Last night I went to dinner with some friends. And a shitton of strangers. It was a huge table of people who work at the school that I once worked for/got fired from. Most of them are new this year and just assumed that I worked at the school too, since I was there at the table. I immediately realized I should have passed on this particular group outing, but alas I was there and eventually it came out that I no longer worked at their school.
It is extremely awkward to tell someone the story of the time you got fired by their brand new foreign employer. It's even worse when you're talking to someone who's teaching the exact same job you had, under the exact same supervisor.
They're so naive about everything. But it makes me feel extremely old, so I can't even be amused by it. One of them asked me why I still hung out with people from the old job instead of making new friends at my new school, and I don't know if she meant for the question to be rude, but it totally was. I stared at her for a second and then said flatly, "I'm the only English speaker at my new school." She doesn't seem to realize what a Western bubble she is living in. And I would love to watch her realize how few people in this country speak English like she does...
But at the same time, I partially envy her n00b bubble. It sucks knowing all the holes that line the day to day road here. It would be nice to have a week or two where I can't see them coming.
It is extremely awkward to tell someone the story of the time you got fired by their brand new foreign employer. It's even worse when you're talking to someone who's teaching the exact same job you had, under the exact same supervisor.
They're so naive about everything. But it makes me feel extremely old, so I can't even be amused by it. One of them asked me why I still hung out with people from the old job instead of making new friends at my new school, and I don't know if she meant for the question to be rude, but it totally was. I stared at her for a second and then said flatly, "I'm the only English speaker at my new school." She doesn't seem to realize what a Western bubble she is living in. And I would love to watch her realize how few people in this country speak English like she does...
But at the same time, I partially envy her n00b bubble. It sucks knowing all the holes that line the day to day road here. It would be nice to have a week or two where I can't see them coming.
Let's hope that they learned from your story, so they won't suffer the same fate.
ReplyDeleteSo does the large number of strangers mean that the school fired a lot of people, that a lot of people left, or that the school decided to rapidly expand? But no matter which way, it's probably bad for a school to have a large portion of its teachers be brand new.
Well, contracts are only 2 years long, so there's always a lot of turnover. And they are also expanding, from what I gather.
DeleteBut yeah... it's definitely bad for the school, haha.
Oh that does sound a little awkward. But it's good that you got out and about. It's good that you are rising above the noob bubble.
ReplyDelete