Hello world...
Maasalema Saudi Arabia
Nín hǎo China
(Goodbye Saudi Arabia, Hello China)
We wanted to let all friends and family know that we have decided to leave Saudi Arabia at the end of the school year. We have gained valuable teaching experience and have been able to experience a variety of different roles in Jubail. But overall, we want to move on, and live in a less restrictive society before we start a family.
Since September, we have been doing everything we can to secure positions outside of Saudi Arabia for next school year. Usually in international schools you resign with your current employer (effective at the end of June) in November or December and go to a recruitment conference in January/February. This is the ultimate "leap of faith" as there is no telling where you may land. For the past few weeks we did not know if/where we would have a job for the next school year. Every moment we were not working, we were contacting schools online and hoping for Skype interviews throughout the fall, our plan B was to attend a Recruitment Conference January 8-11 in Thailand.
Our interview with Shanghai was better than we could have imagined. We were interested in the school and the region, but after 'meeting' our potential future colleagues, we were hooked. We felt a really great connection to the team and really saw ourselves there in the future. Then, we had to wait...we were relieved to hear that they contacted our references. Then we had to wait....we were excited to hear that they wanted a second interview. Then we had to wait...we were optimistic to hear that they wanted to 'talk soon'. Then we had to wait...
Yesterday, our patience and persistence paid off as we accepted job offers to work at Shanghai American School, in our dream positions. Brittney will be a transitional Middle School Counselor and Phillip with be Middle School PE and Athletic Director for the local Middle School athletics league. We are looking forward to living in the Far East. And may have to say Aloha to Hawaii more often on our trips across the Pacific during our summer vacations.
We are off to Shanghai in July!
We hope everyone has a safe and enjoyable Holiday season. We received an amazing early Christmas present and hope everyone enjoys their time with friends and family celebrating your big and small gifts as well!
Until next time
-B and P
