The In-Between Times

'Tis the season. The season of not much happening. Paperwork is collected, job is ended, and now I sit. I do things like clean the house, chat online ALL DAY LONG, and watch telly. I do little things, put off doing big things, and wait.

It's boring.

I'm boring.

This existence is boring.

I am so ready to move on. Like, yesterday.

So, during these in-between times, I am answering questions from other and trying to motivate myself to go through the last little bits of my belongings. I'm going to give away most of my clothes, a few more of my books (turns out I only actually have a few left), and some misc.

And I'll need to find a way to convey all my journals to the UAE. I have a lot of them, and I'm not too keen on leaving them all in the US for a few years or so. No doubt if I brought fewer pairs of shoes....but let's not even rest our minds on that possibility for a moment! My shoes are too much fun to leave behind, even if they're not practical.




Why am I blogging tonight, again? Oh. Practical: a look at the infamous Al Gharbia (or, Life in the Actual Desert):

Also, I need to look into some other form of banking. My little teachers credit union in Pasadena TX isn't cutting it anymore. They don't do international transfers? What? So I'm thinking either HSBC (with whom I didn't have the best relationship in the UK) or Barclays (which I believe had the best commercials).

I don't know if I have enough money right now to open a multi-currency account, but I'm going to see what I can do. It seems the best solution, really.

Today's Risk

Today I started working for my sister. And by that I mean I have quit my piddly part-time job at the Evil Corporate Empire and am acting as nanny/housekeeper for my sister until July. All my debts are paid, but I have $0.03 in the bank (more or less). The risk is that my sister will be able to pay me every week. If she can't, I'll be moving to Abu Dhabi on pocket lint and empty hope.

I am actually excited to get to take these 2 months and not have to deal with petty manufactured stress at a bookstore. I look forward to regaining some modicum of control over my life again: I get to cook the meals, clear out the cupboards, generally put this lace in order. AND, we might just put in a lawn before summer's end. (I may not be here for that, but hope springs eternal.)

I might teach my niece some Arabic once school lets out. Maybe we'll both learn something.

And in the meantime, I have narrowed down my belongings (and have a clear start on the last bits...and the journals) and made a gym schedule so I can get back in the pool.

Other than the money worry (which will be there until I get that first pay packet in AD), I think I'll enjoy this in-between time. And I WILL get this house cleaned!

I'll be honest

...the nerves have set in in full force. I am slightly relieved to hear some of what to expect (you, dear imaginary reader, shall hear more after my interview), but have begun to dread that maybe I won't get hired.

Let me be very clear: I don't have a back-up plan! I have been aiming toward this, thinking, planning, hoping toward this for over six months now - quite to the detriment of making any sort of permanent plans in the US.

This is how I feel (sans leg warmers and jazz hands, I mean):

Now, for balance, I must say that I feel great about this job. I have been planning toward it for six months - probably more than most of the applicants. Not just thinking about it, but actively preparing: researching, reading, studying, discussing. One of the girls at work teaches immersion French, so I've asked her questions about how it works, and more important: how to begin. I've been identifying my problem areas (long-term planning, mainly, and perhaps over-flexibility). I've been reviewing and retouching my teaching philosophy (in a nutshell: it's a philosophy of "yes", but I shall wax philosophical later).

In addition to all that, I've worked overseas before, teaching in England and Thailand, and living or working in Ireland and Jamaica. I've taught ESL students in the US. I speak a smattering (a very small smattering - a pattering, maybe, or a sprinkle) of a few languages and have been studying Arabic for a few months to the point that I can begin to read it. I can write in British English at the drop of a hat, so no worries about teaching my students the wrong spellings.

But. There have been a few people who have come back and not been hired. The interviews sound more challenging this year than last. What if I'm too fat? Appearances matter in Abu Dhabi. And while I know for a fact that I'll lose weight once I get there (I always do), what if they take one look at me and say, "No effing way."








Writing this relatively short post has helped me to organise my thoughts and put away my baseless fears for the moment. I'm off to revise a bit more for my interview!

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!

Checklist

from October 2010

The good thing about suddenly having almost a year before taking off for the other side of the world means I have time. Time to ignore rumours and hearsay - or at least take them with a Very Big grain of salt - and seek out actual facts. And I have time to filter through the scads of information...and actually seek out information.

