Departures – Sharjah

“there is no end of the road when you travel with me”

Song lyrics that made me think of Rachelle

I have carried what is now diagnosed as scleritis for over six months.

The day after school ends, I stop taking the medication, and my eye remains clear a week later.

Work, location and money – you need two of the three to stay.

You can get away with one for a while.

If the location is great and you love your work, you don’t need the money.

If the location is terrible, but your work is good and the money is excellent, you can stay.

We couldn’t stay in the UAE.

The work was shit.

The location was shit.

The money was shit.

“This is the real secret of life — to be completely engaged with what you are doing in the here and now. And instead of calling it work, realize it is play.”

Alan Watts

I don’t regret our time in the UAE. Shell made the move into senior leadership, and her incredible work landed us a gig at one of the most prestigious schools in Seoul.

There were many tears when she left.

Once again, I ride Shell’s coat tails into a job most classroom teachers could only dream of.

While Shell was shining in leadership, I spent my days in a mine field, arguing with indoctrinated ten-year-olds about the inconsistencies of the Quran.

I met some good people, had some amazing trips to Europe, but I am so happy to be leaving this sand pit in an oven.

“The aim of life is to live, and to live means to be aware, joyously, drunkenly, serenely, divinely aware.”

Henry Miller

Sharjah airport offers a smooth experience. I prefer it over Dubai.

We leave early in the morning and will arrive in Warsaw early afternoon.

As much as I love Budapest, I can’t stand the red-eye flight from Dubai that leaves late at night and arrives early in the morning.

I read on the way over, Black Spring by Henry Miller. It’s the last Miller book before I move on to Nabokov.

Tropic of Cancer and Capricorn were excellent, as is Black Spring, but my favourite novel has been Big Sur and the Oranges of Hieronymus Bosch.