Yes we are moving to Saudi Arabia! I’ll let that hit you like a ton of bricks for a second …
Meanwhile enjoy this desert scene! It has camels!
Done?
As we explained in our last post, we are facing a choice of having a second child. Based on our current financial situation, we would struggle to have two children in daycare and still live day-to-day and save for retirement.
There are also other reasons besides financial for our move. We want Simon (and potential siblings) to grow up experiencing many different cultures. On a slightly more ominous note, since November, we are a bit skeptical of the direction that the US has taken.
But Saudi Arabia??
Yeah that does seem a bit drastic. We know that not many people will understand, we expect this. We also know that Saudi Arabia is not the first choice in dream destinations. To be honest, it wasn’t ours either. We didn’t take this decision lightly, and as we weighed up the pros and cons, this opportunity started ticking more and more boxes.
How did we get to this decision?
Originally, our intention was to move abroad for the 2018/19 school year. That seemed like the perfect time: Simon would be 3 (the age that many international schools start); I would have 2 years experience as an IB Coordinator; and Lindsey would have 2 years of IB teaching under her belt.
With that in mind we decided to sign up for an international teachers recruiting company, Search Associates. With this membership, we got access to their database and job vacancy site. We also got a free invitation to a job fair. Our idea was that we would apply to a few jobs that took our interest this year and then make a more concerted effort next year by attending a job fair.
We actually had Skype interviews at 5 schools overall before deciding on Saudi Arabia. We talked to schools in Moscow, Ghana, and two in China as well.
By the way, if you are interested in working abroad here is a good starter book that I can recommend (click on the picture for more info):
I will write a more detailed post on how to start teaching overseas in a later post
Still. Saudi Arabia?? Really?
Yes, really!
Well let me tell you a little bit about where we are going. We are working for the International Schools Group. They have seven different schools around Saudi Arabia. The particular campus that we are working at is ISG – Jubail. Check out their website here.
The best part is that it is a truly international school with over 40 nationalities – including 20% American students. This aspect was important to us because, having taught in an ‘international’ school with mostly the same nationality, I know hard that situation might be for expat students.
Having talked with a half dozen administrators and teachers there (strangely many of them seem to be from Wisconsin) , we really got a strong sense of community – something that we are searching for.
You’re joking Right?
Nope not joking!
Obviously, the biggest plus is the salary. We will be on a tax-free salary more than our current gross salary!
Another big plus is that we will be getting free fully furnished housing in a secured expat compound.
This is not what our housing is going to look like!
We do not get to choose what compound we are in, but two of the three choices can be found here and here.
So why else are you moving there??
Well the easiest reason is the package.
Here is an example of the highlights (all info can be found on their public website):
| Free Round trip every year for employees and dependents |
| $5000 signing bonus for each employee |
| Around $3800 in moving expenses |
| 10 weeks maternity leave on 50% salary |
| 1/2 month salary for each year of service at end of contract |
| interest-free car loan (up to $20k) |
| Free housing |
| Free utilities |
| Free Worldwide healthcare |
| And the big one ... Free on-site day care and tuition |
Sounds Great! What is the downside?
Well the biggest one for us is being away from family. To counteract this, we are selling our place in Florida and buying a small condo in Michigan (more about this later!). Since we will get round-trip flights home every summer, we will have about two and a half months with family. We also intend to fly home most Christmases.
The second biggest drawback is pension (or lack thereof). We will have to provide our own. Luckily we will the disposable income to do this!
Well, at the very least, this blog got a bit more interesting!
