A Note About Authentication

I am not sure why document authentication presents such a difficulty for so many of my fellow US LTs, but it is. So I'm going to break down my authentication process thus far. Perhaps it'll help.

First and foremost, GET STARTED EARLY!
If you haven't got your passport, get your pennies together (currently $140 plus the cost of passport photos - get extras, as they're multi-purpose when travelling) and get down to the post office today. Seriously, today. Passports can take 6-10 weeks to process (though it's never taken mine that long), and with a thousand or a million other people applying for their passports as well, why on earth would you wait?

Now. I only had two documents to authenticate: my teaching certificate and my Masters degree. I started the process on 28 February and just got back my last stamp and seal today. That's a month and a week. And I am fortunate to have the essential forms and formats already in my files, and to live in my state's capital city. That and paying for overnight mail in both directions cut my time down significantly. But here's the breakdown:

• Had copies of my 2 certs made, added a note stating "This is an authentic copy of the original document", took copies - and originals for notary to compare - to a notary public (found at your local bank often enough). I signed the copy in front of the notary, who notarised my signature. 2 hours finding a notary and figuring out exactly what was needed, 2 minutes to get the stamp, seal and signature. No fee.
• walked my 2 notarised documents into the Secretary of State's office. I called them first to make sure I knew what to do and where to go. (If you're not 100% sure what to do, always call first!) Requested a "foreign use stamp", got an authentication of notary for international use (nobody actually has a foreign use stamp, regardless of what Teach Away advised). 20 minutes, $2 per document. Sometimes it's good to live in South Carolina.
• Mailed notarised, authenticated documents to the US Department of State with an attached form/cover sheet found on the State Dept website. Elected to pay for express mail (overnight shipping) in both directions. $8 per document, plus $18 per express mail envelope. Took a full month to receive documents back from the State Department with signature and seal affixed.
• Mailed notarised, authenticate documents to the UAE Embassy. Also enclosed a letter (emailed to me) from my university declaring its accreditation. For extra assurance, I also printed off a copy of the accreditation record from the CHEA website. Again with the express mail cost. This step cost $30 per document, plus mail fees. Time: one week. 

If you have documents of identification (marriage certificates, birth certificates, adoption certificates, or other miscellaneous items (divorce & letter from ex-spouse permitting child to leave the country, death certificate for your child's other parent, etc), those documents follow a slightly different authentication process - basically, you have to get them directly from your State, not get notarised copies (the copy sent from your records dept will be notarised or whatever already), and carry on from there. These documents will take longer to get, and if they're from other states or countries, you must get them authenticated at the Secretary of State for the state (or equivalent for country) of the document's origin. (Certificates can be notarised anywhere.) 

Key item: Photocopies must be notarised and authenticated in the same state. And a notary will only do an in-person notarisation (because he's authenticating your signature, which he/she can't do unless you're signing it in front of them). So do what you can locally.

I think that's all I have for today. Other than a small celebration that I have all my paperwork completed now. And another celebration that it was far less effort-intensive than the stuff I had to do for my UK work visa. 

So I'm going to work. Happy paperchase, everyone!

Right. An update.

Now that I'm a couple of weeks from my NYC in-person interview (or IPI for those in the know), I feel like maybe I should be preparing, studying, rehearsing, etc a lot more than I am. How much am I preparing? Not at all. Not for the interview, at least.

I'll tell you more about the actual interview later. You know, after I have it.

I have a flight. I have an outfit (I may revise my top, but I have an acceptable one if I can't replace it). I have tentative meet-up plans with other applicants/friends. I have 12 hours in New York.

Less superficially, I also have a work history that makes me pretty employable in the TEFL world. And I have two strong references in my possession, with two more (one hopes) on their way. And I am actively learning Arabic (when I'm not wasting time watching the Golden Globes), reading local (Abu Dhabi) news - still in English, though - and studying up on my cultural references. I'm certified in English teaching, experienced in ESL, experienced in international living/working/travel.

And I want it. I want this job so badly I can taste it. Please hire me, ADEC. Please!

Read. These. Things. I Mean It!

I know I've posted several blogs about different things I think everyone interested in going to Abu Dhabi to TEFL should read. This time I'm collecting everything in one place.

