We are back in Cairo after a successful job fair in Bangkok. We traveled safely, Luke was fine here while we were gone, and we're happily reunited in Cairo. Here's sort of a quick run-down on the fair. First of all, I didn't go to the job fair Jason went to to get his job at AIS. I have never been to any sort of job fair, so I didn't really know what to expect. My best analogy is that I think it must be like going through rush in college. I haven't ever done that, either...so I don't know if that's quite right, but Jason seems to think it's a good comparison.
Jason and I arrived in Bangkok one day early and had time to orient ourselves, go out and get lunch, get my haircut, and then come back to the hotel and sleep. The morning of the 6th we got up and went to the registration table for the fair. They gave us a packet of information and showed us where our mailboxes would be. Each candidate had a mail folder for recruiters to leave messages and interview requests in, and the recruiters had folders as well. We could leave resumes and notes for them there.
After registration, we had our buffet breakfast (I ate about 8 pieces of bacon) before getting dressed and having our first interview with a school in Myanmar. We had already had several conversations with the head of school via email and had been in touch with two different teachers there--
one who has a child Luke's age--so we went in with a pretty good understanding of what the school was like. Greg, the head of school, asked us lots of good questions and gave us plenty of opportunities to ask all the questions we wanted. It was a good conversation - we visited for 2 1/2 hours or so - and it ended with us being offered jobs. A high school math job and an elementary art/ESL position. There are lots of things we liked about the school and not much we didn't. It sounded like a tight-knit group of teachers who really love the school and the kids, and Myanmar (surprisingly) sounded like a great place to live. I asked the guy some difficult questions, including, "If you had an adult daughter who was considering moving to Myanmar, what would you want her to know about life there? What would you worry about for her?" He really answered well, and we left assured that we would be well cared for and respected in Myanmar should we decide to go there. He gave us until 6:30 PM the next day to consider the offer.
We had an interview with Korea International School in Seoul, as well. We met with them about an art job and high school math, too. They were really nice people, very well-organized. Pretty school, good facilities, nice location, a Costco (!), good benefits, including after school care for Luke free with other teacher's children. It's in a beautiful location on a hillside with hiking trails behind. Our interview with them on the 6th was an initial screening with a 2nd interview scheduled the next morning.
By the end of the first day, 16 schools had expressed interest in us. We weeded out all the schools in the Middle East (definitely ready for a break from the sand) and a few schools we weren't really interested in. We decided to set up interviews with about ten of the schools that had contacted us the next day.
The 7th began with interview sign-ups. That meant that each school had a table set up in the hotel ballroom, and the candidates were invited to go to the tables they were interested in and/or from whom they had received invitations to interview. We signed up to interview with schools in China, Bangkok, Tunisia, Hong Kong, Korea, Switzerland, and Venezuela.
Our first interview was a separate interview (Jason in one room and me in another) with Zurich. I loved the elementary principal - a German lady who was a good listener and asked good questions. Jason had a good interview with the head of school. There was no time to talk before we went next to our 2nd interview with Korea. In that interview, the guys who interviewed us the day before offered us the jobs (art and math, though not IB math) and we spent the time talking about what life in Korea is like.
Following that, we met with the Venezuelan school, Escuela Campo Alegre (ECA), which has been around forever, has a great reputation, and serves the embassy families in Caracas. We love that we'd have lots of opportunities to learn and speak Spanish, there are (again) young families there, and very little pollution.
Then we met with Dalian (China), which only had a 6th grade math position for Jason. The guy who interviewed us basically said he would not consider me for the art job, which he had already told me he WOULD consider me for... anyway, the interview went really well, we set up a 2nd interview for later the same afternoon. When we had a chance to talk, though, we decided that Dalian might not be the best place for us. We ended up canceling our 2nd interview there. Then we went to our IS Bangkok interviews. At the time, we both thought they went well. We were rejected by them later, though, which was very, very painful - it was probably our top choice. However, we HAD prayed that God would close doors, and this one was firmly shut.
We had a short break before meeting with two guys from the Canadian IS in Hong Kong. We really had a great meeting with them. We think they wanted to hire us BUT they don't have jobs that fit our experience! A case of wrong place, wrong time. We do feel like our contact with them was worthwhile. After that we had an interview with the superintendent of Shanghai American School. Also a dream school. Neither of us feel that the interview went particularly well. It was the end of the day, and you can see that it was a LONG day of interviews. We ended up canceling our interviews after that with Tunisia and Dalian, effectively narrowing down to the two offers we'd been given: Myanmar and Korea, and the three we hoped for call-backs on: Venezuela, Zurich, and Shanghai. We received invitations for call-backs from Venezuela and Zurich that night, and we didn't hear anything from Shanghai. We figured we were backups for Venezuela and Zurich, and we didn't anticipate hearing anything from Shanghai except "Thanks, but no thanks."
