In case you missed it....

[meshimeshi]

In regards to @sfgal530's question in the Tuesday thread. and @aellasbeth's comment from today.

I think I only posted the update about my job search in a good morning thread a while ago...and I'm not sure if I even posted our decision.

As many of you probably know, I was waiting on decisions from 3 schools. One in Bangkok, Honduras and Saudi Arabia. Bangkok turned me down for a local because the board said he had to hire more locals. Then I got a rejection from Honduras and was just waiting on SA. I ended up getting the offer for the Saudi Arabia school.

We kinda wanted to move on from the Middle East. After I turned down that one Kuwait offer I got (I asked for advice about it on here), the only other school in the Middle East I applied for was this SA school. I applied because the package was really good and it's a well known school with a good reputation. While we wanted to experience a new region, the Middle East still does hold a piece of our heart. We love the Middle East, we just hate Kuwait. I can't even say where it stems from. I think the biggest issue has been that I have had such a hard time at my school and have been forced (even pulled aside by my team lead) to go against my professional integrity and professional ideology?. I haven't been able to a be a real teacher here. I am just a worksheet passer outter and grader. I think from the beginning I had high expectations for my school and was really let down and I think that gave us a bad taste right from the beginning so we didn't try very hard to like Kuwait and I think we focus on the negatives a lot. It's hard.

Anyway, we decided to accept the offer for the Saudi school. It's an actual American school. It's truly international. I currently teach 100% Kuwaiti. In Cairo, I taught about 97% Egyptian. In Saudi, the school is only 50% Arab. Their students are from over 45 different countries. It's a great package that comes with an $8k/yr raise. The curriculums they use are what I am used to and what I love teaching. I also get a yearly PD budget to use on any trainings/conferences/courses I want (and it doesn't come with strings attached like my current school does). I'm optimistic about it, but going in with much lower expectations, so hopefully I will be pleasantly surprised rather than really disappointed again. Also, I'll be teaching Kindergarten. It's new for me, but I am kinda excited about it. I think it will be a fun experience.

We still feel a little homesick at times....but I feel like it's just our hatred for Kuwait. When we're having a bad day, moving home sounds great. But when we are thinking rationally, we know there are a lot more goals we need to accomplish before moving home. And as much as I have issues teaching abroad, I know I will still have issues teaching in the states and it's not very glorious and there is a lot of pressure on teachers that I am not sure I am ready for yet....or when I will be.

Idk. It's a risk. But it will definitely give us a lot of new experiences and open our eyes to a very different life. Plus, I WILL LIVE ON THE RED SEA!!! I love the red sea. I miss it. The school is in Jeddah.

[Deleted]

I am glad you found an opportunity that hopefully you can be happier!

[meshimeshi]

Apr 16, 2014 12:41:45 GMT -5 @aellasbeth said:

I am glad you found an opportunity that hopefully you can be happier!

That's what we hope. But also because we have had such a hard time here, we plan to really make a concentrated effort to get out, make friends, and really try to find ways to enjoy our next post. We'll see.

[meshimeshi]

spunbutterfly yep!

[toratoratori]

Congratulations! I hope it's a wonderful change for you

[meshimeshi]

Apr 16, 2014 13:02:20 GMT -5 spunbutterfly said:

Apr 16, 2014 12:58:41 GMT -5 meshimeshi said:

spunbutterfly yep!

DD'd.

I think a big international school teaching experience is a lot different from smaller places. In retrospect (now that I'm FB friends with some of my high school teachers), for a lot of them, they were in their mid-20s to early-30s and wanted to explore the world and teach while doing so, and I think larger schools, while the contracts are sometimes more annoying, tend to have a lot more benefits and support systems that come with it.

An old history teacher of mine went from the school I graduated from to ISB, and he got a house, a car with a driver, a maid, and it was insane! But that was also like 20 years ago, so things might have (probably) changed since then. XD

If we had a kid, we would get a villa. However, we are still getting a 3br apartment. We don't get a car, but I will have to hire a driver since women are not allowed to drive there, and we will have a maid. We have one now. And traveling the world is one of the big reasons we just aren't ready to go back yet. We don't feel like we're ready to go back on give up on our travel ops. I mean, we are saving lots of money here, accomplishing financial goals, while still traveling. But that's not everything if you are miserable for the 85% of the time where you live...

I am in a big school now, but it's not one of the "names". But I think this next one should be a lot better, but again, I'm keeping my expectations low. And ISB is still one of THE TOP schools out there, so I don't doubt they provide those sorts of things. I think this school will be a big step up from where I am and a good name to have on my CV. I think it will open up more opportunities to get into schools like ISB and some of the other big names when I am done if we choose to continue abroad. I think the biggest name is AISJ (Japan). It's one of the most sought after...but sooo competitive. I'd love to teach there.

