It's Official: You really can go home again....

Sorry for the delay on this, but I haven't wanted to jinx anything until it was FOR SURE, FOR SURE...

So...You may or may not know that we ended up with a last minute opportunity to travel to Saudi Arabia this holiday season. After many trips to the Saudi consulate in downtown Hong Kong, over $200 HK dollars on photo booth photos of Saskia for her visa (she was screaming in EVERY one, at least her visa picture matched her passport photo), we finally had the go ahead to visit my parents on a visitors visa. When I say last minute, I mean the visas came through on December 24th, we booked our tickets and flew out on the 29th.

What an adventure.

It was incredible to see my family, and return to the home of my youth, a place I thought I would never get to see again. However, the main purpose for our trip was for Erik to interview for a job with Saudi Aramco Schools, argualbly the best gig in international school teaching.

This has been a journey of faith.

Earlier this fall, as we were considering our job opportunities and priorities for our family in the coming years, Erik and I decided we would only leave Hong Kong if we could find jobs somewhere we wanted to settle for a long time, and somewhere that provided financial security. In fact, if it were the right school, my amazing husband even decided that for the sake of his family, he would be willing to teach a subject other than drama to make it happen for us.

Thus the first set of doors opened. We interviewed and sent resumes off to several fantastic schools all over the world. But the biggest door opened, was the beginnings of a conversation with Saudi Aramco Schools, where my parents work (I grew up) and to which I have always wanted to return.

Now when we first started the process, we thought that Erik was being considered for a drama/music/ESL/Language Arts position (which he was, by my Dad), but after the superintendent and some others saw his resume they saw a different possibility for him.

So after months of praying, hours of paperwork, lots and love and support from my parents, and days of interviewing, "Insh'Allah" we will be joining Saudi Aramco Schools next August.

Erik has been offered a job developing their drama and speech program, contingent on his completion of his teaching certification this summer. He will also have the opportunity to teach film and music composition. We got to see his HUGE classroom while we visited, and imagine the media lab they will be installing in the back of his room. The job is in Dhahran the largest of Aramco's four communities (close to 15,000 people, think suburban Arizona). The MS is about 525 students total.

There is not a job for me right now, which is A okay, as Erik will make about double what he and I make here in HK together. I am thrilled to be joining the ranks of my fellow SAHM's out there, and to have the opportunity to take time to focus on the girls, and maybe even more importantly myself. I need to do some major med management that I just can't afford to do while I am working as I get a little crazy (literally), and work on integrating some other healthy anxiety prevention (yoga and regular exercise into my life). The even better news that will make this all possible, is that Lilian has agreed to join us in Saudi, so I will have my very own SAHM, while I am a SAHM. This means I can go to yoga in the mornings without hunting for childcare, and take my girls swimming in the afternoons without having to worry about the laundry piling up. I can substitute on the days I want to for a little extra cash, and I can say no on a day I'd just rather stay in bed and cuddle with the babies. I can contract with the school for occasional groups and parent workshops, but not have the pressure of everyday clients and the problems and the energy that zaps.

I can hardly wait.

typical houses


backyard with GRASS

the beach at Ras Tanura one of the ARAMCO towns about 45 minutes away ( I lived 4 blocks from this beach 6-9th grade)

Sunset on Halfmoon Bay, the ARAMCO beach about 15 minutes from where we will live, and where I did my first night dive as a returning student in 10th grade.

To Stay or Not To Stay

It seems like we JUST moved to Hong Kong, and we are already having to think about whether or not to sign a new contract. Officially we won't be offered a contract for another month or so. But we will have to tell the school by December 15th, whether or not we plan to return.

While we are happy with our current life here in Hong Kong, we really need to keep looking for a school that will pay us really well so that we can get out of our massive amount of school debt, and start saving for retirement, college for the girls, etc. (Of course with the current economic situation my idea of a good savings plan is a shoebox under a bed) So, about four weeks ago I started the brutal, all consuming process, known as the job hunt. I should say we started, since in the international school job scene, Erik and I are seen as a teaching couple. We are a package. However, the reality is because I am so obsessive about this kind of thing, I am the one who ends up doing most of the work, cover letter writting etc.

For us this process involves, submitting our complete life histories along with a $200 check to a placement organization called Search Associates. Then we have access to an AMAZING data base of all the international schools in the world (almost), their current openings, salaries, etc. Currently, there are few openings in our areas, but it is early in the process still. I waste plenty of time everyday fantasizing about living in exotic places like the Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Oman, Malaysia, Indonesia, and Sri Lanka. So our fingers are crossed, our references on standby, and our resumes current. All that being said, despite the religious fanaticism our current school is a pretty great place to work, the kids are amazing as are most of our colleagues. And Hong Kong is pretty exotic in it's own right. So if nothing comes up, I think we can suffer through another year here. (SMILE)

We will keep you posted.