Top 20 global destination cities ... have visited #1, 2, 3, 10, 14 and 20. Hope to add a lot to this list over the next two years!!! That travel bug you hear about? I've been bit.

Moments

It's 2 p.m. Early release. Just left an end-of-the-year check-out meeting.

Can I comment on how bittersweet that was? Last time for so many things.

After the meeting, our school's speech pathologist cornered me and said, "So, Kaitlin. What are you plans next year? I've heard so many different things."

I told her and after commenting on my adventure, she said, "After the year you've had, I don't blame you. I am always sad to see good teachers leave. And you are one of those. You are in the superior group. I will be so sad to see you leave. I just think the world of you."

And there, in our library, I was handed my summer bonus check.

From there to here

   Although this journey started in earnest in January, it feels like it's been much longer than that. And I say that with love, Footprints. Kinda.
   Fanning through my International Teaching folder in my Gmail account, my earliest e-mails I have are dated Jan. 9, 2013. A return e-mail from the International School of Bangkok and verification of my teacher profile for a website called Teacherhorizons.
   "Welcome to Teacherhorizons.You have taken the first step towards finding your dream job in an international school."
   Indeed.
   Throughout January I sent my name, resume, teaching experience, cover letter after cover letter after personal statement around the world. Trying desperately to hook someone with my passion for kids and motivation to reach them through good teaching. I applied to various cities (rural and urban) in China and S. Korea (so many jobs, so little time) Malaysia and Indonesia (one of my higher-ranked locations initially, but required teaching abroad experience, UK-based curriculum experience), Europe (not many jobs here that I saw on the sites I frequented .. at least in locations I'd like to live in), Africa (Malawi, Egypt), South America (Guatemala), and the Middle East (Oman, Saudi Arabia, Iraq, Syria, UAE). Below is a timeline of how I hopped on the Footprints/UAE train so quickly.
   Jan. 29, 2013: I registered with Footprints Recruiting to apply for a job in Abu Dhabi, UAE. It was one of many application packages I was juggling. I got confirmation from Sean with Footprints the same day that my application and resume had been reviewed that they wanted to start the application process with me for the jobs they had in Abu Dhabi.
   "After your successful completion of the application package, you will work with a Placement Coordinator who will assist you in applying to ADEC. Footprints will provide you with all the information we have about the positions we are offering so you can make the most informed decision about where you want to go and the expectations of the position. Best of luck."
   Jan. 30: "Hi Kaitlin, Thank you for sending through your documentation -- it looks excellent. My name is Alison and I am part of the ADEC placement team at Footprints. I have updated your file and after review, will be moving forward with your application. Please stand by as we will be contacting you for a hone interview in the next two weeks."
   Feb. 6: Skype interview with Sean @ Footprints.
   Feb. 8: I got an e-mail congratulating me on passing my phone/Skype interview!
   Feb. 12: Forms, forms and more forms: medical, application, oh - and a zillion passport photos. And repetitive e-mails from Footprints with no new information :/
  Feb. 26: FINALLY got an e-mail confirming my in-person interview with ADEC (Abu Dhabi Education Council) in Phoenix (a block from my apartment, downtown) on March 18. + a list of more forms, applications, etc. to fill out and bring to the Hilton. Feeling like Footprints is a little unorganized at this point, but just too ecstatic about my in-person confirmation to care!!!
   From this date until March 18, I buried myself under Abu Dhabi/ADEC history, facts, opinions, attractions, education reform, outcomes-based education and ESL teaching techniques. I am a bundle of nerves for this entire three weeks.
   Sleeping. Dreaming. Thinking. Breathing. Abu Dhabi.
   Sample interview questions Alison e-mailed me ("Gulp"):

·         What do you know about ADEC and Abu Dhabi?

·         Why teach for ADEC NOW?

·         Why should you be hired as a foreigner in their country?

·         Explain the theory of second language acquisition.

·         How do you engage second language learners?

·         Please explain how you would teach a set topic using differentiated teaching methods.

·         What would your class look like at the beginning of the school year and then again in six months?

·         If your class was noisy, how would you explain this to an Emirati principal if they came in?

·         What behaviour management strategies do you use? 

·         How do you assess your students (formally and informally)?

·         What does rigour look like?

·         How would you work with a local principal who doesn’t understand your teaching practice?

