The End is Nigh...

I've been putting off starting a blog for ages.
Actually, that's not strictly true - I've only procrastinated in terms of starting an English blog. I tried writing one in Arabic back when I arrived here in Al Ain (UAE) in August 2007. I've no idea if it was any good because most of the work was done by my dictionary and only once did I receive a reply to anything I'd written (thanks Mum - I'll translate for you once I've worked out what I said).

So what's the motivation for writing one now? Hang on, "motivation"? I remember that word!! I used to have it before I came out here to work as an education advisor. It was something that made me get up in the morning ungrudgingly, with enthusiasm to make a difference and do my best. In those days I didn't believe that there was a single futile aspect to my job. I believed in the education system as an entirely uncorrupted and essential tool for children. Even after I lost my confidence in that ideal, I still thought I could come to the UAE and make some sort of difference to the quality of teaching and learning (and, hopefully, in a minutely atom-like miniscule-ish kind of way, I have, but this is certainly no heroic achievement on my part and God knows I have not done my best).

Now I'm heading home with no idea of what I'm good at any more (or at least, no idea what I might be good at that I haven't already lost faith in) and even contemplating random jobs the prospect of which make various members of my family collapse in hysterics...
"You, a plumber!? Remember that time you blew up the boiler??" (wife)
"A driving instructor?! HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAAAHAHAHA!!!" (no justification supplied for laughter - again, thanks Mum)

To be fair, at least my brother-in-law tried to make me feel more optimistic about the plumber option.
"...when you apply yourself.... I reckon if you're actually motivated to be a plumber, you'd be the best plumber around. You'd be like, 'Bad news Ma'am, there's a problem in your Youtube...'"
(well, I guess I'd make a better plumber than him then!)

Anyway, only six weeks to go... 30 working days...

That's 30 working days in which to reflect on why this job has been so overwhelmingly awful and - outside of working hours of course - to post many of these reflections on here so as to ensure I never forget the reasons why I want to trade a well-paid job in a safe country for no job (as yet!) in the UK.

And this, dear reader (er... still you, Mum), is the motivation for the opening of this blog.