Wow, Fay. Just wow.

I was so scared at the beginning of your post that you were going to say you weren't going to get paid. I'm glad that is not the case.

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Yeah - a big yay for not having that unsuspected financial sword of Damocles suddenly drop on me. Believe me, I do appreciate that that didn't happen.

But - DAMN. I'm going to be either (a) teaching an unknown yeargroup in a system I don't know at all, and which will maybe undermine my existing understanding of how to implement the British Curriculum, or (b) not teaching at all.

And I'm not sure which is worse.

If it's (b), I'll do my damnedest to get work tutoring most evenings - ideally with primary kids, but if not then at least with someone. (We live round the corner from the Cairo American College, and my friend's friend has been living off the money she made tutoring the college kids in English Lit.) Which will supplement my income nicely too, of course. But won't really make up for 12 months of being entirely out of the classroom. Still, better than nothing, I guess.

Shit.

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I'm so sorry.

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Wow. That's a huge change in expectations, Fay. Could be worse, of course, it's just as well they're still honouring your contract. But that's a lot to absorb.

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Oh no Fay, I'm so sorry. Maybe you could stealthily implement the British curriculum, and teach it to the American kids. Heaven knows they'd likely benefit.

Well, I dunt really nor 'ar ter rayt it dahn, sithee. 't i'nt ar ah normally talk, missen, so it's a bit on an effort to type it rayt way withart mekkin a rayt prat o' missen.

Oh, I love this. Is "sithee" the same as see thee/you see, or is it see there, or something else?

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Wow, Fay! Um, wow. Good that they are honouring contracts, but...huh. You and flatmate wouldn't consider moving elsewhere?

James Herriot didn't do too badly with writing the Yorkshire dialect, I thought. Of course, I couldn't understand a thing anyone said my first two days in Yorkshire. After that, my ear adjusted and it was fine.

It was one of the very few times I haven't unconsciously started talking like the people around me, though, because I was just completely unable to. I go to Texas, I started askin' fer a pahce o' pah. In Malaysia, [teeth hiss] noh taxi lah! NSM in Yorkshire. Which is nice, because I hate it when I do that.

Just got back from Mal's first unscheduled trip to the doctor. He's been a bit under the weather, and got a really bad sore throat yesterday. I let it go, just doing him with baby Tylenol, but today he started to show a fever too. Looks like he's just got a little virus, poor thing. He sounds so hoarse!

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Oh, dear. Bless Mal! Poor wee scone!

Oh, I love this. Is "sithee" the same as see thee/you see

Yes. This.

...just emailed my flatmate. I wasn't going to steal the boss's thunder, but then I did. So we've had a slightly hysterical "Oh. My. God!" conversation, punctuated by much shell-shocked laughter. It'll work out, one way or another. I mean, I do appreciate that, as problems go, having a guaranteed income and some uncertainty about whether this will be earned by (a) teaching at a reputable school or (b) fannying around doing nothing isn't exactly a terrible problem.

And Flatmate was already busily making plans for taking a trip out into the White Desert in November, with "the boys" (our neighbour C, and our friend/now his boyfriend K). So the kind of problem where you're still planning holidays in the Sahara really isn't a huge problem, I realise. Just call me Marie Antoinette.

But, yes. Huge change in expectations. A lot to absorb.

On the plus side - conceivably a lot more time to work on my novel.

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I go to Texas, I started askin' fer a pahce o' pah. In Malaysia, [teeth hiss] noh taxi lah! NSM in Yorkshire. Which is nice, because I hate it when I do that.

Oh, I share your pain. I don't even need to go anywhere. I can meet one person from somewhere else, and start doing it. And because Bostonians have their own quirky accent, I even do it when an American with no discernable regional accent is in my presence (iow, I lose my own accent). I'm always afraid people will think I'm mocking them.

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Poor Mal! Hope the virus clears up soon.

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Just got back from Mal's first unscheduled trip to the doctor. He's been a bit under the weather, and got a really bad sore throat yesterday. I let it go, just doing him with baby Tylenol, but today he started to show a fever too. Looks like he's just got a little virus, poor thing. He sounds so hoarse!

Sorry I left this out of my previous post. Chris came in and started asking for breakfast and I posted before I was done, so I wouldn't lose what I had in the window. I hope it passes quickly for Mal. How old is he now, Raq?

So the kind of problem where you're still planning holidays in the Sahara really isn't a huge problem, I realise. Just call me Marie Antoinette.

No, I still understand why you'd feel a bit thrown by it all. Do you think he's telling the truth (or whole truth) about the electrical issue? It somehow seemed a bit I don't know what--not that exposure to high voltage electrical doohickeys may be carcinogenic. I've heard that many a time. It's just that I know bureaucracy (at least its American version) and when some potential problem isn't illegal or against regulations, it *may* eventually get addressed, but seldom is business delayed until it does.

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