·         If a parent who is friends with the principal argues over changing the student’s grade, how would you handle that?

·         How would you respond to a parent who interrupts your class to talk to you about their students’ grade?

   LORD. The interview was so nervewracking! It was everything Footprints said it would be -- a group briefing session, followed by individual interviews with ADEC members. I, of course, got stuck with the leader of ADEC, in a small room. Just her and I. And, GOD, I was nervous. My heat-pack was in full "ON and popping" mode. Truthfully, I walked out of that interview thinking I had completely busted my chances. I fumbled in my answers, I hesitated, I'm sure I even stuttered. Ugh. I walked home, feeling dejected and disappointed.
   However, two days later, on March 20, I received this e-mail: "Thank you so much for attending the interview in Phoenix. ADEC briefed me after the interview on all the candidates, and they have recommended you for placement in Abu Dhabi. Congratulations, this is fantastic news. Nonetheless, the official letter of offer will take a couple of weeks to process as they have to go through various departments and get approvals from different people. It’s a large government, and thus there is a fair amount of red tape involved. As I said, it will be a couple weeks before official results will be made, so hang in there."
   I think I was in class when I saw this e-mail and wanted to jump and scream, but couldn't. Oh, I actually think my class was taking state standardized tests on this day. So I actually had to be extra quiet. But, man, did I want to scream. As I scanned the room, I thought about how blessed I was...
   March 25: Email from Footprints. "The letter of offer stipulates pay, but you will not know where you are placed until you arrive in Abu Dhabi (WHAT?!?!). The feedback I got from the interview team suggests you will be in the city. Did they say which year/level they would put you forward for? They loved your enthusiasm, by the way."
   April 15: Received official letter of offer via e-mail!!!
  
   Following that point, I received checklist after checklist to get documents ready for my work visa (holy cow - there is a lot that goes into these things: criminal background check at the national level, two professional letters of reference, a colored copy of the photo page of passport, four clear and colored passport photos (MORE?!) on a white background, and attested highest degree and teaching license). Last Friday, May 24, I scanned the last of these documents in to Footprints. I have heard via a recent e-mail from Footprints, that I will be "arriving in Abu Dhabi in mid-August."

 

Sister city time lapses

Abu Dhabi (2011) http://vimeo.com/22936856

Dubai (2013) http://vimeo.com/65888557#

UAE (2011) http://vimeo.com/32033844

Perhaps I can learn to time lapse and do my own updated version of Abu Dhabi.

Back in time 2012-2013

 

Feeling nostalgic today ... for those visiting and perhaps, for my homesick future self, here is short journey of my third and final year at B-L. It has been a ride.



 Three years passed in a blur.

 My final class 2012-2013

 Best staff a teacher could ask for.

 Felt rewarding to renew my provisional certificate to a standard certificate after three years of hard work.

 Authentication process of degrees for UAE work visa begins at local and state level.

 A female student invited me to her karate graduation in May.

 Rising out of the ashes, baby. Lots of love and respect for Phoenix (the city & bird).

 FBI fingerprint clearance (I think we all breathed a sigh of relief when this one came back ;)) 

 My sweet after school tutoring group.

 Card via mamacita

 This was the day. I got my letter of offer via e-mail. Couldn't believe it.

 Edgemont Ave. My home.

 Phoenix Hilton. Where in-person interviews with ADEC (Abu Dhabi Education Council) were held. March 18, 2013.

 <3 Phoenix

 My young gentlemen. Phoenix Science Museum field trip. Spring 2013.

 Curious @ Phoenix Science Museum field trip

 This is one of my favorite cards I've ever received from a student. I bit my lip when I read it, turned around and saw the author beaming. Gave her a hug. What else can you do?

 My home. Downtown Phoenix.

 I know you're not suppose to have favorites as a teacher. But I do. This little guy is one of them.

 One of the many reasons I fell in love with my city -- random graffiti on buildings all over town. "Find Your Direction."

 Room 111 Field Day 2013

 Hoop Stars Field Day 2013

 My karate megastar at her graduation.

 "Ms. Warriner I hope you had the best earth day because you are my beautiful earth."