I try to keep "required reading" to a minimum, because really, other than me, who's going to read every single word they can find about AD? And after awhile it all gets a touch repetitive. That said, there are some pretty basic questions that could be answered by doing a little research before you ask. Or at least you'll get a feel of the place first. I'm a big advocate of getting a feel for a place. So here are some things YOU should read in order to get a feel, collect a basic understanding, at least find some sort of grounding on which to base the rest of your everything.

• A Diamond in the Desert by Jo Tatchell
• Lonely Planet: Oman, UAE & the Arabian Peninsula 
• UAE - Culture Smart!
• Your First 100 Words in Arabic 
• Arabic for Dummies (There's also Intermediate Arabic for Dummies, but take it one step at a time.)
• 17 Questions... by Beverly Gallagher 
• Dave's ESL Cafe
• The National, Khaleej Times, Al Ittihad (in Arabic, but translate until you don't need to), Time Out Abu Dhabi (local/national papers, plus Time Out for socialising outside the teacher scene)
• UK vs US Spelling (for practice teaching English to the ADEC standards)  

I have mentioned all or nearly all of these things to read before, but now they're all collected in one place. Now let me break it down (and perhaps add other bonus reads, or links, or whatever, for fun).

A Diamond in the Desert is a travel narrative - one person's experience visiting Abu Dhabi & writing about it. Jo Tatchell is a Brit whose family lived in Abu Dhabi when it was still a frontier town, and she watched the city (and the country) grow up, more or less with her. It's eye-opening in very small ways, actually, but a slow read or re-read will give you an excellent beginning understanding of how Abu Dhabi really works. And how we work within it. Many Western teachers often come across as "We're coming over here to fix your broken system, and this is how you treat us?" It may not be intentional, but it will still get you nowhere fast. A Diamond in the Desert will help you remember how nonessential you really are - that you are merely a visitor, not the savior of the EFL world. And on the subject of being a foreign visitor invited to teach in a Gulf country, have a look at The Woman Who Fell from the Sky by Jennifer Steil. It's about Yemen but still relevant and quite fascinating.

The Lonely Planet Oman UAE etc is the only travel guide that spends much time at all on the UAE outside Dubai. I do prefer Rough Guides generally, but Lonely Planet still caters to the backpacking, adventurous sort of traveller. While you may prefer hotels to hostels, please just trust me when I say Fodors, Frommers, etc are not the travel guides you want for the UAE. It's kind of expensive as books go, around US$30 for the 2010 edition, but if you can't afford to buy all the books on my list, this one will give you a brief overview of everything. I'm always open to new travel guide recommendations, so if you have any, let me know!

Here is where I will link the obligatory LP travel forum: Thorn Tree, and the (in my opinion far more useful) sturdiest competitor BootsnAll. (The whole site is pretty fantastic, but hit up the discussion forums for all kinds of great travel advice.)

Culture Smart UAE is geared more toward business travellers. But it's quite short, about 100 pages, and actually pocket-sized, and packed with useful facts and tables. Read it at least once, make notes, and remember that it's just foundational. But ladies, if you want to know why men don't shake your hand like you're their equal, you'll likely find your answer herein. Additionally it's got the sort of facts and figures the family back home want to know. (Where is Abu Dhabi? Is it safe? How big is it? What time zone are you in? and so on...) I have heard tell of other good AD books; here is an Amazon.com list.

Your First 100 Words in Arabic will teach you classical Arabic, 100 basic words, with flashcards, games, pronunciation, etc. It also comes with a CD, all for under US$20. I take my flashcards with me to work and study them between customers. Compare that with the complete Rosetta Stone Arabic course at US$749 and you may understand why I chose to learn just 100 words. Arabic for Dummies was recommended to me by a customer (I work at a book shop until I start teaching in Abu Dhabi) from Lebanon, who was studying his Arabic at a higher level and said this was a great guide for beginners. It's a great stepping stone once you're at least vaguely comfortable with those first 100 words. 

The BootsnAll article, 17 Questions You Should Ask Before Accepting a TEFL Job, is something I have mentioned a number of times and even created a page for at the top of this blog. I really cannot recommend it enough. These are essential questions you ought to know the answers to before you sign your contract with ADEC or indeed with any TEFL provider. And while I'm talking about pages at the top of this blog, check out the ADEC home page (translate into English) and the ADEC FAQ and assorted links from there. And of course read through ALL the notes and discussion threads going back around 2 years on the Teach Away facebook page. 

