Life Teaching ESL in Arabia

Hi Philip, You asked for a couple of stories to put on the web. One is Nabil, at ELS Muscat - name changed to protect the guilty. I have heard of taking advantage of someone being new in the country and being unsure of themselves, hence being vulnerable. If the school sends you an offer and then asks to change it on arrival, don't agree and don't hand over your original document! Don't worry about getting off on the wrong foot and offending the director. Stand your ground in a polite way and you will avoid difficulties later on. They tried to change my salary upon arrival - I was lucky they didn't succeed. An e-mail from Philip McAlary to the school was very helpful. Phil did not just drop me after he got his payment.

About life in Oman, the weather is much nicer here than in Muscat, where it gets very hot at times. The rainy season in the summer here is quite pleasant, there is a lot of greenery. The people are much more friendly than i would have thought possible. There are occasional comments about Bush, no more than what I heard in China, but the people don't care that I am American and in fact seem to be glad to have the chance to show that not all Moslems are violent and dangerous people.

Living here is not too expensive. Since I haven't bought a car and don't travel much, and don't eat out in restaurants too often, I can easily save $1000 a month US. I have saved $1500 a month, though much of that extra saving I use later for expenses and obligations back home.

I did hear of one American teacher who got in trouble in Oman. He had a few beers at the bar of the deluxe hotel and stopped to buy some cigarettes on his way home. Being drunk in public is very bad here, and he got into a skirmish with some young locals. This led to a black eye or two, a bloody nose, and a slightly fractured arm. He was in trouble for public drunkenness, the Oman's were in trouble for messing with a foreigner, so both parties agreed to drop it. The teacher left soon thereafter as he felt uncomfortable.
"From, Joseph Keysor, ESL Teacher, OverseasEmployment.ca, Salalah, UAE."