First Teachers’ Meeting

Ten teachers are present for this very first teachers’ meeting – several more part-timers are employed but these are the permanent ones. The Director – my boss – and an Assistant Director joins us at a circular table. Someone offers me coffee and I immediately accept.

The Director speaks in the local language, with pauses for translation. He outlines the starting dates for business classes and the books to be used. He also reiterates that the house rules should be read out at the start of a new term and pulls down a framed copy of them off the wall for me to read. This is more of an informational meeting than an idea exchange, which is fine for the beginning of the year.

The meeting doesn’t last long, and the teachers decide to go out for drinks. I still have to meet with the Director to get my schedule and check out books, so they agree to start at a rather sub-standard but nearby pub first so I can find them and join them when I am done. After spending an inordinate amount of time reading out book numbers so they can be recorded in my file, I leave to join the others across the street.

They have just ordered another round when I arrive so I add my order. There are six local teachers – two of them Assistant Directors – as well as a Canadian and an Irish teacher, both married men with children. People ask me why I’d chosen this city, where I’d taught before, and if I could speak the local language. (For several reasons, Sarajevo and Budapest, not really but I can understand some because it’s similar to Bosnian).

After we finish our drinks, we move to another bar – a better bar. The Piano Bar. We lose a few people on the way who either have to teach early the next morning or go home for some other reason. We are more spread out at the Piano Bar (our table is shaped like, that’s right, a grand piano), and I end up spending most of my time conversing with the Canadian. Our conversation took some surprising turns, like when he told me he didn’t think George Bush was so bad. I also find out he’s in a band and listen to their cd.

The night finishes relatively early at 10:30 or so. A lcoal teacher points out the correct tram and shows me how to buy a ticket, something which will definitely come in handy in the near future.