Name: Tyler Ready Hometown: Laurel Education: 2003 graduate of Laurel High School and 2007 graduate of Montana State University Billings (Bachelor’s Degree in English with a Teaching Option)
Profession: English teacher for four years, the last of which was in Damascus, Syria
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Being a classroom teacher takes a fair
amount of intuition, a certain mastery of subject matter and, at times, a flair for the dramatic.
And if you happen to teach in Syria,
some quick lessons on how to make it through Ramadan might not hurt.
Just ask Tyler Ready.
Tyler heard about teaching abroad through a co-worker and attended a job fair sponsored by International School Services (www.iss.edu)
The 27-year-old Ready, a slender, quiet
Most interesting cultural experience: Adjusting to the rules
fall when he arrived in Damascus, Syria
His international connection:
of Ramadan shortly after arriving for his job in August 2010
Favorite part about working internationally: The ability to travel to other countries and experience their culture first-hand
Laurel native who is as distinctly nonArabic as one could imagine, came face to face with the Muslim holy month last to begin his job as an English teacher. Finished with a class at the private school where he was working, he was chewing a piece of gum as he was preparing to head home.
As various stares came his way, one of
Ready’s new colleagues pulled him aside and gently gave him a piece of advice: he was being rude.
Ramadan, the ninth month of the Islamic
lunar calendar, is spent in daily fast from sunup to sundown. By complete fast, it is intended for Muslims to abstain from food, drink and other physical needs during the day. And, as Ready found out, that means ALL items that could be twisted around in your mouth, including Juicy Fruit.
And in a country where an estimated 87
percent of the population is Muslim, they take that stuff pretty seriously.
“It’s a totally different culture and is a
totally different country,” Ready said during a vacation visit home to the Billings area this summer. “During Ramadan, some of the stores are still open during the day, but it is rude to eat, drink or even chew gum until sundown. Then, at 8 or 9 p.m., it’s like the day begins.”
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