Dave's ESL Cafe should be a first stop for any aspiring TEFLer. Go. Read. Ask questions. Read some more. And listen to the generally sage advice of those who've been there, done that, and retired after 20-40 years of doing it. 

As far as the national newspapers, start reading them now. Learn things. Read about what's news in the country you want to make your next home. Get a feel for the news, the style, the interests...Plus, as a grown-up about to embark on an international lifestyle, you should be reading international papers anyway. For more news, pick some other countries and some other news sources in those countries. If all you watch is CNN or Fox News, and all you read is your local news or Yahoo news, you're missing out on the whole rest of the world. More to the point, you're missing out on how the rest of the world thinks. About the world, about themselves, about us (whoever "us" may be). Let me leap up onto a soapbox for a minute. FOLLOW INTERNATIONAL NEWS. FROM INTERNATIONAL OUTLETS.  Because you're smart enough to know that not everyone thinks like you do. Or, for that matter, like I do. And as a teacher, it's essential that you understand there is more than one angle to every tale.

Time Out is for fun. Because, I mean, sometimes you just gotta get out and do something. Go to a concert, get prime seats at the latest hottest restaurant or club or event, figure out exactly which mall is the right mall for the day's shopping needs. Whims. Whatever. 

As to the spelling link, well, by now you might be aware that English in Abu Dhabi uses British spellings, leans toward an Australian curriculum, and hires North American teachers. (I think that's just down to sheer numbers, though.) I taught in England before, and spent some time in Ireland as a student, and you catch on pretty quickly. A good way to increase your acceptance of UK English, though, is to utilise it (see what I did there?) on your blog, in your journal, in letters home, etc. I haven't got a link to the whispered NSW curriculum, but that's because the curriculum for Abu Dhabi is actually still being revised, revamped and developed. You'll probably be flying by the seat of your pants, so think more about creating a curriculum than following one. Just learn your British spellings. 

These are the things I  think are essential to at least review. You may think differently or have more/better/other resources to recommend. I am open to all suggestions but prefer the essential to the interesting. At least when it comes to recommending it to, like, everyone. Tell me what you have used, read, found important in a comment!

Useful Information

from December 2010

I realise it's been awhile since I posted anything useful. So today I'm going to remedy that by giving you a paperwork update.
Three months ago (I can't believe it's been that long already!) when I received word that ADEC wasn't hiring secondary teachers for December placement, I kind of went into suspended animation for awhile. Instead of using that time to collect bits of paperwork from around the country and around the globe, I focused instead on finding work that would not utterly destroy my soul in the (now) year before I leave (hoping, of course, that I'll even get hired with ADEC, which is always but a hope until the contract is signed). Some might call that change of focus practical and responsible.

I suppose it would've been more practical if anything much had come of it. Oh well. That's a story for another day.

Anyway, a couple of weeks ago, I started hearing about new applicants and THEIR paperwork quest. And that's when I realised, I hadn't done a darn thing but study Arabic (I'm up to about 60 words and havealmost got the alphabet figured out). And I thought, Get on the ball, Amy!


So on the ball I have got. Happily, I have a portion of the required paperwork from my last international sojourn. And while that one didn't end well (I came back to America, and ended up spending an entire year working retail. Part time.), it did give me some useful experience. Better still, it gave me a whole sheaf of already-scanned documents. And referees from two different countries. Win.

Of course, now it's holiday time. So getting in touch with teachers and principals and department heads, etc, to get your reference letters is a bit of a challenge. Challenge met! I have heard from my three referees just yesterday and expect letters in the mail soon. And I have another one from my last adventure.

Which leaves me with the following:

• passport-size photos (purchase to have on-hand, also scan and upload)
• certified teacher certificate (have on-hand, just need to scan and upload)
• background check (I'm going the county sheriff route, just need to take the time to get downtown)

I feel good about this. Other than the letters of reference, everything's do-able in about 2 hours. So even though I slacked off on my paper collection for 3 months, I'm still in good shape for January interviews. I just need a presentable interview blouse. And (alas!) a pair of pantyhose or something.

Edgware Road

Fact: I do and perhaps always will miss London. Like it or not, it's the place I felt most at home. And today, while reading The National (one of 2 or 3 major UAE papers), I found a new connection: Edgware Road.

I remember Edgware Road - it was a place I felt like an outsider, and no surprise. It is, according to Omid Djalili, after Damascus, Mecca and Medina, the most Islamic place on the planet. (What about Dearborn, Michigan?) Hoping that next year this time I'll be completing my second or third month of a 2-year stint in Abu Dhabi, I now look back with fondness on Edgware Road.

