Some of you have probably been expecting an update on my teaching adventure in Kuwait, rooftop views of the cityscape, a picture of my new classroom, descriptions of authentic Middle-Eastern dishes I’ve tried. Don’t worry, those pictures will come, and I still plan to write about my experience teaching overseas, I’m just a few weeks behind. Though I was scheduled to start my new job a few weeks ago, I’ve been stuck in the States waiting on my VISA. (If you didn’t realize I’m teaching in Kuwait and want to know why, read my initial post on this decision here.) A Kuwait VISA requires an FBI background check, several medical tests, a letter from a doctor, authentication of your degree(s) and background check from the Secretary of State in your home state, authentication of documents through the US Department of State, final authentication from Kuwait’s embassy, and, in my case, basically becoming the customer-of-the-month at the local Fed-Ex. Although I began the VISA process in early June, something went gone wrong almost every step of the way. Now that I’ve gone through the entire process, I understand better how to navigate the red tape and I feel like I could accomplish this task in a much shorter amount of time, but I made many mistakes along the way in order to get to that place, like sending my fingerprints to the state federal bureau of investigation instead of the “real deal” FBI, or looking over the fact that even though my degree was notarized, it also needed an apostille from the Secretary of State in NC before the US State Department would authenticate it, or even things that were out of my control, like my medical forms “not looking official enough.” In the end, I learned that one can pay a private organization ten times the money to accomplish in two weeks what the government will do in three months. It’s been tough missing orientation and the beginning of the year, and I know it will be a challenge to jump in and start teaching students who have had a sub for two weeks, but I’m ready to get over there and dig in. As of this morning, I have all the necessary paperwork to get over there and will fly out tomorrow! Wish me luck. Summer Highlights:
1 Comment
3/24/2020 10:44:24 am
Before making some key decisions or partnerships, it is important that you are equipped with as much information as possible.
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