And I have time to get organised.

Ah, organisation. It really is a nice thing. At least when it comes to paperwork. And that's where this list (straight from ADEC via Teach Away) comes in. For those of you who were wondering, this is what you need to bring to your IPI. This year, anyway. Terms and conditions are always subject to change.

1. passport-size photos: 4 physical AND in jpg format.
2. pasport details page: 2 colour copies AND in pdf format.
3. highest certified degree: colour copy AND in pdf format. (Certified is the key word. The one you have hanging on the wall behind your desk is not.)
4. completed security form (which you'll get from Teach Away): original, signed w/passport-size photo attached - don't skip the religion question*. The religion you write in must be a named religion.** And if you're Muslim, indicate sect.
5. current/most recent teaching cert: colour copy AND in pdf format. Make sure it's certified (the one you have framed probably is not.)
6. current CV or résumé: printed copy AND digital (pdf or MS Word). Your CV must detail and be supported by documentation of qualifications, teaching license and years of experience.
7. recent (within the past year) CRC: original. You can get your criminal record check through: state police or FBI. Prices and time it takes vary.
8. 2 letters of reference: originals. Teach Away does not provide an online reference capability or a form. If you don't already have your reference letters in your portfolio, get them.

Notes:

Do not submit originals (unless specified). Make sure hard copies of documents are clearly labelled with your name and recruiting agency (Teach Away in my case). Digital copies must be submitted on a CD or a USB memory stick, and files must be labelled as follows:

All digital documents must be submitted in a single electronic folder named: SURNAME_Firstname (e.g. SMITH_John)

Individual files within the above named electronic folder should follow this naming convention: SURNAME_Firstname_document (e.g. SMITH_John_passport)

*For Jewish applicants...well, you're in a bit of a sticky spot. Make sure you have no Israel stamps in your passport, as Israel is not recognised as a nation by the UAE or most ME nations (this goes for all applicants, regardless of religious affiliation). While my research (minimal, I admit) does not show Jewish people are barred from living and working in the Emirates, this could prove a stumbling block for your future employers.

*part 2: Americans, if you are negligibly or not at all religious, being American pretty much makes you culturally Christian. That's how pollsters come up with those percentages (The US is 84% Christian) every election year.

**A named religion does not include atheist, secular humanist, nihilist, polygamist or any other -ist you can think of (except Buddhist...so almost any other -ist). Keep it simple, friends.

Most of this paperwork is easy to collect and can be done for under $10 at Kinko's. Or at home if you have a scanner and a spare USB drive. Getting certified certificates (highest degree, teaching cert) can take a couple of weeks and may or may not include a fee for the service. Passport photos can be done for under $20 - and really, having a stash of them floating around will probably come in quite handy overseas. Same goes for colour copies of things like your passport page, etc. But I've mentioned this before. Depending on where you have it done, your CRC could take anywhere from a few minutes (some county sheriffs) to a few months (which is the time listed by the FBI, but is about 2 months longer than my CRC took when I got it from them).

My portfolio

Look how professionally it stores all your documents (including a couple of stand-out lesson plans).

Stop.

from October 2010

Today I got an email that put a bit of a damper on things.

Dear Amy,
Thank you for your continued interest in the  public school teaching positions in Abu Dhabi.
As discussed, we are happy to extend an in-person invitation to you based on your pre-screen telephone call, experience, and credentials. We have, however, been updated by the Abu Dhabi Education Council (ADEC) with regards to their current needs for January 2011. This will be a smaller mid-year intake of teachers, which does not include secondary English teachers.
That said, we will be holding our next interview sessions, for a start date of August 2011, early in 2011. These interviews will be for a large intake of approximately 1000 teachers, both primary and secondary, set to begin work in September of 2011. We will be inviting you to those interview sessions once details have been arranged.
Again, thank you for your continued interest in this very exciting educational reform. The success of this reform initiative will rely on the experience, enthusiasm and dedication of teachers like you. With that in mind, tell your friends and colleagues about Teach Away and these exciting and lucrative teaching positions!
We look forward to speaking with you soon.
Sincerely,
L--
Teach Away Inc.

Yeah.




