My most unusual story in my teaching profession

My early teaching career was in the United Arab Emirates. My first classroom was a bathroom that had been converted into a classroom. There was a screen down the middle of the class and the boys were on one side and the girls were on the other. So when teaching maths I had to pop my head across like a jack in the box to make sure both sides of the class were listening and learning. Anyway one year we were doing a topic on houses and we were discussing how many rooms were in our houses. The answers varied from 5 to about 2o for the more wealthy members of our class. Well there was one boy called Mohammed(PBh) and he was not the cleverest child I have ever met but he said he wasn't sure but it was about 400. Well the whole class laughed and as a good professional I told them that it was cruel to laugh at our friends and that Mohammed(PBH) has probably miscounted. Well a little while later Mohammed's(PBH) dad called me and asked me if I would tutor him before the exams. As this is totally wrong to tutor someone you are teaching because it can cause a conflict of interest I accepted right away, 30 quid an hour will always be ahead of any educational principal I hold. A few hours later a driver picked me up and I was driven to a secluded area, within minutes I was confronted by armed men and I was sure I was about to be abducted and be a star of a you tube video begging Tony Blair to help me. But no these were the most polite armed militants I had ever met. They took me to Mohammed's(PBH) house and then I realised why he had said 400 rooms in our discussion, this place was in fact a Palace and his dad was the Ruler of Umm Al Quwain and when I got in there I thought 400 was a conservative estimate. Well I tutored my pupil whilst sitting in a gold chair and I truly felt like King Midas for an hour. I did 3 hours in total and looked forward to getting my 90 quid. Well payment never turned up and the armed presence at the door convinced me that this was a transaction that did not need to be pursued. Of course I did not know the Arabic way and payment is always made last moment or 'inshallah' (never). On my last day in the UAE I had long forgotten my 3 hours work and my 90 quid fee, when I was confronted by the ruler's representative who handed me 1500 quid in cash and a watch that was later valued at 500 quid. This was a lot more than the 90 quid I was expecting at the time. Nowadays I work 10 times harder for a 100 times less appreciation. There is only one word you can utter when you get 2 grand for 3 hours work off a Sheikh........Chokran


John Bell