How we got to this point ...

Greetings all!

As we have traveled to see friends and family over the last three weeks, it has become clear to us that a bit of information about how we got here and where we are headed might be helpful.

Since we met, David and I have thought about teaching overseas. Never before has the timing seemed right. Either one of us was working in a job we were not ready to leave or we had a baby or young child which prevented us from feeling that we could both work full-time. Last fall, we completed applications for International Schools Services (ISS) and in February we headed to San Francisco to enjoy one of our favorite cities and to attend an ISS teacher recruitment conference. We had agreed that we would look at schools in Asia, Central or South America, or Europe, but we did not find schools that had jobs available for each of us. Many jobs we had seen online had been filled already or were no longer available because some teachers had decided not to return to an uncertain job future in the United States. We were sought out by the representatives from KAUST (King Abdullah University for Science and Technology) because we are a couple and we love to teach middle school. After several hours of questions and answers with the school representatives, we left S.F. with an offer and several days to make a decision. We decided it would be exciting to be in the Middle East, to learn about a part of the world that many of us have preconceived ideas about, and to be part of a start up K-12 school on the campus of the first graduate-level university for science and technology in Saudi Arabia. Ultimately, we feel it will be an adventure for our children and for us to attend school and work in a new country. We have committed to two years.

In the meantime, we have rented our house, sold our car, packed up air freight and sea freight shipments, visited our parents and siblings and their families, reconnected with many friends, taken loads of clothes and books and whatever else a household accumulates to Goodwill, and tried to prepare ourselves for this next chapter. Please share our blog with friends who might be interested. Comment if you like. We look forward to hearing from you.

We leave for Paris from Seattle on July 24. We will arrive in Paris on July 25 and will, incredibly, be able to be in Paris for the final day of the Tour de France! We fly to Jeddah on July 28 and understand that we will be in a hotel in Jeddah with the other faculty members and their families until August 13 when our houses and offices will be ready. Our house there will be furnished and supplied with kitchen needs and linens, so we are taking our clothing, books, bikes and scooters, rollerblades and roller skis, football, soccer ball, baseball and mitt, skateboard, winter ski clothing (in case we get to get away to some cooler place for some winter skiing), photos, our computer and some DVDs. Somehow I suspect we will return from the Kingdom and wonder why we felt we needed to store all those boxes in the attic!

Jennifer Evans