Okay, let's be honest. I look back with fondness on any - even the slightest - connection with my favorite (favourite!) city on the planet.

But the next time I'm in London, Edgware Road might be the place I feel more at home than before, when I lived in trendy West Hampstead (though not in the trendy part of West Hampstead) and worked in rough and tumble South London (Bermondsey). Who knows, maybe I'll even be able to communicate in the local language of Edgware Road!

Is it wrong that I'm already planning my holidays for a job I don't actually have yet? Well, tough. I have friends who are almost family in London, fond memories of living and working in London, and an unending love for that city, even though it didn't work out for me to live there in 2009.

Anyway. This article makes me smile. And hope. And want to practice my Arabic anew!

Packing and Paperwork, not necessarily in that order

from September 2010

From the moment you authorise a criminal background check to about a month (or more, depending on your future travel choices) after you return to your home country for the last time at the end of your contract - or contracts - you will spend a lot of time dealing with government agencies.

Blame the paperwork process.

Here's what you need, in short order:

1. Passport. Duh. If you haven't got one, or if yours has less than a year left on it, take care of that NOW. Get thee to a post office! (By the way, though it may be cheaper to get your passport pics at Walgreens or similar, the convenience of doing it at the PO is worth the $15. Unless you have a large number of people coming with you. Then, by all means, save!) Additionally, if you have a stamp from a visit to Israel in your passport, you may wish to ask someone at Teach Away about any concerns. The UAE, like most ME countries, does not recognise Israel as a nation.
2. Background check. You can try your local sheriff's office, or your state PD. Me, I went right to the top: FBI. Since I have moved around rather a lot, I thought I'd cover all my bases. Additionally, it's faster and cheaper than getting a CRC from my state. No, I'm not kidding. Dealing with the State of South Carolina has been good preparation for dealing with future paperwork frustrations overseas. Plan on $25ish and 12 weeks at the most (FBI says 12 weeks, but my experience has been 3-6).
3. Certified Teaching Certificate. This is where it gets exciting, as with this document you begin to go through the repetitive authentication exercises. PLEASE NOTE: The certificate you got in the mail, the one you keep in your professional portfolio of important papers (or have frames on your wall, or whatever) is probably not certified. You need to go to the certification board of your state (or country, but I only know about the US) and request acertified teaching certificate. It's just another stamp, but you gotta get it.
4. Certified diploma(s). You officially only need your highest degree (for me it's a MA), but again, chances are VERY good that it's not the diploma they mailed you after graduation. Contact your school's registrar to get the proper certified certificate.
5. optional: international driver's license. Go to AAA; it costs $15 at last check. Take care of this item a little nearer your leave date (like right after you HAVE a leave date. or potential leave date. or you've been offered a contract, at least), as it is good for 12 months only.

Once you have items 3 & 4, you will need to send them (or authenticated, notarised?, copies; I'm not 100% clear on this yet) to the Secretary of State office. (I believe this is for the state from which they were issued, but it may be the state in which you now live - for me, these are 3 different states, but again, that's why I chose to go the FBI route rather than the local route for my background check.) At the Sec of State, they will be authenticated by the State Authenticator or some such person. Once they come back from the State Authenticators, you will need to send these documents to the State Department in DC for the National Authenticator to authenticate them. Then I think they have to go to the UAE embassy. But I'm not sure. Additionally, all of these steps cost money. And time. So start getting things sorted (at least steps 1-4) ASAP. Perhaps even before you have your in-person interview, or else about 2 seconds after your interview is completed.

All of these bits of paper, with the appropriate signatures and stamps and seals affixed, are necessary for you to get your resident's visa in UAE. And without that Very Important Sticker in your passport, you won't be able to do things (with ease) like rent/buy a car, utilise your bank account, smooth your transition overseas. I promise, speaking from experience, you want to do anything you can to ease the paperwork transition overseas. Everything is twice as difficult to accomplish when you're out of your home country (paperwork-wise), and that difficulty increases exponentially when your new country does not speak the same language or even operate by the same basic principles (of time, urgency, convenience).

Take it from someone who's been there: it's no fun feeling stranded on the other side of the world with no money, no communication, and no way home. Of course, it always works out, but the waiting is quite unpleasant when you're down to your last penny.



