August 2016 – There I was in Dubai, ready to continue my teaching career internationally! My sister lived in the neighbouring emirate (Sharjah), which was the main reason to move out there rather than anywhere else in the world. Have you ever researched into teaching out in the Middle-East? I’d definitely check it out if I were you! It’s almost too good to be true! British teachers are literally spoilt when it comes to teaching in Dubai with a relocation allowance, medical cover, annual flights, accommodation and above all, a tax free salary! I mean you’re laughing really! Apart from this, you also collect gratuity, which is roughly 21 days of your basic salary for each year worked!

I went out on a 2-year contract, only to spend half a decade there! The weather was always glorious, the lifestyle was super relaxed and did I mention the number of public holidays we got there? Teachers are treated very well in the UAE and if I had the chance to go back again, I’d do it in a heartbeat!

I worked for a private, British international school, which had a great reputation! The school was so well resourced and we got so much time out to do work during any specialist subjects! It was a world of a difference from what the UK schools had on offer (not much)! The biggest difference was obviously going from a government school in the UK to a private school abroad.

Mind you, the only real problem I found with teaching in Dubai was the rate of progression! Schools are so massive there in comparison to the UK that it is ten times harder to get recognised and to progress! A lot of places thrive on favourtism and connections. I even found that men progressed at a much greater rate than women. The competition is also generally much greater out there but hey, I wasn’t in Dubai to be at the top! I needed a lifestyle change and did I live my life out there? Absolutely!

I managed to bag myself some extra tutoring jobs too and made a decent amount from it! I used this extra pocket money to travel around the world – I mean why not? Dubai is in such a fantastic location! From the Maldives, to Vietnam, Thailand, Santorini, you name it and I was there!

Dubai was an incredible experience! It wasn’t just about the job here for me, but more so growing as a person, becoming more independent and finding my own feet in an alien world! It was 5 years of real character building and I owe it to this experience for wherever I am today!

You must be wondering, well if she loved it so much there, why did she come back to the UK? That warrants a whole separate post so stay tuned until next time…