When I think logically (not my strongest suit, it must be said), I have to admit that it'll be far easier to get everything sorted to go over to the UAE next September instead of in January. I'll have almost a year to save up some money, rather than a couple of weeks (and those weeks include Christmas, remember). I'll have more time to collect and numerously certify the vast assortment of paperwork. I'll be able to dip my toe back in the teaching field (through subbing, I hope) for several months before I go.

Maybe I'll even get skinny.

Maybe.

And when I sent in that original application, back in August, I didn't expect anything to happen until next year anyway. I just got caught up in the possibilities when Teach Away contacted me so quickly. So now I can take my life off hold and go about the business of being a responsible adult again. It will be good to make responsible decisions again.

For awhile.

Read This Book

The other day at work, I happened across a book in the most serendipitous of ways. The book, A Diamond in the Desert, is a travel memoir of where else? Abu Dhabi! Normally I prefer my travel memoirs to be of a more humourous bent (Sex Lives of Cannibals, anyone? Round Ireland With a Fridge?), but from time to time, something more compelling creeps in. And I mean, this one said Abu Dhabi right there on the cover!

It was a serendipitous find because if it had gone onto the shelf in the travel section, I would probably never have seen it. Even though I haunt our teeny tiny travel department like the flippin' ghost of Christmas past, it would likely have escaped my attention. But I was working in the children's department (a welcome respite from my not-altogether-sane boss) and was taking a dozen copies of a book back to the overstock shelves in the receiving room. Children's overstock is right behind the travel shelves, and A Diamond in the Desert was right on the top, face up, waiting ever so patiently for me to see it. Had it not been a Saturday, when our receiving manager does not work (as it's a book shop, and we don't get deliveries on weekends), that book would not have been sitting back there waiting for me at one in the afternoon - it'd already have been on a cart or on the shelf in the travel section. But by some delightful combination of events, it was there, I saw it, and hurrah! I started reading.

Surely this is a sign?

Anyway, after reading the blogs (I love you, UAE bloggers! Please Update!) and being 100% up to date on the facebook discussion pages, I was beginning to feel a little bit....uncertain. Especially if I was supposed to be going over there to work with people who clearly did not understand or care to understand how the rest of the world works (I'm not talking about ADEC or Teach Away, but the other teachers). Then I started reading.

I already wanted to get out my highlighters and pens and make notes in the margins...on page two! In the prologue!

Chèrs teachers in Abu Dhabi, I wish you had read or were reading this book. I'm not finished with it, as preparation (like emailing my Teach Away contact with a new round of questions, or going on a quest for a background check, or trying to find a sensible white shirt that doesn't offend my negligible style sensibilities, or collecting yet another piece of paperwork, or, you know, working) tends to get in the way. Plus, I REALLY want to take notes, which means I need to remember to have my journal with me while I read. So I don't know how it turns out. And I get a small feeling that everything is not sunshine and roses (what's the desert equivalent for that phrase, I wonder? Palm trees and oases?) in that book. But it IS giving me even more insight into a culture quite different from any I've yet encountered.

And it makes the case for Abu Dhabi's innate appeal quite clear:

This city demands surrender. You have to fall in with the unpredictable pace of things. Momentarily overwhelmed with terror and exhilaration (the author is in the back of a taxi), I feel an unexpected wave of affection for the place.

I am so ready to surrender to the glamourous tribal sleek chaotic modern traditional sandy marbled broiling frigid  appeal of Abu Dhabi. Now if they would just hire me and transport my eager self to the other side of the world!

Not Really An Update

from September 2010

So I'm on the Teach Away facebook page a lot. (A lot.) Today the 4th group of September start teachers got notice of their departure date. Very exciting for them, and you can bet I'm feeding off their excitement. (For future readers, should there be any, about 900 teachers were hired this summer to start teaching in September. With such a huge number of teachers, as well as August/Sept encompassing Ramadan, and the simple act of multi-national (primarily CAN, US, UAE) planning, organizing was a trifle discombobulated, and teachers were told to be ready to depart 1 August...but the last group will be leaving by 15 Sept.) And I'm reminding myself that my email full of questions is not a top priority for the office when they are arranging flights and hotels and all the rest for 200 teachers this week. The last message I got from Teach Away (and Laura, my recruiter) was positive. Everything will be fine. It'll all work out. This is the direction of my future, and that's all I need worry about right this second.

Anyway, I'm really pleased for those teachers who are now leaving the US, and really eager to join them.
Staying positive...

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.