Other tips:

• Make 5-10 color copies of the signature page of your passport.
• Have a dozen or so passport-size photos made. You'll need them.
• For your own sense of security, photocopy and itemise everything before you send batches of paperwork to different government agencies. Leave this set of photocopies with a trusted person in your home country when you leave.
• In-country, before you hand over your visa'd passport to ADEC (this bit I've gleaned from the discussion boards, of course, as I've never been to the UAE), make several copies of the visa-stamped page too. This will ease the car and appliance and bank shopping/using. A lot. In fact, renting a car without that stamp can be impossible.

From a packer's/traveller's perspective, you may also find it useful to create an itemised list of the contents of your luggage. You may also find it useful to NOT over-pack. Bring some (not a ton of!) clothes. A few pairs of shoes. Toiletries. Your laptop, a journal, Very Important Papers, a few mementos, and money. Mostly, pack money. In the form of credit cards, ATM cards, travellers cheques and actual cash money (maybe a little bit in Dirhams (Dh), but do your main changing there, as there may be no fees). Everything else you can (and should) probably buy there.

DO NOT pack more than you can carry/move by yourself. Learn from my experience: nobody needs 3 massive suitcases full of stuff. It is THE biggest pain in the bottom to wrangle your luggage through the airport, onto a bus, into a hotel or B&B, etc. Keep your luggage light. You DON'T need those 12 pairs of shoes (I'm trying to convince myself) or those 15 books. Amazon delivers world-wide. So does zappos. And HELLO! The whole world goes to the UAE to shop! Chances are, you'll find what you need there. In spades.

yes.

vs

no.

Oh. Also start practicing your British English. The ADEC English curriculum is modified from an Australian curriculum, and they're using British, not US, spellings. (I think it's practising. Also theatre and centre and colour and anaemic.) We'll discuss pronunciation later. Or, you know, never.

Half an Update

from September 2010 

Questions...answered. Work dress = floor length skirt (or loose trousers, but I'm going skirt), top w/sleeves past the elbow. Cover the chestal area (no cleavage...that means turtlenecks for me!). They say dress shoes, but I've read sandals. Just not flip flops. Yay.

I started transferring a few pennies into my savings account. That may have been stupid; I may have to take them right back out.

Now I'm getting my background check done. I asked which I should get (Teach Away said state or county was fine) considering I've only lived in my current state for a few months and will be getting my ID here in a few days, then decided on my own to go ahead and get another FBI background check done. It's less than $20 and takes as much time as anything else. It's actually cheaper to have the FBI do my background check than the state of South Carolina. Ridiculous, much?

Reading

While I wait for new communication from Teach Away, I have decided to seek out more blogs. I found a list (so far, primarily new teachers), which I've linked, right, and am working my way through. Amazing to think that if I had been responsible and fearless and turned in my application in June, I might already be Over There, but oh well. This way I can learn from those who have gone before. And later this week I'm going to start gathering again my assorted bits of paperwork for international job placement.

Good times.

Still Waiting

from September 2010

It's been about a week and a half since my phone interview with Teach Away, and I'm still waiting to hear about in-person interviews. Sigh. And I'm REALLY struggling to come up with the potential cash I'll need for my first month or so in AD.
And speaking of cash...I should check into hosteling. Wonder if there are HI Hostels in Abu Dhabi?




UPDATE: I was reading on the Teach Away facebook page, and there are people going over now with mere pennies. I actually expect to have more $$ than some of them. Still not much, but I feel a little more comfortable with my situation now.

First (Phone) Interview

from August 2010

So I had my phone interview this afternoon (actually, I just hung up about 10 minutes ago) with Teach Away. It was a pretty basic interview, and I wasn't taken by surprise by any of the questions:

• What is your teaching experience?
• Why do you want to come to Abu Dhabi?
• How do you deal with a differentiated classroom?
• What are your classroom management policies?
• What has been a challenge you've met while teaching?
• What do you expect from a teaching position here?
• What international experience do you have?
• Why should we hire you?

It was about a 40 minute interview, and my interviewer was really positive. She laughed, used superlatives, and said I'm the kind of teacher they're looking for.

(My sister would say that's because I'm an excellent bs-er - and I am - but I like to think I really AM a good teacher.)

Next up is an in-person interview, in either Atlanta or Chicago. They'll call me with dates, and we'll go from there. Of course, it's ATL or CHI because my family has ongoing drama of the life-or-death sort, and I don't know what state I'll be living in at the time...and they don't have interview dates set in stone yet. So I'm waiting for a call.

