Anticipation and worry

After having a great day at the forum and having a great meal. I decide to relax and go straight to my room. Even though I was worried about the new information I obtained about moving. I said goodbye to my friends but before I headed up to my room, I asked the front desk woman some questions. I asked how will i know when i'm moving to Al Ain.We were supposed to be moving the next day the 14th  based on what other teachers were saying during the forum, at the restaurant and hotel. I was getting more worried because everything was heresay! I had no actual paperwork or email stating when the move would take place.

Also, Stella told me another thing i didn't know is that we had to get medicals done in order to start teaching and her group got them back recently. I thought it'd be a simple thing but she told me she was part of group three which came a two months before my group number four. She mentioned it took her a few weeks to get hers back. I was like wow so I won't be teaching for weeks?!

The lady told at the front desk told me i'd get a message on my television stating any changes or moves being made. She told me that everyone is supposed to be staying until the 30th of September. She had no clue as to recent updates and assured me that Nirvana would let her know. Nirvana just so happens to be the travel company who booked my ticket and never sent me the confirmation until I called them the day I was supposedly flying. She said she received no calls from them yet so I will be informed via the television. That gave me no comfort so I went upstairs to relax, make some calls and check my emails.

I made some calls and was able to check my emails and to my dismay this is what I read.  See  below: I took out who they were from because I don't want to get sued....they were from two separate individuals who were in different departments from ADEC (you can say my supervisors).


From: Travel 2010 
Sent: Mon, September 13, 2010 9:14:28 AM
Subject: Are you in the UAE? - please reply

Good morning folks,

The academic year is about to commence and our very best wishes to all of you as you begin your ADEC adventure.

This email will reach people in varying positions.  Some are looking for housing, some are looking for furniture, some are looking for schools for their own children whilst others are simply trying to find the schools in which they will be teaching.  As I type this email I want to recognize that all are in rather precarious positions as change is taking many forms and change may seem to be the only current constant.

ADEC has many different departments and there are several lists floating around containing details of who is where and what has been organized for housing and bank accounts etc… This email is actually a simply one.  Are you in the country or not?  The question may sound remarkable and suggest a lack of intelligence on my part, however, I want to get this information directly from you as we have some staff that are still waiting, with award winning patience, on the other side of the globe.  I want to ensure that all remaining LTs are sent tickets as soon as possible and this email will also give me a better idea of which emails are working so that we can repair any broken links in the chain of communication.

So in summary…

Please reply to this email stating


1.       I am in the UAE

2.       I am still waiting to enter the UAE



LT Support
Abu Dhabi Education Council
P.O.Box 36005
Abu Dhabi
United Arab Emirates
Tel:    +971  2 6150000
Fax:   +971  2 6150500
email






Monday, September 13, 2010 3:03 PM


Evening all

Wow - what a day, what a show and... What a mighty impressive meal :)

I am having such a wonderful time getting to meet many of you in the flesh and loads of you have been very kind in your comments.

As a fellow teacher I am aware that a few misbehaving children in a class can receive a large amount of attention when there are many that are behaving in an exemplary manner but go unnoticed.  This is a mass email but I want to express my heart felt appreciation for the huge number of you that have been kind, considerate, patient, willing to find humour in awkward situations and in general - the wonderful professional staff that we saw as shining lights when recruitment took place.  You are noticed and even the silence when others may whine is noticed and appreciated.

I honestly believe you are coping with regular upheavals and changes in information with skill and politeness.  The smiles and the knowing winks and nods make life so much more bearable for those of us trying to advocate on your behalf when meeting with the various departments in ADEC that control your living conditions and other details.  We hope today's presentations excited you and gave you a bigger picture of the enormous scope of the task set before us, but also the passion with which our leaders want to support change and improvement.

I do want to make a special mention of the 36 teachers that missed the meal and presentation today.  The powerpoint presentations are available on the ADEC website and I will invite you all for a meal when you arrive so that you at least get a bit of tucker after missing out on all the shenanigans today :)  I hope you like barbecues hehe.  My best friend is one of this final 36 so you an all see that there are no favours.  We are simply doing all we can to get people into the country and out to their schools.

I have waded through 437 emails tonight but there are many questions that I have not been able to answer due to time constraints and my eyelids getting rather droopy.  I will work on these concerns tomorrow morning when our team gets into the office.  Housing, finances, transportation, placements and the flights for the final 36 are our highest priorities.  The whole team is dedicated to making transitions as smooth as possible.  If, however, you do not find transportation at your hotel tomorrow, I recommend taking one of these options...

1. Grab a taxi and hunt the school
2. Grab a bus and hunt the school
3. Join in with a group of people at an Abu Dhabi training session

And if those options all fall to pieces... Enjoy a relaxing afternoon by the pool

Wishing you all the best and thanks again,






Those emails upset me big time! How could ADEC be so unorganized?! They don't even know who's in the country and who is not? I was starting to get really worried they had no clue what they were doing. I kept wrestling in my mind that I am not in charge in this foreign country and I need to follow there rules. I can't expect everything to be perfect and done my way. The second lady said if I don't make it to relax and chill. It just didn't feel like the right answer. I decided to send out an email to the previous director about medicals and when do I actually leave the current hotel. I read some of the welcome papers from the orientations and realized that I HAD to be in Al Ain and my school for training! I felt a rush of urgency and thought that if I want answers then I have to take the initiative and make sure I don't look silly and be left behind. I didn't want to be the only silly head still at the hotel while everyone else was where they were supposed to be.

After sending the emails, I went downstairs and asked some friends and other teachers had they heard any new news. They said they were gonna be on the safe side by having all their things packed and keep checking with downstairs when they'd have to leave. I made a new (future) friend Lorna by talking to her and asking what school she was assigned. I found out it was the same school as mine! I was so relieved to find someone on the same boat as I was. She gave me the cold shoulder look initially like why are you talking to me but I continued to make conversation with her and asked to meet up with her the next morning and stick together.