[meshimeshi]

Apr 16, 2014 13:17:42 GMT -5 spunbutterfly said:

Apr 16, 2014 13:10:34 GMT -5 meshimeshi said:

If we had a kid, we would get a villa. However, we are still getting a 3br apartment. We don't get a car, but I will have to hire a driver since women are not allowed to drive there, and we will have a maid. We have one now. And traveling the world is one of the big reasons we just aren't ready to go back yet. We don't feel like we're ready to go back on give up on our travel ops. I mean, we are saving lots of money here, accomplishing financial goals, while still traveling. But that's not everything if you are miserable for the 85% of the time where you live...

I am in a big school now, but it's not one of the "names". But I think this next one should be a lot better, but again, I'm keeping my expectations low. And ISB is still one of THE TOP schools out there, so I don't doubt they provide those sorts of things. I think this school will be a big step up from where I am and a good name to have on my CV. I think it will open up more opportunities to get into schools like ISB and some of the other big names when I am done if we choose to continue abroad. I think the biggest name is AISJ (Japan). It's one of the most sought after...but sooo competitive. I'd love to teach there.

ASIJ. A friend of mine went there. We competed against them in tennis. I never knew it was one of the biggest names.

I went to SIS. My parents gave me the option between SIS and SFS, and the idea of having mandatory religious classes didn't sit well with me, but in retrospect, I should have chosen SFS instead.

HKIS is also a big big name. And ISM (Manila) as well as SAS (Singapore).

Honestly, I think being in Asia affords a lot more travel opportunities. Traveling in East Asia/South East Asia is relatively cheap, and there are a lot of countries with completely different sorts of cultures very close by. I hope you get the chance to teach there before you guys decide to 'return home' (so to speak).

Yah, China or Southeast Asia is where we were pushing for this year, but it just didn't work out. Also, I just realized there is ISB(beijing) and ISB (bangkok). Both are good names. However, the ME is a good location for travel to SE Asia too and pretty affordable, just not quite as affordable as actually being there. Bangkok was my number one pic for this year, but it just didn't pan out sadly.

I think HKIS is Christian and you have to provide references from your pastor, etc. and I just wasn't about that, If I'm remembering correctly. ISM and SAS are great. A friend from my current school is going to ISM next year.

We also want to go to South America....and Africa...but no good packages there...it's more about the experience. Those are places you go after you have saved money in the ME and Asia. hah. My really good friend is going to AISG (Guangzhou) which is a pretty popular name these days. Ahhhh talking about the good schools is what makes me want to stay. That sliver of a chance I can move somewhere that I would stay for a long while. Who knows.

[meshimeshi]

Apr 16, 2014 13:33:30 GMT -5 spunbutterfly said:

Apr 16, 2014 13:28:47 GMT -5 meshimeshi said:

Yah, China or Southeast Asia is where we were pushing for this year, but it just didn't work out. Also, I just realized there is ISB(beijing) and ISB (bangkok). Both are good names. However, the ME is a good location for travel to SE Asia too and pretty affordable, just not quite as affordable as actually being there. Bangkok was my number one pic for this year, but it just didn't pan out sadly.

I think HKIS is Christian and you have to provide references from your pastor, etc. and I just wasn't about that, If I'm remembering correctly. ISM and SAS are great. A friend from my current school is going to ISM next year.

We also want to go to South America....and Africa...but no good packages there...it's more about the experience. Those are places you go after you have saved money in the ME and Asia. hah. My really good friend is going to AISG (Guangzhou) which is a pretty popular name these days. Ahhhh talking about the good schools is what makes me want to stay. That sliver of a chance I can move somewhere that I would stay for a long while. Who knows.

Oh, I meant ISB Bangkok. Heh. It gets confusing.

I didn't realize HKIS was Christian. Weird. o.O Good luck though! I think the teachers at my school were there for about 4-5 year periods, so I am assuming, even if the pay sucked (from what I understand now?) there were other things that made it worth staying.

Yah, that seems to be the norm when you are happy at your school. We have stayed one year in each school. It's terrible. And bad for my resume. I would love to stay 4 in Saudi. But we'll see.

[fiddles]

Good luck to you both! I think forcing yourself to get out and make new friends will be a huge game changer.

[mrslefty]

Congrats! If you ever need reminders why you don't want to teach in the states let me know but on the flip side if you want to know why I effing love my job and why teaching in the states isn't so bad let me know

[Deleted]

Congrats!