Cyprus-Forum.com

[DrCyprus]

Monsieur Eric Betend, I assure you that we are well versed on Cypriot history. As much as we'd like to sympathise with your views (peace with an illegal occupier of our country), we are not French enough to stomach it like your country during WWII. Sorry and ta.

For next year you may consider teaching in Kosovo or Nagorno Karabakh. Good luck!!!

[Eric Betend]

Here is the first part of another chapter of my document relating my experience at GAU, with links to videos :

Classrooms

When I came at GAU, I was given my timetable two days before the school started (!) but not given any classroom to teach in. I ended up temporarily teaching in the library. The place is very badly insulated: it is cold in winter and hot in summer. There is only one AC not very powerful and certainly not sufficient for such a big room. I stayed there in September and part of October. It was 30 to 35 degrees Celsius. Children had no tables and chairs to sit and were complaining about the heat.
My line manager told me the GAU owner suddenly decided, shortly before I was hired, to get all nursery and primary students (both sections) to learn French, to use what was remaining of the “prestige” of the language to promote the GAU schools. Yet his priority was not to provide the schools with the basic means required to teach French, to meet the goals he set. By mid–October approximately, I was given a proper classroom. Still, I had neither table nor chairs.
For long weeks, students had to sit on the floor (cold marble), and as we were entering winter, students started again to complain. One day, I was given two miserable dirty pieces of rugs on which students were supposed to sit. By early January, I finally got tables and chairs. At this point I had been given 16 chairs and 8 tables for two in total. However, three of my classes had more than 16 children (respectively 22, 22 and 23 students). I had to ask for more chairs but I got only 5 additional ones. That means I had to “steal” one chair from the staff room and to lend my personal chair to one student each time all my 23 students were present. Since I got no additional tables and, whenever they had some copying to do students had to sit on the floor and use their chairs to copy, as you will see on the following videos shot during a class:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PDpRmjPvv7c
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RN0rjRYPC9g
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UGMkBdm8KmQ
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FGk1fQpXfS8

In addition I was told to warn students they had to be careful as the chairs and tables were not adapted to younger kids (!). Indeed, the first few weeks, every day children (especially Reception and Year 1 students) were falling down from these dangerous chairs and some hurt themselves badly. I of course asked to get rid of these tables and chairs and to get back rugs as well as some benches on which older students could write when needed.
Despite my complaints and my alternative solution, I got no reply to my email and had to make up with these inappropriate chairs for the rest of the year.

[Get Real!]

The whole story of mankind is about invading somebody's else land. Time, and efforts from those who want to work for a peaceful future, eventually legitimate a country.
I do not know from which country you are, but the UK and France are no exception to that state of fact : Kingdoms and lands have been taken to other kings to make the UK and France one day. But the story is not over...

Seeing that you’re very comfortable with invasions/occupations…

Do you by any chance come from a French family that accommodated and collaborated with the German occupation of France during WWII?

If you had read more about Cyprus before writing, you would not only know that the TRNC is for sure officially recognised by Turkey

Were you really surprised to learn that Turkey recognizes the “TRNC” even though it was Turkey that invented it in the first place?

only but also that the only future possible for that region of the world is Turkish-cypriots and Greek-cypriots (and all other people living there) to try to work for peace.

Like you would’ve tried to work for “peace” with Germans had they remained in France?

The dividing border is here for a long time whether you like it or not. You occasionally find politicians who have a different opinion but that is just a demagogic posture.

A dividing border also existed in Berlin for 29 years but Germany wasn’t prepared to also accept the Russian military upon a Berlin reunion!

Read more about the situation in the island in the 1960s and the 1970s, and you will find that the situation was and still is more complex than "the good and poor Greeks and the evil Turkish".

What more do I need to read besides the foreign serving custom designed undemocratic 1960 constitution that granted a handful of Ottoman remnants the power to screw up the country at Turkish will?

Go ahead and enlighten us with your sources…

[Get Real!]

For next year you may consider teaching in Kosovo or Nagorno Karabakh. Good luck!!!

It’s a shame the Tamil Tigers were disbanded or he would’ve had yet another “interesting” destination to go to.

[Eric Betend]

@DrCyprus
If you were so versed in history, you would know the conflict between France and Germany during the second world war and the conflict between Greece and Turkey about Cyprus have nothing in common.
Your comparison is easy but it boils down to nonsensical provocation.

[DrCyprus]

@DrCyprus
If you were so versed in history, you would know the conflict between France and Germany during the second world war and the conflict between Greece and Turkey about Cyprus have nothing in common.
Your comparison is easy but it boils down to nonsensical provocation.

Alsace-Lorraine



Look at them crying.

petite Alsace, petite Lorraine... pourqoi? pourqoi?

Warum die Deutsche die Deutsche sind hier.

Did you get them back in the end? Yes.

We are still waiting, and you are helping the illegal occupier and telling us to 'work for peace'.

cheers

[DT.]

@DrCyprus
If you were so versed in history, you would know the conflict between France and Germany during the second world war and the conflict between Greece and Turkey about Cyprus have nothing in common.
Your comparison is easy but it boils down to nonsensical provocation.

can we keep it? Oh come on! Can we please keep it?

[DrCyprus]

Imagine me working in a German administered Lorraine and going to a 'Republic of France' forum to inform them that their Hochschule in the German republic of Eastern France, the Lothringen American University (LAU), has just sacked me and I'm very angry.

Various French people are swearing at me and I reply by telling them to read history and know that history is all about invasions and that now it's time for them to find peace with their conqueror.

[DrCyprus]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L0s2WQeSY1Q

from the opening poster's youtube chan.
http://www.youtube.com/user/panichipkalli?feature=watch

[Get Real!]

Anyway, the bottom line Eric is that you were shafted by a unscrupulous “education center” because you saw fit to try your luck at a unscrupulous place.

Perhaps in future you’ll no longer overlook international law which exists for a reason.