My student brought home very low scores on his report card today. Not just in the subjects I teach, but in Arabic, Islamic and Qatar History as well. I assume this means that his parents understand that he has bad habits in general, and he's not just sucking in the subjects I tutor him in. But assumptions are often useless. It's hard to explain to his parents that his struggles are due to a collection of bad habits acquired over a long period of time, and that there is no progress for him unless this changes. There is an interesting dichotomy within the culture. They baby the kids and give them free reign to do what they want (like sit in the front seat w/o a seatbelt or run wild in the restaurant), but they expect that their kids learn everything if they are taught everything. There isn't much room for understanding a child's particular needs, and what must specifically be done to meet them. In defense of the parents, the schools don't do a good job of this either. My intervention more than anything, is supposed to lead to direct improvement, and improvement strictly means "better grades." This is the pressure-filled downside of tutoring for a living...

The Qatar Open concluded recently. Rafael Nadal won. I lost, because I missed it for the second straight year. This year I was out of town, last years was just sleeping. Grrr. Plan on catching it next year. Hopefully Serena plays. She didn't like how empty the stadium was last year. Somebody tell her I'm coming next year and I'm bringing the hood.

I got some beats from the boyfriend of a teacher here that I know. I'm expecting them to be good. If so, I already know my rhymes are good, and some good music can go down out here, finally.

They're out here interviewing for the position that I told them they needed, that I would've stayed at the school to do (for no more money than they were paying me), that I'm the most qualified to do, and that they told me they didn't need and weren't creating.

-_-

I know that leaving the school was the first step to me doing something much better in my life, something I really NEED to do, but it still stings, I can't front. I feel lied to and unappreciated. Still, I know that it's not important to focus on what I perceive was "done to me." They had their plans, I had mine, and God is laughing at all of it. 

And I tend to be alright when it's all said and done. And I'm well into a much more lucrative next move, so, you know.

Weather is nice and cool hear, my wife says a cold front is coming through, 40 Fahrenheit at night-type of stuff. Beats that 4 degrees back in New York that I narrowly escaped.