From the Arabian Gulf to the Norwich City Classroom

At the beginning of the year, I sent my CV to three language institutions in Norwich to see if there was any teaching work around. Only one replied, and they could offer only summer holiday work — which didn’t really suit me, as I already had full-time work throughout the kids’ six-week summer holiday at the surf school in Cromer.

For a while, I honestly wondered whether I would ever teach again.

Then, months later and seemingly out of nowhere, a new director at one of the institutes got in touch in June with a last-minute offer of two weeks’ work in early July.

I haven’t completely lost hope of returning to a life overseas, despite the clouds that melanoma has cast over some of those plans, and this opportunity felt like I was stepping back onto a road that might eventually lead me to the Gulf — or somewhere else — to resume my passion for teaching English and, perhaps, collecting a few more riyals along the way.

There were, however, a few hurdles to clear before the offer could become reality. First, I needed up-to-date references, which took a few days to obtain from my former Saudi boss. Then there was the enhanced CRB check. The internet warned me that this could take up to a month, but I found an agency specialising in quick turnarounds and, thankfully, they got it done within ten days.

Then, on July 7th — my birthday, as it happens — I walked into a Norwich classroom and delivered a lesson for the first time in five years.

It was a surreal moment. Exactly five years earlier, I had been sitting in Dubai Airport, preparing to escape Saudi Arabia. Now, five years on, things had somehow come full circle: from the Gulf to a Norwich classroom filled with talented Spanish students whose high level of English was quite a contrast to the often fairly disinterested Saudi students I had become accustomed to teaching.

Over the following two weeks, I generally continued working with high-level students from both Spain and Italy, and their ability to tackle complex tasks was genuinely remarkable. They were a pleasure to teach, and the time passed quickly.

Of course, it wasn’t completely stress-free. There were technology failures, printing delays and the occasional request to put together an impromptu lesson at short notice. But overall, the return to the classroom felt like the perfect beginning.

Rather than simply continuing indefinitely with my work in the hotel and surf school, I was back on a different road — one that could lead to more teaching work in the UK, perhaps including supply teaching, and eventually, if the opportunity arises, back to the Gulf or somewhere else overseas.

For now, that road starts in Norwich.