How It Happened

After an intense weekend interview experience at the Search Associates job fair in Toronto at the end of January, Rose and I have selected the Yanbu International School in Yanbu, Saudi Arabia, as our place of employ for the next two teaching years, beginning mid-August '10. You can see by the map we'll be right on the Red Sea, just north of the Tropic of Cancer.

To give you a sense of scale, Yanbu to Jeddah is about 240km.

It was a very difficult choice between Yanbu and Chengdu in China, but it came down to the fact that in Saudi we'd be teaching straight English. As our interviewer John Chapman put it, "Brad is the high school English Department and Rose is the middle school English department." As I put it, this should make for some interesting department meetings (over breakfast?).

Here's an excerpt taken from a very informative website with information about life in Saudi Arabia in general and Yanbu in particular:

YANBU

This was developed along with Jubail in the Eastern Province as an industrial city. Built on a smaller scale than its eastern cousin Yanbu comprises petrochemical & non hydrocarbon facilities plus a refinery & also the terminal of the East-West pipeline.


The precepts of Islam, together with deep rooted traditions founded on the customs of centuries, give to the Arab a deep respect for social dignity and courtesy. It is therefore important for foreigners to familiarise themselves with local custom. In particular, every personal contact, in all spheres of life begins with some form of courteous greeting and it is always much appreciated if foreigners take the trouble to learn Arabic forms of the greetings and responses which are, for this purpose, fairly standardised. Furthermore, a person visited must always stand up to greet and shake the hand of the visitor of any kind. Omission of this phase of the social or business contact give rise to automatic mild social offense. Arabs are understanding if a foreigner unwittingly commits a social blunder and make considerable allowances for shortcomings. Efforts to follow custom are highly regarded.

It is customary in Saudi Arabia for male relatives and close family friends to greet one another by kissing and for them to hold hands while walking and talking together.

The position of women in Saudi Arabia is far different from that in Western Countries. From an early age they live in extreme privacy and are not normally seen by men other than their husbands and close male relatives. In the houses of rich and poor alike, women have separate quarters into which only intimate members of the family are permitted, Accordingly, mixed social gatherings or parties are rare. The custom of purdah prevails in Saudi Arabia and women appear in public completely veiled from head to foot. It is most impolite to stare at them and on no account should they be photographed. European ladies are not expected to adopt purdah when outside the home but are expected to adopt sober, unrevealing dress, i.e. long sleeves, covered legs and high necklines. Except for taking part in sporting activities, European men are expected to appear in public with only arms and head uncovered.

The Arabs are justifiably famous for their hospitality and, while the standards of hospitality are set by custom, the Arab applies them with a warmth which reflects his enjoyment in entertaining his guest. The most usual gesture for the entertainment of an individual or small group is the serving of Arabic coffee or tea (sweetened and without milk) or soft drinks in offices and shops when the occasion arises. It is impolite to refuse these important tokens of hospitality.



Rose said early on in our search for an alternative teaching experience that she wanted to do something that put her "outside of her comfort zone". Well, I think we've succeeded in this. This should make for an experience both interesting and challenging.