At that time, we both felt comfortable with the offers we'd gotten from KIS and Myanmar, and I think of the two we'd have chosen KIS.
That night (yes, even after so many interviews) we attended the candidate/recruiter social and made some good contacts with people currently teaching at KIS. We also visited a little with the ECA (Venezuela) and ZIS (Zurich) recruiters. We fell into bed at 10:30 or so, exhausted and emotionally drained.
On the 8th we went to the ECA presentation at 8:30 AM. It was short and basic, nothing new. We had call back interviews with Zurich at 11:30 and ECA at 12:15. We decided we would choose either of those schools first above Korea. Our Zurich interview was a joint interview this time. It lasted around half an hour, went well, though they didn't really ask anything new or particularly revealing. We left there feeling unsure whether they might offer us jobs or not. We went immediately to the ECA interview, where they were very honest with us right from the start. They told us they liked us, but insist on contacting references during the fair to make sure candidates were a good fit for the school, and they were having trouble reaching ours. Jason found out which ones they particularly wanted to talk to. We left there nervous that we might lose the positions because they couldn't reach our references! Luckily, they were able to talk to Jason's principal, and we were offered jobs at around 2:30 on the 8th.
Honestly, being offered the ECA jobs was both a relief and a worry for me. First of all, the stress involved in interviewing that many times, repeating the same information, beginning to babble... wanting certain schools, not knowing what is right... it just all builds up. I was relieved to say "yes" to ECA. It's a super school with a top-notch reputation, located near the mountains in Caracas. Jason's job will be IB math, and mine will be 5th grade. I really did want art, but the superintendent at ECA assured me that he would consider me for art should a position open after we arrive. Fifth grade is my favorite, anyway, so I will be happy to be back in the fifth grade classroom. I have missed that bond with my own special group of students. At the same time, it will be a much more demanding job than teaching art. I have mixed feelings about that, because I want so badly to be the best mom I can be to Luke. (And as I write that, I've just told him to go read a book and let me write! Hypocrite.)
Anyway, we are excited about ECA and everything involved with it. The best part is that it's about a 5-6 hour flight DIRECT from DFW! The time zone difference will be like an hour and a half. Yes, I said and A HALF. Venezuela has its own time.
We slept so soundly that night - the best we've slept since leaving Texas - and then the next day jet lag truly caught up with us. We were up and out sightseeing by 10 AM that day, and by 2 I was super-exhausted. That night we went out to dinner with the administrators from ECA, another couple who will be teaching with us there next year, and a teacher who is leaving ECA to go to HKIS next year. It was cool to be able to ask questions, learn more about the school, and get to know our new superintendent. There is a chance I will have his daughter in my class next year! We asked about church (yes, there is one, and we will probably go to the same one our supt. goes to), places to ride bikes (Luke can practice at school), sports, music (there's a community choir at school), and lots of other stuff. I can't wait. I think it is going to be a really neat place for us to live.
We left the night of the 10th to come back to Cairo. The planes did not fly fast enough. The seven days we were away from Luke were too long. We arrived home at about 4:45 AM on the 11th, and Luke must have been waiting for us. We did not even get the front door closed before he was padding in from his bedroom in his footed pajamas. Those were the best hugs we've ever gotten! We told him our good news, to which he replied, "South America! That's my old favorite continent!" (FYI his new favorite is Australia.) He was concerned that he doesn't already speak Spanish, but excited that he did already know how to count to 10.
This will be a great new adventure for our family. We are grateful to God for his faithfulness. Our prayers were answered. We were all safe. God showed us the way we should go; He made our path clear for us. Thank you for your prayers and support. We hope we'll have lots of visitors!
(We will be home for the summer as usual, and we move to Venezuela August 4 or 5.)
What other questions do you have? Post them in the comments and I will answer them. I've left out stuff, for sure!
And quickly devolved into this:
There are 4-5 children piled in there, depending on whether you count Jason or not! This went on for about 15 minutes, I'm guessing. I do have to also mention that Meg had an awesome edible craft planned for the kids to do that was really fun. Meg is a SUPERSTAR!!
After storytime, lunch in the food court, and a jet-lagged Luke had some snuggle and song time with his precious Mimi.
Then it was off to the Trains at North Park.
We went to the Christmas Eve service at Mom and Dad's church and then came home for our traditional Christmas Eve brisket dinner. Kari's friend John joined us for our Christmas Eve festivities. Here's the fam in front of the tree Christmas Eve:
(a tent and sleeping bag)
a purple camera (which he asked for), a remote-controlled dump truck, and two new books. He also got lots and lots of other wonderful toys and books from his aunts and uncle, and G-dad and Mimi. Here are a few:
And one last picture from Christmas morning. Find the floating head. It's "smooky", as Luke would say! (Spooky.)
