Arrival

I arrived in Kuwait on Friday, August 30, 2013.  As the United Airlines jet was flying into the Kuwait International Airport, I was able to get a wonderful view of Kuwait City.  My mind was racing with thoughts of excitement, anxiety, and comfort as I new this was for real...I was beginning a new adventure in the Middle East.

I met a wonderful lady on the plane.  She was sitting next to me.  She is originally from Kuwait but grew up in the states.  She was going back to Kuwait as a teacher and was very helpful in assisting me with the long process of the arrival of an international flight.  She also gave me some wonderful advice about teaching in the schools and interacting with the locals of Kuwait.  As we waited for our luggage (my two checked bags were near the end), we walked out to find the drivers.  Sure enough, I spotted three men holding a sign that read, "Future Bilingual Schools."  I said goodbye to Amna and walked over to meet my principal and some new staff.

Our first order of business was to get SIM cards.  Go figure.  Cell phones are a necessity in the Middle East.  After an hour of waiting for five people to get SIM cards, we drove for 30 minutes to the apartment complex in Fahaheel.  It was a quick transaction from getting the bags out of the car, into the apartment, and me falling into bed for a wonderful sleep.

The next day, Saturday, after unpacking and getting the apartment into some kind of order, I explored around Fahaheel.  It was hot, sunny, and much different from Austin, MN and Barrow, AK.  I found some local markets to buy groceries and necessities for the apartment such as an ironing board.  School was starting the next day and I needed to make sure that the dress shirts were looking spiffy.  I will admit, Saturday was a tough day.  I knew that it was going to be difficult adjusting to the new apartment, location, lifestyle, etc.  The list goes on and on.  However, Sunday came quick and I was so eager to see the school, meet new people and begin the job as an English teacher for grades seven, nine, and eleven.

The returning staff were all so helpful.  My HOD (Head of Department), a wonderful lady from India assisted me, as well as the new staff, in getting textbooks, yearly plans, classroom resources, etc.  I was happy to see that the seventh grade text was Bridges to Literature, a curriculum that I am very familiar with from Barrow.  As, I opened up the book, I saw that the first story in Unit 1 was Baseball Saved Us.  It is a wonderful story about  Japanese boy in the internment camps during WWII.  I read the book many times as a kid.  Then, I found out that I would be teaching a novel study for the ninth grade and the book will be The Outsiders.   Again, a favorite book of mine.  Things were looking up.

On Tuesday, school started for grades 7-12.  Just like that.  Two days of class preparation, department and staff meetings and you are thrown into "the wolves' den" (a staff member's words, not mine).  While I am thinking about the first day with students, I was also wondering about when I was going to get a shower curtain and internet in the apartment?  When was I going to get a stove cord?  When was my toilet in the apartment going to flush?  I was so flustered, under a great deal of pressure but I kept telling myself, "Everyone is feeling this way."  So, eleven 7th graders showed up the first day, zero 9th graders, and zero 11th graders.  Good news came when Mr. Tony (the boys school principal) told all the boys to go home and don't come back until Sunday.  By the way, since all the students refer to the teachers as Mr. or Mrs. Firstname, I cannot be Mr. Tony because that would confuse the kids.  So I am adjusting to Mr. Anthony.  27 years of being called Tony and now Anthony.  That will be the biggest change.  Anyway, what a relief?  Now I had all week to prepare my classroom and ask a zillion questions to the HOD and the returning staff.

After school was out, the new staff members and I would walk around Fahaheel, exploring, shopping, getting to know each other.  It was great.  Another roadblock occurred when I was cutting some cucumbers for dinner on Wednesday night.  A stupid mistake left me with two stitches in my left index finger!  That's all that has to be said about that.  On Thursday, the school treated the new staff members to dinner.  We ate some wonderful Arabic food...grilled meats, kabobs, delicious salad called fattoush, hummus, and all the Arabic bread you could eat.  Delicious!

The weekend was great, relaxing and hot.  On Friday, I spent the day and night with the new staff members at Salmiya (Sal-MEE-yuh), a more populated and wealthier area of Kuwait.  We ate Arabic food, walked along the beaches, strolled through the malls, smoked shisha, and ate more Arabic food.  I was also introduced to some other teachers who are teaching at a school in Salmiya.  It is not hard to meet people in Kuwait.  Overall, it was a great evening and wonderful first weekend.  That brings me to today (Saturday, September 7).

Tomorrow, is the first "official" day of school.  I think I am ready but we will see.  Everyone in the school, and I mean everyone, has expressed the same message to all the new staff.  Be strict on the first day.  Be firm on the first day.  Keep the kids busy all the time...especially the boys.  If you don't, it will be a long, long year.  We will see how it goes.

So far, it has been very busy and to be honest, I haven't taken many pictures.  This starting post is just an introduction and many more posts will come.  After a week of being in Kuwait, I have enjoyed myself immensely.  School is starting tomorrow and I should get to work reviewing my lesson plans.  Thanks for reading.  I will keep you all updated.