Stars and stripes?!
I was still doing well health wise even after staying up late to take part in the craziness of colin's birthday party, but things were not going so well for colin. strange things had been happening at his school for a while and it had been very stressful for him. colin was working illegally in taiwan through no fault of his own, but had managed to find a lovely school that paid him well and didnt mind that he was illegal. but now it appeared that the school had been SOLD. changes happened overnight and suddenly the school had a new name, the USA american school (vomit!) and a hideous new 'stars and stripes' uniform that both students and teachers were expected to wear (double vomit!). the taiwanese love america and american culture blindly so, claiming that your school has some link to america often gives you more credibility and draws more students. ironically, the schools with USA or america in their name tend to be the worst-run schools with glaring english mistakes on their signs and in their textbooks.
and at colin's school, in true taiwanese style, NOBODY was told ANYTHING! everything is a secret and there are hushed meetings behind closed doors and then last-minute announcements are made that affect your work, your life. this sort of 'management style' (or lack thereof) is typically taiwanese and used to happen at my old school all the time. most of the time you would just try and do your job while all sorts of changes happened around you. you'd carry on until you arrived at work one day to find that your entire classroom had moved to a new building and that there was a strange taiwanese woman in there because your old taiwanese co-teacher had quit?! most taiwanese managers dont seem to think that their staff has any right to know what is really happening within the company or school until the very last minute. a bit like the current (Bush/Cheney) american government actually - maybe that is why they like america so much ;-).
My ARC
and at colin's school, in true taiwanese style, NOBODY was told ANYTHING! everything is a secret and there are hushed meetings behind closed doors and then last-minute announcements are made that affect your work, your life. this sort of 'management style' (or lack thereof) is typically taiwanese and used to happen at my old school all the time. most of the time you would just try and do your job while all sorts of changes happened around you. you'd carry on until you arrived at work one day to find that your entire classroom had moved to a new building and that there was a strange taiwanese woman in there because your old taiwanese co-teacher had quit?! most taiwanese managers dont seem to think that their staff has any right to know what is really happening within the company or school until the very last minute. a bit like the current (Bush/Cheney) american government actually - maybe that is why they like america so much ;-).
My ARC
anyway, all the secrecy was driving colin crazy, especially as his status in the country was so questionable, even dangerous. we had agreed to leave taiwan at the end of november purely because that was the end of his contract with his school, but now everything was unsure. the new owner of the school finally showed her true colours in a meeting with the parents on the evening of friday, 7 september (colin's birthday!) where she announced to the parents that colin was illegal and that she planned to fire him. colin only found out about this on monday, 10 september because his manager (who liked him so much) told him. this same manager told him that the parents had revolted against the new owners pronouncement and many had threatened to pull their children out of the school if colin was fired, obviously the new owner had quickly changed her mind on that issue. but the damage had already been done and colin arrived on monday, 10 september to a school empty of staff and students. he had 8 students in total, where he had had close to 30 before and there was 1 taiwanese co-teacher left at the school that his much-loved manager was also leaving.
there was much discussion between colin and i as to whether he should even go into work on tuesday, 11 september. i voted NO as i didnt believe that the school would pay him what he was owed, let alone stay open! but colin decided to do the honourable thing and continue to go to work even after he had been stabbed in the back. i was so angry for him and couldnt understand how he could do it, especially after the terrible treatment that he had had at the school before this one where they had been so incompetent as to not organise his ARC for him in time, thereby rendering him illegal, a second-class citizen. but colin was right in the end. he was paid the full amount that he was owed, but the school closed on friday, september 14 and colin was without his lovely, well-paid job that had made staying in taiwan worthwhile.
personally, i was just astounded at how quickly and how thoroughly the new owner had run the once-successful school into the ground. within the space of two weeks she had managed to alienate both parents and staff and according to colin she didnt seem to understand why! apparently the last week she spent burning incense in little shrines outside the school and saying prayers in all the classrooms in a last ditch attempt to save the school. desperation had definitely brought out the religious side of her, but by then it was far too late. so, colin and my cosy little plan had, once again, been trampled by fate. how much BAD LUCK can two people have?! seriously! the one thing that made us feel better was knowing that this crazy woman who had destroyed colin's school, his job and his financial plans also had a whole lotta egg on her face!
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