The police officer looked through my paperwork and stopped at the copy of my Michigan driver's license. 'What this type?' It's type o, normal ya know, a normal operator's license. 'Go to internet, explain type o.' I swear they're jerking my chain, and why? Why is it so important to get an Omani license? Well, it's good for ten years, I hope to be around the area for a while if nothing else comes around. Oman's private sector will hire teachers until they're 67, so I have work here, and of course I want a car. It was the one 'selfish' expensive item I wished for a year ago so, another trip into the offices of the whatever. Plans to cross the border on Friday are scrubbed. I'll run out of Starbucks and Camels before then, and Dostoevsky is slow reading yet I'll have something to gnaw on for another weekend, where I see temps climbing to 115+. Yuck.
We practiced the present perfect continuous this week so I write on the board:
I have been living in Buraimi since October 2013.
I have been living in Buraimi for eight months.
The students were surprised I'd been here for only a short time and one asked where I was before. It isn't easy to explain so I wrote this on the board:
2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014
"In 2009 I was in Al-Ain, in 2010 I was in Turkey, in 2011 I was in Salalah, in 2012 I was in Nepal, in 2013 I was in Nepal-USA-Oman, and in 2014 I am now in Buraimi, whew."
The students don't understand and it's impossible and really quite pointless to explain an acceleration of coincidences and a foggy delusioned dream of winding up in New York with an end of time screenplay and a Nepalese wife. Sigh. It's embarrassing to think how I hit that ball so far out of play.
Two girls came to the office after class and said I should marry an Omani woman. They know better than that, and I certainly don't solicit their advice. 'I'll do this, I'll marry an Omani woman, she will remain Muslim, I will remain Catholic and any children will be raised Hindu.' Ha ha.
One of the teachers is doing his speaking assessment in the office, two students are reading a conversation. "May I uh have uh a pencil uh because uh yanni, uh forget uh at uh home."
Go practice, you fail if you don't practice. They are useless. Well, I wouldn't go that far, brother.
Twenty minutes I waited for a taxi after my failed attempts at the police station. The sweat has dried and I am sticky, a headache persists, in 30 minutes I will entertain the students with speaking assessments: How was life 50 years ago? What's your favorite season? I like cooking, what about you? Have you ever been caught in a rainstorm? Have you ever rode a rhino? What's your opinion of Turkish wrestling? Who do you like in the Stanley Cup?
We practiced the present perfect continuous this week so I write on the board:
I have been living in Buraimi since October 2013.
I have been living in Buraimi for eight months.
The students were surprised I'd been here for only a short time and one asked where I was before. It isn't easy to explain so I wrote this on the board:
2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014
"In 2009 I was in Al-Ain, in 2010 I was in Turkey, in 2011 I was in Salalah, in 2012 I was in Nepal, in 2013 I was in Nepal-USA-Oman, and in 2014 I am now in Buraimi, whew."
The students don't understand and it's impossible and really quite pointless to explain an acceleration of coincidences and a foggy delusioned dream of winding up in New York with an end of time screenplay and a Nepalese wife. Sigh. It's embarrassing to think how I hit that ball so far out of play.
Two girls came to the office after class and said I should marry an Omani woman. They know better than that, and I certainly don't solicit their advice. 'I'll do this, I'll marry an Omani woman, she will remain Muslim, I will remain Catholic and any children will be raised Hindu.' Ha ha.
One of the teachers is doing his speaking assessment in the office, two students are reading a conversation. "May I uh have uh a pencil uh because uh yanni, uh forget uh at uh home."
Go practice, you fail if you don't practice. They are useless. Well, I wouldn't go that far, brother.
Twenty minutes I waited for a taxi after my failed attempts at the police station. The sweat has dried and I am sticky, a headache persists, in 30 minutes I will entertain the students with speaking assessments: How was life 50 years ago? What's your favorite season? I like cooking, what about you? Have you ever been caught in a rainstorm? Have you ever rode a rhino? What's your opinion of Turkish wrestling? Who do you like in the Stanley Cup?
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