Visiting author day, May 2013



Era

As I was speaking with a dear friend today, the topic of me losing a phone number that I have held on to for years came up. "End of an era," he said. Made me curious ... what sort of things & people will I be leaving behind as I depart for this new chapter in my life? Who will make it a point to stay by my side through this journey? Who will fade away? What kind of a woman will I continue to grow into as my journey progresses? And as I step into that airplane in August, who & what will become a part of my new era?

Homage to Elizabeth Gilbert

Something made me revisit this book a few months ago. A nagging feeling inside of me. Nothing has inspired my soon-to-be-adventures more than this book by Elizabeth Gilbert.

For those of you living under a rock, the story goes like this: "At 32 years old, Elizabeth Gilbert was educated, had a home, a husband, and a successful career as a writer. However, she was unhappy in her marriage and often spent the night sleeping on her bathroom floor. After separating from her husband and initiating a divorce, which he contested, she embarked on a rebound relationship which continued for some time but did not work out, leaving her devastated and alone.

Afterwards, while writing an article on yoga vacations in Indonesia, Gilbert met a ninth-generation  medicine man who told her she would one day come back and study with him. After finalizing her difficult divorce, Gilbert spent the next year traveling around the world. The trip was paid for in advance with a book deal from the publisher.

She spent four months in Italy, eating and enjoying life ('Eat'). She spent three months in India, finding her spirituality ('Pray'). She ended the year in Bali, Indonesia, looking for 'balance' of the two and found love ("Love") in the form of a Brazilian businessman."

I hope to find a balance of sorts in my own life through traveling. I aspire to become humbled and aware; stretched and filled with spontaneity; balanced and nourished in every sense. There is a part in the book where Gilbert is in Italy, deep in conversation with friends discussing words that describe where they are from and who they are. London = Stuffy; New York = Ambition; and Rome = Sex. Gilbert chooses "Writer," as her word and is told that is what she does, not who she is. The title of this blog, Attraversiamo, is the Italian word Gilbert finally comes to realize as her personal word in Bali. It means, "Let's cross over."

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ReGeFJXAtbM
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hPqRKfa9_6o

High Dive

From time to time, I have a reoccurring dream where I’m climbing to the top of a perilously high diving board perched on the edge of deep, wide, sparkling, swimming pool void of any other swimmers. With each step that I climb, my heart flutters harder and faster with nervous anticipation, my hands grow shaky and my smile broadens.

When I reach the top and start the long, scratchy walk to the edge of the cerulean board I feel a sense of accomplishment swell inside me. I feel brave as I stride, although my jitters have not left my side. I get to the end of the plank and I feel immensely vulnerable and anxious. I stand there feeling the sun kiss my bare shoulders, squinting up the sky and wondering, pondering, questioning. Finally, after a few moments of self-reassurance and feeling the love and support of my pocket people (those I keep closest to my heart) swirl around me in the form of the morning’s breezes, I take a deeeeeeeeeep breath, bounce and jump.

Traveling the world has been a dream of mine for a long time. A pipe dream. It was something I talked about, but sort of never thought I’d realize. I have had the privilege of traveling as a young child and adult as my father’s job came with that perk. By the time I graduated high school I had been to Hawaii, Florida, California, The Bahamas, New York, Mexico, Aruba, Scotland, Ireland, England, France and Spain. This past summer, I had the great fortune to travel to eastern Europe, visiting the Czech Republic, Austria, Hungary and Germany. I remember saying to my mom and dad that vacationing in these places was nice, but I relished the idea of submersing myself in a culture for longer than a week or two.

This past January, I started climbing that diving board ladder in real life. I began the process of hunting for a teaching job abroad. A New Year’s Resolution to check off my list. I researched and applied to several destinations through a fabulous website www.eslcafe.com and got an e-mail back from Footprints Recruiting for a job in the United Arab Emirates — Abu Dhabi.

My first instinct was to Google world maps and verify that I did, indeed, know where this country was. The Middle East. God. Was I crazy? Did I have a death wish? Was it as terrible there as everyone made it seem?

I am about to find out. Ready or not, I am at the edge of my high dive, about to dive into the biggest adventure of my life: teaching English to Muslim children in capitol city of the UAE, Abu Dhabi. Eyes are closed and I'm jumping :)

Benvenuto

Welcome to my blog my dear friends and family! I am humbled at the opportunity before me, and I hope you all enjoy reading about my adventures teaching and discovering abroad! Stop one: Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates.