The Moscow Shuffle

As always I start the week with leaping outta bed to tackle the new week with feverent verve and focus. This being my 12th week teaching and I had my meeting with management for my 8 week trail period. (yes that is the Russian way it seems, timing is everything). The meeting did not go as well as I suspected and many of the supposed complaints came out that student had about me. To date I have only been ever told of the positive feedback from students through admin and some of the common grumbles students had, so up until mid afternoon Friday I was feeling I had made great strides forward and my 110% effort had paid off... well management never present the good you have done in meetings.

It seems even the nicest face in the office can turn cold in the face of criticism. I have found, generally speaking, that Russians will fuck you over in a flat second with the same smile on their face they greet you with if you had saved their child from being killed. In my experience, acknowledge the smiles they show but watch the hands for the knife that will stab you in the heart...

So I am set back to square one, I have another meeting to reprise the meeting we just had in one month, in the mean time we have a new teacher arriving from America in 10 days, and from what I have been told, it is not beyond this school I am at to give marching orders quite quickly and unexpectedly. So this weekend I am washing and cleaning my clothes and packing away those that I need the least so that I am at least partially ready for the eviction notice.

The Skipper and Delboy are outta Russia for Christmas, I am likely to exit too, Berlin is calling me. Besides, I need my passport stamped so I can work the final 3 months. So for at least some of the Christmas holidays I will have to baby-sit the new teacher, I feel empathy for the fella, but I REALLY don't want to baby-sit and hand hold a new teacher over Christmas, Even part of it, I have things to do...

On the home front, 'Attilla The Landlady' is grumbling and it is likely she want her apartment to live in or to increase the price of the rent per month, now the boss is unlikely to want to pay extra. So, as I see it, in the coldest month in Russia, I may have to move house and deal with the cold and snow and depressing time alone at Christmas and move house... An in the last 4 weeks before the big day, before the skipper goes home to the UK I have the pull out the 120% to improve and be a better teacher. Because if I don't I am gone...

So Obi is doing the Russian two step... shuffle shuffle step, stumble back, shuffle shuffle step...