No word yet from Qatar Foundations or AUS (Kuwait) but I am 25% through my TEFL course with the University of Toronto.
I have been reading this blog http://www.abudhabiyew.wordpress.com. The author is currently teaching in Al Ain and is from the UK. Her blog is very informative as it begins when she first applied as does mine. Like me, she didn’t put it out there until after she was offered a position.
I am noticing from reading other blogs that teachers don’t really talk much about what it’s like to teach over there. I wonder why… I will have to look for more blogs and stories online about this. I will be sure to discuss this if/once I am over there blogging.
I spoke to another teacher who taught in Abu Dhabi a few years ago. She and I became Facebook friends when I applied the first time. She got the job, I did not. She taught over there for a year and then came home because her mother was ill. Her two young sons accompanied her. I asked her for the true pros and cons. This is what she said: Pros- The money is great and you get to travel. Cons- You don’t know what you are going to get until you get there. She said make sure I ask for Kindergarten. (I did) She also recommended I not take me boys. (What?) She said, girls adjust better than boys. Another teacher took her sons and they did not do well at all, she said. I would prefer not to leave my boys behind because part of the reason I am doing this is so that my boys can experience life somewhere else. If I had to choose going over there with or without my boys I don’t know what I would do.
The decision is getting more difficult as I have given my oldest son the choice to go or not since he only has two years left at his high school and it is a great school. I prefer my boys be with. I don’t know if I could go without them. I can’t see myself not raising my own kids.
Teaching Abroad- American Teacher Overseas 