Read Me/Disclaimer

Read Me/Disclaimer: This is a non-political/socio-political blog. It's a running tale of my Saudi Arabian adventure, great, good, bad, and ugly. It is uncensored, and I don't really care what you think of it, read it or don't. I don't care. I did not decide to do this as a means to an end, but rather to document the means with which I occupied my time while waiting for my end... All that being said, I'm an American Expat in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. The opportunity to help build this system and the salary that accompanied it were to good to pass up.-Geoff

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"The views presented here are just the views of some asshole named Geoff, they are not necessarily the views of my employer, my co-workers, my family or anybody else. First hand knowledge and second hand accounts were used to compile the information. These are not scientific facts and figures. These views are not necessarily supported, endorsed or even appreciated by the KSA the USA or any other country for that matter and the author makes absolutely no claim that they are."**

Friday, March 16, 2012

Nope, Changed my mind

Think I'm gonna stay, don't think I'm going to hide.  It seems that not everybody loves me here in the Kingdom, but from what I can tell, its not any of the Saudi's except for the occasional student here and there (and what school is complete without the complaining student).  Nope it seems that some of the worthless other GCC employees don't much care for me.   Why?  Because I speak better English and make more money.  They would rather see every student pass this course and kill someone, than challenge them and push them to a higher standard, getting them equipped to save lives.  Just as long as they keep getting their paychecks.  They seem to see me as the roadblock to their success. , blocking them from happiness with my stupid standards of actually arriving to work on time, actually teaching the material, and actually knowing what changes have occurred in pre-hospital medicine in the last 10 years.  Stupid American!

2 comments:

  1. Hello,
    I've read a lot of your posts, some were funny, interesting and insightful.Sometimes you were right with your critical views , in other cases I would say you weren't. However, based on the cultural differences, I'd say you were more open minded than I expected because when I began reading , I thought the typical portrayal of KSA as a "demon" would appear through your writings. As long as the person is law abiding , he must have no fear.
    I'd love for the Saudi students to learn from a trustworthy educator . To have them "pass" a course without any effort is what drives the education system downhill. And in a medical field? that's just outrageous! Peoples' lives are on the line!! This is exactly why I become depressed whenever I think of the future of my country.
    I read some posts where you complained about not getting your full monthly payment. You can write a letter ( we call it Khitab in Arabic) to the deen , if nothing is fixed. Then you can file a complaint in "Diwan Al-Mathalem". "Mathalem" means injustice. It's a court where people ( Saudies or Nonsaudies)can file a complaint against any govermental institution, against for example the Ministry of Labor or Ministry of Education or even certain individuals. The court is n't restricted to financial issues.


    Regards,
    Sabanad

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    Replies
    1. First of all thanks for reading! Secondly thanks for the well versed comment and last but not least thanks for the advice.

      The advice we've heard before, but we've also been advised to "not rock the boat" if we want our contracts renewed and our pay to arrive at all. Some teachers have gone 6 months without pay, some have been denied ESB's, others have just been forgotten about. As it is we have all been denied any exit visas other than those for summer vacation, even where the death or sickness of a mother has been concerned. We can only imagine how bad it could be if we angered the administration.

      The fact that some students are passing without putting forth effort angers you means that there is hope for the Kingdom. When we were recruited, we all explained and expected to have a first year fail rate of between 25-50%. We were told this was acceptable as long as we had it all smoothed out at the end of year 3. This year, I should have failed by US standards approximately 60% of my students. If I was generous and I took into account learning in a second language, I still should have failed 30%. These are indeed the numbers that I turned in, but somewhere, somehow they were changed to give "consideration",and instead we failed only 1 student.

      I would like to say that I have a top 10% of my students who are hard working and would excel anywhere, including a US College, University or Tech School. Unfortunately, these students will graduate with the same degree as the students who sleep, skip, talk, text, and goof around throughout class.

      Its just my opinion, but the younger generation here in the Kingdom needs to (legally) grab the administration by the balls and say "HEY LISTEN, in 50-75 years, the Oil will be almost gone, the petroleum industry will be in the toilet, we'll have no money and our country will fall apart! WE the youth, don't want that to happen, NOW go get us some teachers who can really be hard and make us learn!" That's just my opinion, but all change comes from within. Even in people.

      Thanks again for reading, I try and be funny, and I'm quite sure that I'm wrong at least as often as I'm right, but I've learned a lot and have gained a respect for Saudi since I've been here.

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