First impressions

So I met all of the other teachers that have arrived so far....we are still expecting three or four more.  Most of them are from Canada (the Americans haven't arrived yet).  There is one teacher who taught in the United Arab Emirates last year, so she knows a bit about the Arab culture.  There are three or four teachers who have recently graduated college and have never taught full-time before.  Everyone seems very friendly and open, willing to help and get to know each other.  The cool thing is we are all in the same building, so we will build great community and see each other almost all the time.
The school is beyond words amazing!  Next time I go, I will try to take pictures.  There are two different campuses.  Currently, one holds pre-K and Kindergarten, while the newer campus holds grades 1 and 2.  The new building is so new it is not even finished yet.  They are still setting up our classrooms, but the walls are all painted.  The floor is a nice rubbery linoleum looking substance that is quiet when you walk on it, and not slippery.  Both campuses have a large "courtyard" which is basically a giant curved room with windows and a tent-like roof.  Students gather here in the mornings for assembly and during the middle of the day for prayers.

The walls of every classroom are tastefully colored, and the classrooms in the new building are at least the size of 3 WCS classrooms (maybe 4).  About the size of 2 Elbridge Gale classrooms.  I am loving the classroom size, color, technology, etc.  In addition, each building has a giant library (they are waiting on about 6,500 books to stock it) and huge storage rooms full of teacher resources: games, manipulatives, puppets, dress-up clothes, bookshelves, craft supplies, educational toys, curriculum, etc.  All of it is brand new, and some things are still in brown boxes waiting to be unloaded.  The new building also has a full-equipped science lab (everything a highschool or college lab would have, but for elementary students), an educational kitchen with at least a dozen stoves (we can take kids in here to learn to cook, and we will also be learning from local Arabs how to cook Middle Eastern food), a "canteen" where students can operate and buy food from an on campus grocery store, an olympic sized swimming pool (and no, I will not be teaching them to swim, there will be a swim instructor), amazing playgrounds and basketball and tennis courts, copy and laminating rooms, teacher lounges, etc.  If there was a place to sleep, I would want to live at the school, it is so nice!  I can't wait to show you pictures, because words can't describe how amazing these school facilities are!
The principal is so kind, too.  She is from Canada and is so welcoming and has much experience in the classroom.  In fact, she loves being in the classroom so much, that she offered to cover for us if we ever wanted to observe another teacher's classroom.  She is going with us tonight to buy our abayas.  I am going to love working with her because she is so friendly, knowledgeable, and excited about education...you can tell she is a teacher at heart by how excited she was to show us the storage room with all of the educational resources!
After today's tour, I'm going to be so spoiled teaching at this school that I will never want to teach anywhere else.  I hope once I meet my students and start teaching that I will still feel this way.  I am anxious to get into my classroom to start arranging it, but we will have to wait at least another week for them to finish the building.
Mr. Ghailan is the project manager and my sponsor.  He basically got the school started and is the one who hired me.  He functions like a headmaster, I suppose.  From anecdotes he told us today, it seems like he stands up for the standards of the school and the teachers, and doesn't take any silly complaints from the parents...that is to say, he listens to them, respectfully explains why the school does things the way they do, and if the parents can't deal with it, he kindly suggests they go somewhere else and even gives them their money back.  He does not seem too concerned with money or enrollment, so he doesn't let the parents run the school with their money.  He and the principal seem like the ideal team to work for/with, and I look forward to it.  I think I will really be able to flourish as a teacher in this environment.
I haven't been able to explore the compound, yet, but it is definitely nothing compared to the extravagance of the school.  They have so much money alloted for books and teacher resources, that they told us to let them know if we need/want anything for our classroom and they will get it for us.  Mr. Ghailan also said they might put in exercise equipment for just the teachers to use at the school...like a private gym on school property!  I'm just astounded at all I have seen today, and can't wait to get in my classroom.  Oh, and I also found out that 1st and 2nd grade students are segregated by class, but are still on the same floor, in the same building.  So, I may have all boys or all girls...they haven't told us yet.  I guess their idea of "segregated" is having the girls in a separate building or separate hallway once they reach 4th grade.  So, for pre-K and Kindergarten boys and girls are in the same classroom.  For 1st-3rd, boys and girls are in different classrooms but still taught by female teachers in the same hallway.  For 4th grade and up they will be in separate buildings.  There are even plans to build a teacher's college on the same campus as the school.  All I can say is "Wow! Just, wow!"
Ask that I will trust in my Father, even amidst all of this richness and provision.  Thank Him for His provision and timing and blessing after last year's struggle.  Ask for wisdom once I meet my students...how to interact and teach effectively.  Ask Him to work in the hearts of the Arabic teachers, and other teachers, since we will be interacting with them daily.  My two believing friends have not arrived yet, so ask for His provision of other believing friends in this teaching community.  Ask my Father that He would provide needed rest and rejuvenation for all of us teachers, and that we would all stay healthy (there is a possibility that the school start date of October third might be moved til late that month or even November, due to a possible outbreak of the swine flu...Jeddah sees a little of foreigners passing in and out for Hajj, so sicknesses like the swine flu are more common here than in other Saudi cities).