You can name schools in this forum. You just can't put review-type information in this non-members area. I think stating that the school is in a suburban or country setting is not even close to a review. Just a bit of objective information.

I had a friend who was in just this position. He went ahead to the fair and said he had so much fun- the opposite of all my fair experiences. He was relaxed because he had already signed with his first choice school, but he was able to meet some of the people he would be working with, catch up with old friends, and do some networking. He also hung out in the bar and talked down some people who were very stressed out. I think there was probably also an element of amusement in it just observing some of the nerves and the recruiters' hard sells.

Good luck, everybody. Just heard from a former colleague who accepted a job at the fair already.

Oman would fit the bill. Rated as one of the safest places on the planet in terms of terrorism threats and natural disasters. Money is decent. Imported foods can be expensive, but even with these you can save a lot. Very multicultural, friendly locals, and beautiful, diverse landscape from deserts to mountains to beaches.

I didn't usually do this, but I did last year and it worked out well. My wife and I were signed up for a Search fair but had had several Skype interviews and a few offers on the table that weren't quite right for us. I contacted a school we were very interested in and asked if they would like to meet us at the fair because, if not, we were probably weren't going to go. They responded asking for Skype interviews instead. After a few rounds of those, we wound up with offers. I still wonder if they would have contacted us (even though they had our CVs for several weeks) without that little push. Oh well- all's well that ends well.

I haven't worked in Kuwait, but I have worked in Egypt, Dubai, and Oman- all wonderful in their own ways. At my current school, we have a lot of teachers who recently worked in Kuwait. A couple got positions several years ago in our international school and have been slowly adding their friends and former colleagues to our staff. All of these former employees of probably the best international school in Kuwait were close to their colleagues and loved the comaraderie but without exception they all have bad things to say about Kuwait and the Kuwaitis. They seem to agree with the former poster, Kuwait is tolerable but not likable in almost any way.

If you want to come to the ME, I recommend it, but I would avoid Kuwait.

I haven't worked in Kuwait, but I have worked in Egypt, Dubai, and Oman- all wonderful in their own ways. At my current school, we have a lot of teachers who recently worked in Kuwait. A couple got positions several years ago in our international school and have been slowly adding their friends and former colleagues to our staff. All of these former employees of probably the best international school in Kuwait were close to their colleagues and loved the comaraderie but without exception they all have bad things to say about Kuwait and the Kuwaitis. They seem to agree with the former poster, Kuwait is tolerable but not likable in almost any way.

If you want to come to the ME, I recommend it, but I would avoid Kuwait.

Sounds like a decent package and about the going rate for your years of experience. A few things to consider:

1. Housing prices are very high right now in Dubai. You might want to inquire what standard of housing you can expect.

2. Tuition is covered for your son, but maybe see if there are any other fees you would be responsible for.

3. Construction, congestion, traffic etc. has gotten pretty bad in Dubai and will only get worse, in my opinion, between now and the 2020 Expo. It's still a pretty nice place to live though.

Dragon Guy, I think both of those schools (Graded and EAB) hire mostly local teachers for their PE and coaching needs. They may each have one or two foreign hires on staff though. I wish I could PM you and tell you about a personal experience but suffice it to say, I think they might like to have foreign hires in PE but budget and expectations limit that option. If you are really interested, post your email and I can give you more particulars.

I can tell you that Graded and ASB in Brazil rarely hire overseas teachers for PE.

Heyteach,

Were you working at ABA in Muscat? I heard that was a good option too. More or less on par with TAISM. Not sure about the running of the school, but my friend told me students who don't cut it at ABA often wind up at TAISM.

I have a friend there. He says mostly good things about the school and country. He raves about the students (well, not their skills, but their attitudes and conduct) but doesn't love the head. Pretty good package, nice place to live. I would go for it.

@PsychGuy- I agree with you about homicidal clowns- hate those guys. I know that the activities I mentioned can be done just about anywhere but I was addressing your contention that the only thing to do in Dubai is shop. There are lots of other things to do. That was my point. You might be able to do those in a nice place like Italy, but I don't think you can save 50K U.S. dollars a year there like we did in Dubai (teaching couple). In fact, a friend who just left Dubai for Rome this year is loving the lifestyle but just barely scraping by. Luckily, she has a U.S. pension and no kids. People have to find the right fit for them.

We like the ME. Heading back next year for our third ME country/school. The lifestyle and location works for us.

I worked for GEMS and agree that it can be very corporate. For the most part, though, that doesn't interfere with your day to day teaching. The schools are generally well run with most decisions being made in terms of education- not profit. However, a certain "look" is expected to be projected and sometimes decisions come down from corporate that no one likes but that admin has to implement.

I do take issue with the nothing to do in Dubai but shop comment though. We are pretty much homebodies, but here are some things that even we did in our 3 years in Dubai: desert camping, beach and pool lounging, sky diving, indoor skiing, sailing trips, concerts (some good A list artists too), brunches, cinema, road trips to other Emirates, fishing, football games, volleyball leagues, drumming classes under the stars, painting and jewelry making classes, the circus, theatre shows, etc.

There is a lot to do in Dubai although, of course, it doesn't have a long history with ancient buildings and great
museums, but we traveled for that when we needed to. Dubai is also a great place to travel from. Pretty centrally located with a clean, very efficiently run airport.

Hope that give you a more balanced view.

Fun post, ffmary. Did you get a job?