What I'm doing here....

It appears that I've forgotten to write to basic reason I am here, so MANY have you have asked "What in the heck are you doing there?!". With no further ado....I am here teaching English at Qatar University. I was hired by their Foundation Program to teach non-credit ESL to students who didn't pass the TOEFL exam, an international exam testing students grasp of English. The university teaches the majority of classes in English, except for religious studies, which is taught in Arabic. I was sweating bullets that I'd end up teaching a beginning course, as I haven't EVER taught beginning ESL! My research, and second Masters, is in teaching college Composition and Post-Secondary Reading, which basically means reading after highschool. Anywhooter, I have been assigned to Post-Foundation, and from what I gather it is supposed to be sort of like an equivalent to Freshman Composition, which relieves me to NO end! : ) I'm excited to see what sort of challenges these classes possess, and I'm sure there are many.

The university itself is segregated, a women's campus and a men's campus. They are right next to each other, but the classes are not mixed. I, however, as an instructor may be teaching on the women's or men's campus. I'm sure it will take some getting used to (i.e. teaching a room full of males only), but that's OK. A new experience that will probably allow for a lot of interesting cultural discussion that they wouldn't open up about if they weren't segregated. At SFSU, in San Francisco, two of my classes were predominantly female (2 males out of 20), so I won't be as surprised by the ladies only if that's what I get. : ) I should find out tomorrow.

The campus website is: http://www.qu.edu.qa/main/index.html

Take a look around if you like!