I really feel quite positive about all this now. Not just "what if" but "when". And when the interviewer tells you things like "You're going to need to buy a car," it seems kind of set, don't you think?

So. January. Gotta start saving money, I think. For the first month of assorted settling-in details.

Preliminary Paperwork

from August 2010

It's a challenge, sometimes, doing international paperwork without a home office. Printing and scanning mean a trip to Kinko's. I mean FedEx Kinko's. I mean FedEx Office. Kinko's was more fun to say.

Last week I filled out an application for Teach Away online. After they called me they emailed a background check and an Abu Dhabi specific application. The application was pretty basic, just a list of prior teaching and education experience. And only one essay question (my CV for the UK had, I think, three): teaching philosophy/how I'll meet and overcome the resistance to education reform in AD. I only write one draft of essay questions, though, so this one (a mere 250 words) took me about four hours. Healthily interspersed with books and movies and games and IM-ing and the like, of course.
Now that's all taken care of, I suppose it's time to wait. Again. And do some research.

Right now I'm listening to my Arabic I cd. It's a good cd (Your First 100 Words In Arabic - it's a great book, and I recommend it for any beginning language. I have it for Korean, too, as Korea was my initial planned ESL destination) and book.

Next I need to contact my grad school and see about my transcripts. It's a special request, so I think I'll need to call them. I think school's in session. Or at least the offices are open. Or at least the registrar.
Also, I told my mom. Now it's official. Because I needed her permission, obviously.

Teach Away, or: My TEFL Career, Part One

From August 2010

A few months ago I decided to get serious about going back to teaching. A few days ago, I finally did something about it.

On Tuesday, I sent my CV (on which I found a typo today, horrors!) to Teach Away. I'd been dropping in on eslcafe.com from time to time, sussing out potential jobs for next year, then conveniently missed the summer hiring season through procrastination and second-guessing. But while I was visiting ESL Cafe, I was directed bit by bit to going through Teach Away to get hired in UAE.

So, like I said, on Tuesday I finally sent my CV.

Thursday they called and said they'd like to consider me for a position starting in January, email with more forms to follow.

Today (Sunday-almost-Monday, if you're following along) I sat down and wrote my short philosophy of teaching essay and tidied everything up to send back Monday morning after I sign and scan my background check.

They are hiring for hundreds (hundreds!) of positions in Abu Dhabi Emirate (both the city and the surrounding countryside - desert-side - of AD). Starting. In. January.

In the spring of 2008 I decided to move to the UK and teach there. It had been a decade-long goal, and, happily or not, I achieved it. That time I went through Bluewave International, which hires internationally for UK placements. It took about six weeks from original application to interview, and I thought that was pretty darn fast.

So far, Teach Away is moving even faster.

I was eager and hopeful and suspenseful and all the rest while I was waiting for my Bluewave CV to be perused, but I didn't even have a chance to be hopeful with Teach Away. I was, in all honesty, just doing a preliminary, see-what-happens kind of application to Teach Away, knowing as I did that the hiring season was actually over - no place I'd actually want to teach would be hiring in August for a September start. I had already resigned myself to another year in horrible boring Columbia SC.

Anyway, Abu Dhabi!!!

Why are they hiring hundreds of teachers in America, I hear you ask. After all, UK schools were recruiting US teachers because UK teachers knew better than to teach in failing schools. They HAD to get suckers from the US. Turns out nothing like that is the case in AD. The Abu Dhabi Education Council (hereafter, ADEC) has overhauled the education system in order to incorporate English into lessons at every level. They are currently hiring for K-3 to teach English, as well as to give math and science lessons in English. They're also hiring for Year 12 English teachers (I guess to give kids heading to university at least a minimal grounding in English). So it's kind of like getting in on the ground floor.

I don't know what sounds more exciting, teaching little people or 18-year-olds. Either way, it'll be EFL, basic communication stuff. I LOVED doing EFL, both in Thailand and in Texas, because I am so in love with languages.

Right now I feel I have a pretty healthy chance at a job for January. Which still seems quite impossible. So I haven't told work yet. Or my mum, for that matter.

Therefore I'm secretly Quite Excited and look forward to the next step. I'll keep you informed.
Meantime, I think I should go read some linguistic theory or something. Practice my Arabic? I know a few words now...