I definitely had the impression that he didn't want to answer all these questions. I should have smelled a rat at that stage of course. But as usual I was desperate for the job so I didn't ask any more questions. How many times in my career have I made that same mistake? Perhaps a dozen?
Anyway Marvin and I went back to the hotel and we had a good evening. I went to the bar and I remember watching cricket in the bar. I felt pretty elated, as I was confident I had got the job. Next morning I was just leaving the hotel on my way to get a Taxi when the phone rang. Guess who it was? It was the Chief Doctor from the oil company and he wanted me to come back for further tests!
Well, I was devastated. I immediately began to panic of course and my thoughts went back to the breathing test and I was pretty sure that there must have been some problem with this test. So, the driver came again, and took me back to the doctor. The chief doctor was a Sudanese, and like everyone else in Abu Dhabi he asked me what I wanted!
I said "You sent for me, Doctor-you said there was some problem with my tests yesterday" .
He looked ar me quizzically over his glasses
"Who are you?" he said "I’m Nixon, Donald Nixon"
Oh! he said "No, it's Smith I want to see-there is a problem with Smith's tests”
Well, I was so relieved "You mean I can go? " He looked at my file and said
"I haven't got the blood test. But everything appears to be in order"
I could've hugged him! On cloud nine again I was driven back to my hotel room where a taxi took me to stay with my friends for the for the night in Dubai.
Wednesday, May 09, 2000
I had a pleasant stay with them discussing the prospect of our imminent relocation to Abu Dhabi - because I was confident that I had got the job, I returned to Australia and gave Maria the good news. After a couple of days I sent an E-mail to the yorkshireman Perth just to ask him to see if he could get some information about how the interview had gone. He contacted his agent in Abu Dhabi and he told me he had received word that I had been selected, but that they hadn't yet received the results of the medical.
We were overjoyed to put it mildly! Ten days passed, and eventually I emailed him again just to make sure that everything was confirmed and that the results of the medical had been OK.
The next day I received an E-mail from the Yorkshireman in which he said that he was sorry to say that the results of medical had shown that I was unfit for employment and that it was company policy not to give the reasons.
We were devastated, shattered and stunned!
I just couldn't believe it! It seemed like the whole world was against -that there was a conspiracy of a divine nature. What had we done to deserve this? I could hardly speak about it to Maria for days.
I went to my Doctor and had a total checkup. He said I was fine and that if I had taken inhalers before the test I would have passed the test.
The interview was in January and somehow or other we managed to pick ourselves up and start again-from where we had left off. Work got worse and worse-the new Direcor of studies was appalling, and I knew I couldn't last for much longer. I had thought of Brunei many times before-because we had friends who had been there- but i had been off by the mixed reports they had given me about the schools and the teaching there. They had told me that the teaching wasn't good. Lifestyle and conditions were excellent, but the teaching wasn't great. For this reason I had rejected the idea again and again in my mind, because I knew myself well-if I was unhappy at the school the job wouldn't last, and I couldn't risk going to a place and then returning after a short period. Not any longer, not with the family at this critical stage-R was coming towards the end of his High Schooling at St. Pauls in Brisbane.
But I suppose it was desperation in the end. I decided to apply for Brunei on the internet. I actually had to make a written application to London and the whole process was quite long spanning January to March. Then in April……
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