The Contract!

Last Monday (the 18th) we got an email with an attached copy of our contract.  The email came while we were driving home from Utah for a long vacation.  SO EXCITING!  The next day FedEx dropped off the official copy.  Also included was A LOT of paperwork.  The packet needed to returned within 7 days so we got to work really quick.  They needed school records, a copy of our marriage license, passport info (we hadn't even started working on those yet.  We got those taken care of and they should arrive at the beginning of next week), background checks, immunization records, and a few other things.  

We have heard that we should probably be contacted by our relocation advisor this week or maybe the beginning of next week.  We are really excited about that!  We also know that we will soon be getting our relocation manual which is actually a very thick book.   So much still seems to be up in the air but at least we are making progress.

 

The picture I took to send to Josh right after the contract was delivered.

                                                    

Looking it over. :)

This was after we had everything filled out.  He was getting it all put together so we could send it back.

Timeline

Our original conversation about moving to Saudi happened in October of 2011.  At that time Josh emailed the company and we were told that they don't normally hire families with more than 2 or 3 kids. We were disappointed but just kind of put it out of our heads.

In the spring of 2012 we found out that Kelly and Geniel (Kelly was Josh's principal/boss for several years) were moving back over to KSA.  In passing Josh told Kelly that we were still interested in going so if he knew of anyway to get us over there with our large family size to let us know.  I still kind of giggle when people think a family with 4 kids is large.  It seems like a small family to me!  We didn't really think a whole lot more about Saudi Arabia until...

October 10, 2012- Out of the blue Josh got an email from Kelly telling us that the superintendent could make exceptions for a family with 4 kids if we were still interested.  We thought about it for about 2 minutes and decided to email Kelly back for more info.  We talked to Kelly several times over the next couple of weeks trying to get all the info we could.  I also spent a lot of time online researching the company and what it was like living there.

November 3- Josh emailed his resume to the superintendent and principal.  We got a quick reply from the superintendent telling us basically to sit tight and we would hear more soon.

November 15- After hearing that the Abqaiq school had a high demand for early childhood teachers we  emailed them and told them I would be willing to get certified.  This was probably what really got them interested in us.  Josh had a great resume and recommendation but they just didn't need a 5th grade teacher as much as they needed preschool teachers.

November 18- We got an email from David (the principal at Abqaiq school) asking us if we were available for a Skype interview in the next week or so.

November 24- First Skype interview.  We were down in Salt Lake for Thanksgiving so we did that at my inlaws house.

December 5- 2nd interview.  This time over the phone.

December 16- David emailed asking Josh some more interview type questions and asked if I would be willing to get a substitute permit and possibly work as a substitute teacher if needed.

January 4, 2013- Josh and I are getting anxious because we haven't heard from anyone for a while.  We emailed David and he told us he wanted to have all the hiring done by then end of January.

January 14- We FINALLY got an email from the superintendent asking us if we could do a Skype interview.

January 15- Skype with Tim the superintendent

January 20- Skype with Chris the business manager.  This was SO FUN! :)

January 23- We wake up to an email from David asking us for times that we could Skype.  Lucky for us we signed onto Skype right then and David popped on and offered us the job.

Now its been two weeks of waiting for the contract to arrive.  The waiting is a KILLER!!!  Maybe today will be the day!