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| Fingers Phil! |
On 21 June, Midsummer's Day, I was offered a place at Warwick University to undertake a MA in English Language Teaching, with specialism in ICT (Information Communication Technology) and Multimedia, beginning this October. I will probably accept, believing this will significantly increase my job prospects for the future. For some time I have been interested in video making and editing. It truly begun when I documented my Albatros stunt in 2006, before going on to document my time in Tanzania, climbing Kilimanjaro, teaching in South Korea and working at an arts university in Beijing. As well as having a standard YouTube channel, I am now exploring other ways to present video and use video in the classroom. I have gained tremendous interest more recently in web 2.0 tool technologies, such as wordle, eyeplorer and jing. These can be invaluable in engaging a group of young learners, who are not just au fait with technology but see technologies (smart phones, for example) as an extension of their bodies. I've already used Twitter and Wikispaces in the classroom, amongst other tools. I may get into a bit of web design, too, although this is not an actual part of the course. I can, however, teach myself during my year long sabbatical from work. Before all that I will need learn a bit of theory about language acquisition. This is a fairly new area for me. I am going to doing my MA under the auspices of the Centre for Applied Linguistics, something I wouldn't have imagined last month, let alone when I begun my new career.
I recently agreed to be part of teacher interviews for the programme. While many scoff at the idea of seemingly doing a promotional video for what is otherwise a fundamentally flawed programme, I lapped up the chance, knowing that anything to do with video can't hinder building up a portfolio of work. The initial filming, with Elijah Maurer and Andrew Chappell was deemed unsuitable due to shaky camera angles and background noise. Although my editing was applauded, it was re shot two days later. This latter version will be edited and put on the newly designed IEP (Intensive English Programme) website.
In addition to being offered the place at Warwick and getting my passport back, Midsummer's Day saw 16 of us going to the Nadj Village for a Bedouin banquet, where all the food was laid out on carpets. Essentially a goodbye to Kevin Smith (centre, first photo below), who was going home early to attend a wedding, it was actually a general swansong meal. This veritable feast included Camel meat, tripe and deserts made with dates. I felt the time was right to fully 'come out' about Kim. Although most people now knew that we had been in a relationship for a few months, not many had ever seen us out together. We both felt that there was nothing to lose now by going public.
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| Bedouin Banquet - Kevin Smith (centre) |
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| Mikey Kettle (centre) at the Banquet |
The signing off process for the KSU programme came a little earlier than originally planned, due to needing ID in order to travel to Jeddah for a second time. My Iqama was taken back on Sunday, my final exit visa stamp was obtained on Monday and I collected my passport (minus the visa stamp) on Tuesday, in order to travel one more time within KSA. A lot of anxiety surrounded this, although less so for me, because I luckily saw the email requesting the Iqama. Three of my fellow Jeddah Knights, Luke, Tom and Tonks had to give in their original Iqamas on Saturday, and hope that their final exit visa was produced by the Monday. We were all due to fly out together, via Beirut, on Middle East Airlines. A number of trips to Obeikan head office needed to be undertaken in order to get reassurance that things would be processed in time. Nobody wanted to miss the exit flight and the strain of all the way to the end and then not being able to leave was palpable. I had to reassure my friends on a number of occasions that things would be fine, despite knowing it was only 99% certain. Fortunately, the crucial word which brings doubt in the minds of non-muslims, 'inshallah', was not mentioned on the third visit. Only war, terrorism, famine, tsunami and Abdullah bin Abdul-Aziz Al Saud, announcing a surprise national holiday, should prevent something from happening on this occasions. For students, however, this extends to road traffic accidents.
To complete full 'signing off' I had to fill out an exit questionnaire, a staff survey, return my Dell laptop and clean my desk. None of these were taxing. The first two were laughable, as anyone who knows about conducting research can tell you there was no qualitative controls exercised in the attempt to generate genuine opinions from staff. I had one communication studies invigilation to carry out, which lasted 2 hours. Other than that, it was easy street for the final two weeks. With nothing to do, students noticeable by their absence, it was a chance for me to play 'ping-pong', research about the potential MA and think about what to do with the young learners on the summer school at the Leys.
Political decisions have been taken now with regards to those staff offered summer school work, a return to the programme and whether teachers from non-native English speaking countries can be hired again. A ridiculous requirement appears to be that you must now be from one of the main six countries, the US, the UK, Canada, Australia, New Zealand or South Africa, to be hired to work here. A decision is still outstanding on those from the Lebanon, Syria, Egypt and the like as to whether they can come back. This has cause untold anxiety for those it affects. Meanwhile the summer school begun this Saturday.
I signed up with a new kind of bank account at World First in order to transfer money from my Saudi bank account at SABB, a subsidiary of HSBC. By obtaining a guaranteed exchange rate, this saved me a bit of money. I subsequently helped Luke and another colleague to do the same.
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| Thanks Rosie for inviting the Pafetics one more time! |
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| Tom Coming Up for Air |
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| Limbless Luke dives in |
Before the end, the so-called 'pafetics', who went to Jeddah in May, returned to the west coast, minus 2 of the crew. This time a boat was hired from Desert Sea Divers to take us out into the Red Sea for some diving and snorkelling. Although not qualified or trained to dive it was fun to be involved and watch Phil Tonkers come up with as many water based activities as possible. It was an enjoyable trip although I disappointed not to spot the dolphins which others saw. Fortunately there were no sharks, just little jellyfish to contend with. We rounded the day off with some Indian food and the last of the homemade froff (wine).
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| Under the Sea |
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| Good Friends, but Baron Ball Rivals |
The following day was supposed to be all about the Baron Ball rematch. A couple of sets were played - these were shared, so the result was a draw, although one team maintain they won 5 games to 4. The result paled into insignificance, however, against an embarrassingly over competitive and stubborn set of players who were taking it far too seriously. The pre-match banter was fair enough but it escalated so much that our host had to intervene and hire two small children to break up the fisticuffs by reminding everyone that the weekend was supposed to be fun. Still, plenty of good memories have come from both our trips and we rounded off things with a 'Pafetic' Chocolate Cake.
Returning from Jeddah took long than anticipated as our flight was first brought forward by 15 minutes, then delayed by 2 and a half hours whilst some of the crew seemingly watched an important football match involving two Saudi Arabian teams. The excuse given by the airline, Nasair, was that our plane was not in a fit state to fly, and they had to haul out a spare... but we think for 'plane', read 'pilot'. As the final whistle blew, after extra-time and penalties, the gates miraculously opened. I passed the time reading about the Islamic view on feminine hygiene and the interpreted rules regarding praying and menstruation.
On Saurday morning a quick dash to the Obeikan main office was required to reassure three of the 'pafetics' that despite giving their Iqamas in late, they would still get their final exit visas stamped and passports returned on Sunday. We will collect them on Monday, say goodbye to everyone and head to King Khaled International Airport.
Next stop: Beirut, then London.
Recent videos uploaded onto YouTube include:
PS ARRIVED HOME ON 28 JUNE VIA BEIRUT. NOW IN CAMBRIDGE FOR THE REST OF THE SUMMER.
