In the past two weeks, there has been a lot happening here. I finished my annual medical checkup, which may have included a few local people yelling at me for "cutting in line" (I'd actually been in the line, been sent off to do something else, and then returned), and has left me with the determination to take as few sick days as possible, simply because sick day = going back to the clinic.
We also had to make our final decisions about whether we wanted to renew our contracts. This chat happened for me the same day as the yelling situation, and I had decided firmly in the taxi on my way back to school that staying for another year in Kyzylorda was simply not an option unless I either wanted to go completely insane. I wanted to keep some options open, so I said that I wanted to transfer to a different school in Kazakhstan.
That all happened two Tuesdays ago. On the following Monday, meetings were set for all staff staying to sign their contract renewals. Until two of my colleagues (including my closest friend here) were told that, even though they had requested to stay, their contracts weren't being renewed. The official reasons given to both were practically identical and frankly rather suspicious seeing as no concerns had been raised prior to this meeting. Our interpretation (which was hinted at by our international vice principal) was that the director was very unhappy with these colleagues for signing a letter regarding the holiday pay dispute. Only six of us ended up signing that (I was one). Three of us had asked for transfers. Two wanted to stay. The other's position was being made redundant, but he was wanting to stay/transfer into a different department (he's been teaching art but is also qualified for English). This guy was fed the same complaints as the two being fired at the end of the year, but was told that unless he fixed the problems in three weeks, he's going home then. Needless to say, it all came as quite a shock.
In the wake of this, I and the other two requesting transfers were expecting the worst for ourselves, but I was surprised to get an email on Wednesday from HR in Astana asking for my updated CV, to be forwarded on to a school in Almaty for a vacancy there. I actually interviewed with their international VP this morning, and it went well. I really like this IVP's attitude, but it seems like the management problems I struggle with in Kyzylorda are practically the same there. So, if I'm offered the job, I have a lot of praying and thinking to do about whether or not it's worth staying for another year.
The other "excitement" for this week happened on Wednesday morning, when I was getting ready for school. I picked my glasses up off my dresser after doing my makeup, and one of the wings just fell off. Broken hinge. I messaged my aunt in Australia, and she's ordered a replacement part for my glasses. I got a friend to help me tape them back up, but on Thursday I went into what is considered one of the two best opticians in town, to see if I could order a temporary backup pair. My prescription is rather complicated (I have progressives amongst other things), and getting the exact prescription wasn't an option, but I have something that's kinda close enough, which set me back a grand total of 84AUD. My real glasses cost close to a grand, and I've realised that I'm a complete and utter diva when it comes to glasses. This new pair feels cheap and tacky. They don't fit properly, and even without wearing mascara, they constantly get smudged from my eyelashes. I'm actually wondering whether it'd be better to walk around with a pair of taped-up broken glasses instead of these. I'll stick it out for a few days still before I make a final decision on these, but I can't wait for this replacement part to arrive from Australia. (Lesson learned - have a backup pair of glasses. In the 20 years I've worn them, I've never had a pair break, but I've always had my last pair of glasses accessible in the event that this happened. I just forgot to pack them to bring to Kazakhstan.)
We also had to make our final decisions about whether we wanted to renew our contracts. This chat happened for me the same day as the yelling situation, and I had decided firmly in the taxi on my way back to school that staying for another year in Kyzylorda was simply not an option unless I either wanted to go completely insane. I wanted to keep some options open, so I said that I wanted to transfer to a different school in Kazakhstan.
That all happened two Tuesdays ago. On the following Monday, meetings were set for all staff staying to sign their contract renewals. Until two of my colleagues (including my closest friend here) were told that, even though they had requested to stay, their contracts weren't being renewed. The official reasons given to both were practically identical and frankly rather suspicious seeing as no concerns had been raised prior to this meeting. Our interpretation (which was hinted at by our international vice principal) was that the director was very unhappy with these colleagues for signing a letter regarding the holiday pay dispute. Only six of us ended up signing that (I was one). Three of us had asked for transfers. Two wanted to stay. The other's position was being made redundant, but he was wanting to stay/transfer into a different department (he's been teaching art but is also qualified for English). This guy was fed the same complaints as the two being fired at the end of the year, but was told that unless he fixed the problems in three weeks, he's going home then. Needless to say, it all came as quite a shock.
In the wake of this, I and the other two requesting transfers were expecting the worst for ourselves, but I was surprised to get an email on Wednesday from HR in Astana asking for my updated CV, to be forwarded on to a school in Almaty for a vacancy there. I actually interviewed with their international VP this morning, and it went well. I really like this IVP's attitude, but it seems like the management problems I struggle with in Kyzylorda are practically the same there. So, if I'm offered the job, I have a lot of praying and thinking to do about whether or not it's worth staying for another year.
The other "excitement" for this week happened on Wednesday morning, when I was getting ready for school. I picked my glasses up off my dresser after doing my makeup, and one of the wings just fell off. Broken hinge. I messaged my aunt in Australia, and she's ordered a replacement part for my glasses. I got a friend to help me tape them back up, but on Thursday I went into what is considered one of the two best opticians in town, to see if I could order a temporary backup pair. My prescription is rather complicated (I have progressives amongst other things), and getting the exact prescription wasn't an option, but I have something that's kinda close enough, which set me back a grand total of 84AUD. My real glasses cost close to a grand, and I've realised that I'm a complete and utter diva when it comes to glasses. This new pair feels cheap and tacky. They don't fit properly, and even without wearing mascara, they constantly get smudged from my eyelashes. I'm actually wondering whether it'd be better to walk around with a pair of taped-up broken glasses instead of these. I'll stick it out for a few days still before I make a final decision on these, but I can't wait for this replacement part to arrive from Australia. (Lesson learned - have a backup pair of glasses. In the 20 years I've worn them, I've never had a pair break, but I've always had my last pair of glasses accessible in the event that this happened. I just forgot to pack them to bring to Kazakhstan.)
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