Induction

I attended an induction session at InLingua yesterday afternoon. Roger, the Director of Studies, ran through a myriad of fascinating topics including the class registers, timesheets, dress standards and dismissible activities.

Part way into the session one of the other managers Katherine interrupted to give us an update on the public transport situation. I was completely unaware that there was a public transport problem. I had just assumed that the extraordinary number of people on the underground metro was the result of back to school and university crowds. Katherine advised that the buses were on strike. Well, sort of. Apparently it’s up to each individual bus driver whether they go to work or go out on strike. As that bit of information sunk in around the table, Roger quietly commented ‘the Neapolitans can’t even organise a strike properly!’

I met three new teachers today. Laura from Northern Ireland, Seb(astian) from London and Jonah (although Roger calls him John so maybe I misunderstood) from north of London. I’m terrible at remembering names after only one meeting. I’ll have to check again and write them down. It’s always a bit strange meeting other foreigners in an environment that is not related to travel or previous connections. Hearing different accents was also a little odd. Laura has one of those lovely Irish accents that take a while to tune into. Every time she spoke I had to ask her to repeat herself. Seb immediately asked if I was Australian or New Zealand. I shouldn’t have been surprised but in Naples I’m usually mistaken for Polish or Ukraine, or American. It was kind of nice to at least have someone get the right hemisphere.

So, the buses are striking all week. There is also a possibility that the metro will also be on strike on Friday. I’ve already decided to avoid public transport on Friday...although that shouldn’t be difficult if there isn’t any running!