Before I'm appropriately lambasted for the sheer lack of posts lately, I feel it pertinent to point out that it's a consequence of a trifecta of circumstances.
First and foremost, a few weeks ago, whilst taking care of a fellow drunken teacher (for once it was not me-result!) on a night out, I had my wallet (containing the rouble equivalent of about £100), my Nokia smartphone and my key stolen from my pockets. Yes, I had been partaking in a few jars of ale (and a few snifters of port too, to boot), but I thought I would have noticed; evidently they're really good at it and this left me in a rather shitty quandary.
The drunk colleague had been ferried to another teacher's apartment and I was effectively high and dry when I tried to grab a taxi and noticed that I'd been relieved of all my belongings (save my passport and a few hundred roubles I had stowed away in a secret pocket in the eventuality that something like this happened). Unfortunately, Ass-hat was attending to business outside of Moscow meaning that at 3am in the morning there would be no-one to open my apartment; so I opted to take a taxi to a friend's apartment in the hope that I could plea for refuge. Upon arrival (4am), I realised that I didn't know my friend's building entry code.
Some of the coldest, most miserable hours of my life were spent on a bench outside that building, slowly and painfully sobering up as the sun rose and ushered in a new morning.
So, for the guts of a week, I was a bit out of sorts-feeling somewhat vulnerable not only due to the act in itself, but also through the lack of a mobile phone (I used my phone for calls/texts/checking emails/mp3s/as a camera and for taking notes for short story/poetry ideas).
That would be the 'bad' news I alluded to in my previous post.
Secondly, exams have been taking place, report cards are due next week and the school has seen fit to demand pupil's work be scanned in order to contribute to the school yearbook (yeah, I know-what the fuck?). As a result, I've been pretty bush-whacked by the end of every workday and lacking the overall motivation to indulge in a spot of writing.
Finally, and most importantly, I've interviewed and been accepted for what seems to be a more reputable international school in China, commencing in August. As disappointing as cutting short my Russian experience will be, the school I'm currently serving time at is a bit of a joke. They have no idea when the end of term will be (something that should have been decided upon at the beginning of the academic year) and they are still having severe difficulties in deciding what sort of market they want to cater for-either bilingual or an exclusively international school. The lack of real management and drive renders most of the teachers' decisions regarding the children's education completely redundant. Perhaps most sickening of all, is that a simply toxic member of staff is now being given the boot, but only after causing absolute motherfucking chaos in staff-meetings; undermining various members of staff to pupils (including me); bullying students and staff alike; and doing her utmost to bugger up any school run activity (Book Week springs to mind).
"Couldn't run a piss up in a brewery" is a particularly apt phrase, I feel.
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| And we all know how difficult that is. |
Often these sort of situations provide learning opportunities if one is capable of just a smidgen of self-reflection. So, what have I learned from all this? What catharsis is to be had?
One thing and one thing alone: don't update your blog in a few weeks and watch everybody start emailing you again.
Yup.
Shame on you all.
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"I'm fucking smart."
-D.
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