Bold Talk and Teddy Bears.

There was some rather bold talk at the interview about flying out in mid-November. Recently, somebody predicted 28^th December. The best bet now is mid-January. We shall see.

It’s worth blogging. I’ve got a two year contract to teach English in an English Language Further Education College in a country recently shedding its pariah status.

I got the job no doubt because I already have 15 months experience in that country. Nobody else employed so far has got this experience, and sometimes I feel like the old timer in a Western, spitting his tobacco juice and saying “that’s all fine and dandy, but try doin’ it in injun country!”

I’ve been here a month now, and got my first payslip today. Well, I suppose that’s when you realise you’ve got a new job, when you’re getting told about slightly healthier lucre in a payslip that looks slightly different.

I say “been here”, but the nearest to “here” is the laptop they gave me on my first day. It’s a portable office with music. I spend a couple of days a fortnight at my company’s offices in the east midlands. The rest of the time I’m working from home.

The last month, I’ve been designing and all-singing-and-dancing placement test. That’s about done now, and next it’s curriculum design. Both are fiddly, intricate jobs, absorbing enough to keep you focussed whilst working mostly from home.

The Sudanese tefl teddy bear business seems to be sharpening minds wonderfully.