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Living in and Loving Kuwait
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We talked of teaching overseas before the cat
died, but couldn't bring
ourselves to leave the cat with others or get rid of it. Then, in the dark early hour of the morning we heard a scream! It sounded like "help" "help". We
leaped out of bed and ran to the living room only
to find that the cat had had a heart attack! Despite attempted
mouth to cat resuscitation, it was too late. Yorker was gone! That
was when we too, decided to be gone (not like the cat), but to reach
for that dream, to travel and teach in an exotic overseas place,
in just the right kind of school. That is how we ended up in Kuwait. Well,
not exactly that simple, there was the fact we had to find that
just right school first.
With no experience at overseas job hunting, we took to the internet
and discovered a whole new world out there. There were job
fairs and placement agencies and all sorts of sites on overseas
jobs. After finding an extensive list of overseas schools and
email addresses, we started to spam the sources to see if anyone
was interested in hiring an energetic, dynamic, teaching team!
After sending inquiry letters to schools from Abu Dhabi to Shanghai
we sat back to wait. (Well not exactly did we idly wait---
we did register with a placement service and sign up for a job fair.)
We sent inquiries to dozens of schools. We were selective, however.
We wanted warm, we wanted creature comforts (no backwoods village without
running water) and we wanted safe. Out of the dozens of emails we sent,
we did get back a job offer from Yap island in the Pacific. It was
warm, it was safe (we think) but it did seem a little off the beaten track.
Then, when we had about given up, we received an email from Kuwait!
It seemed that a small private school, called Fawzia Sultan International
School was going to expand and add a High School component to the school.
Our reaction was " Oh **** they want us in Kuwait!" Well,
it was warm! (120 degrees Fahrenheit in the summer), it is modern, however
on the "safe" part we wondered about Saddam next door!
We traveled to Philadelphia to
interview, and be interviewed by the Director of the school. After
a long conversation, and his assurances that the Gulf States are safer
than Philadelphia (after looking at some of the areas there we did concur)
we decided to sign on the dotted line and enter the world of overseas teaching!
We did have some other prospects at the job fair in Philadelphia, but
decided that we could use the excitement and an exotic opportunity in a
place that presented a great opportunity to explore parts of the world we
had never considered before. At least for a year!
We stayed for four years. Our school, Fawzia Sultan International School, was for smart kids with learning difficulties. We started with a class of freshmen and after working with them until they graduated and were off to college, we too decided to "Graduate"! We retired to our home in Spokane, Washington to enjoy the fruits of our labor. Our web site shares some of our travels with those of you who are interested.
Links to Life in Kuwait
Our surroundings
Strolling on the Gulf
Eating out in Kuwait
Shopping
Camel Races
Houses
Desert Camping
Arab Architecture 
A Visit to Egypt
A Visit to Australia 
A Visit to Singapore
A Visit to Mykonos 
