Success!

I have a job in Abu Dhabi!! With a private school. And everything seems to be happening all at once. We need to be packed up and ready for the move by the end of August. It doesn't seem like there's a lot of time between now and then, especially since I have to go back to work after the half term holiday. So much to do and so very little time. It's exciting though! 

I've started looking at properties to rent, shipping companies to transport our things and make sure all my paperwork is in order. For a while I was really beginning to lose hope that anything would happen this year and really thought I would have to try again next year. I had started looking at jobs in November and things only really took off this last month. The benefits I have been offered are really good: shipping expenses, flights out to AD and annual flights home for the entire family, education for my children, an accommodation allowance, furniture allowance, sponsorship and medical insurance for the family. Everything seems to be falling into place. 

It's still a little hard to believe it really is happening...

Interviews and short breaks

Well, I went for that second interview for ADEC which was held in a hotel along the South Bank. There were about 20 other people who were there for it too - mainly, from what I gathered, secondary school teachers. They seemed to like me because they say I have been accepted and now just have to wait for all the paperwork detailing my contract etc.

The interview was on Sunday morning at 8am where they did a little briefing on what to expect from them beforehand. Some people came from Dubai, Austria, Glasgow and Folkestone for it! that is called dedication. And here I was grumbling at having to get up at the crack of dawn to get ready for an interview.

The following Monday, we all packed ourselves into two cars and headed off to Centre Parcs for a short break. Apart from a handful of places, I have not really been anywhere outside of London. I wanted to have a little break before I head back to work on 3rd June. I've been put off by prices at Centre Parcs, especially during half term breaks so we almost didn't go. I'm glad we did though. It was lovely.

Their website isn't the best for finding information - try finding prices for the activities you can book online. Unless you make a booking for a lodge (or google prices for the activities) it is near impossible to find a link for prices. I also somehow missed the link the first time visitors which tells you that you can drive your car to your lodge to unload your luggage and then drive it back to main car park. So yes, we lugged all our stuff from the car park to the lodge with a moany 4 year old in tow.

You also need a either take your own cycles or hire theirs to get around. You could walk but again with little kids, not always the best idea. And if the website says all the cycles are sold out, go to the Cycle Centre to find out if they have any. I did this the day after checking the website and so missed out on a days worth of cycling around thinking they had no cycles left. Oh, and they have trikes for grown-ups! My mum doesn't know how to ride a bike - bless her - and was like a little kid when she found out they had trikes for hire and took hers out for a spin.

We took enough food to last us a month so we didn't spend on any except for some milk when we ran out. The activities weren't too badly priced either. My little man got to do Little Outlaws archery on Tuesday, football training on Wednesday and balance bike training on Thursday. We also played ten pin bowling, hired a pedalo and tried not to crash onto the lake shore and just generally chilled out and enjoyed ourselves.

It was bliss having en-suite bathrooms in every bedroom and I'm kicking myself for not trying the sauna or the hydrobath in our lodge. Ducks would waddle up to the patio door in the morning and tap their beaks on the glass asking for food and the odd deer would make an appearance too. It was an all in all wonderful break away and my little guy declared he didn't want to go home. If you knew my little man you'd know that is a big compliment coming from him because he's such a home boy.

On second thought...

I have been thinking long and hard about going down the ADEC route to teaching in Abu Dhabi and have decided to go on with my application. I have an interview booked on Wednesday with someone in Canada, I think. I'm really hoping I'm successful. My son won't much like the change. He didn't like it when we changed the gate (he demanded we put the old one back) but I'm hoping this isn't just a good change for me but for my entire family.

Let's see what happens on Wednesday...

Lots to think about

As I've mentioned before, I've been looking for a job abroad - mainly in the UAE and in Qatar. That job search has now been focussed on the UAE as there is a big drive by the Abu Dhabi Education Council to recruit teachers into state schools there. Aside from the very generous benefits package, it does come with a few things to think about. First off, it doesn't tell you what school and in what area you'll end up in if you are successful - not until you get there. With a young family like my own, that can be a bit daunting especially when they tell you life in the Abu Dhabi outback can be hard. They also don't give a school allowance for your children and international schools there aren't cheap. It seems though, that I'd be able to sponsor my family which is a big plus. I am so ready for a change but this all bears so much thinking. I have no idea what to do....

Wheels in motion

Two weeks after having my baby, I began to apply for teaching jobs in Abu Dhabi, Dubai and Doha. I must have applied to about ten with no success. That was until about last week when I finally head back from a school in Doha. I was over the moon - and terrified. I had an interview and I had only ever had experience of one interview in the last six years. Luckily, I was given a time frame in which to choose the day of my interview. That gave me time to do all the research I needed to do on the types of interview questions I might be asked as well as doing some background work on the school and living in Qatar.

The interview went really well, only there is a slight problem. Were I to be given the job, I would not be able to sponsor my husband. Imagine my frustration at that piece of information. I finally had an interview, it went really well and then unless my husband found a job there himself and sponsored me, I would not be able to sponsor him. The interviewers were really good though. They told me to send my hubby's CV and they would see if they could offer him non-teaching job. So lets see what happens. I really hope it works out because I so need the change.