Back to School.

On Sunday I had my first day at school! Long story short, last week I was offered a new job working in the elementary library at the American School of Dubai (ASD) as a library aid for the rest of the school year. I had interviewed at ASD for a teaching position for the fall as a lower primary classroom teacher, but had not heard back yet. The school is expanding and is adding another class at each grade level so have been looking for new teachers.

Well, out of the blue, I got a call from the elementary librarian asking if I would like to interview for an immediate position since she has someone unexpectedly leaving at the end of April. Well, of course I said yes and went in to interview the following day. At the end of the interview, it seemed like she offered me the job, but not officially, and then the following Sunday I received an email with an official offer. I was ecstatic! After all of my job stress over the last 6+ months I thought that working in a well-established American school would be the best possible job.

And after my first week of work, I think I am going to love this job! I get to work in the elementary library, helping kids pick out books, occasionally teaching classes when they come in, and doing some of the administrative library stuff (checking books in and out, etc.). Not quite as good as being a classroom teacher, but probably the next best thing since I love literature (I was an English major after all, with a focus on American classics) and I've been told the ASD libraries (Elementary and Middle School/High School) are the best in not only the city, but also the region, as there isn't really a 'public library' system here like back home. And since this is an American school, the Elementary library is jam-packed with all the classic American children's literature I grew up reading and loving... Staff get to check out books too and so I've already checked out 3 books (I flew through "Diary of a Wimpy Kid" and have now moved onto "The Boxcar Children" -- one of my absolute favorite books/series as a kid, when I spent one whole summer reading them all).

The other people who work in the library are also so nice. There is a youngish librarian (American) and then two older women who specialize in maintaining the collection and book care (both extremely nice and helpful, one Latvian, the other Indian and are complete experts on the collection, to the point where if a child asks for a book about dragons, either one of them can say, Look in the 345.2's, quite impressive.). The only downside about this job is that the pay isn't great, but I am continuing working for Sylvan and doing some private tutoring for the remainder of the school year. Then we'll see what happens for next year... Kind of crazy that I went from knowing no Americans for my first 6 months here, to now working for two different American companies and basically being surrounded by them all day long at work. I kind of love it. In your face British people. I don't talk like a cowboy. I sound just like everyone else. :)