ITP - 123: 3 Kids, 1 Job Fair, and a Leap to Saudi Arabia

Greg:
Welcome to the show. This is Greg coming at you again for an episode of the International Teacher Podcast. With me, coming in from his daughter's closet, is Darien Batten.

Greg:
How you doing, Darien?

Darien:
I can’t complain. It’s always good to be here. No matter where you are—closet or mansion—it’s always good to be here.

Greg:
All right, don’t play with all the dolls in there. Focus on the show.

Darien:
I’m trying.

Greg:
And Kent, Cat Guy, you’re here with us too. You’re not in your closet—you’re in the other room, right?

Kent:
Good to be here. Thanks for having me.

Greg:
All right, I’m in my living room, and that takes care of the three of us. But our guests—this is going to be my favorite show already, and we haven’t even started. Monique and Jimmy are coming to us from outside with birds because their kids are indoors somewhere. They’re out in this beautiful weather.

Greg:
Welcome to the show, Monique and Jimmy.

Monique:
Thank you guys.

Jimmy:
Yeah, thanks so much.

Monique:
We’ve been listening to this podcast for a long time, so we’re very happy to be here. I was so anxious waking up this morning. I was like, oh my gosh, this is big time.

Greg:
Well, that makes one or two people that listen to the show.

Greg:
How long have you guys been listening?

Monique:
A few years. I actually emailed a few years ago—three or four years ago.

Greg:
And now you’re here. The dream is alive.

Greg:
Where are you coming from?

Jimmy:
We’re in Phoenix, Arizona, trying to enjoy the weather before we’re locked indoors for the summer.

Monique:
One sandbox to another.

Greg:
So tell the ITP crowd—where are you going?

Jimmy:
We are going to Saudi Arabia, and we’re anticipating an August 1st start.

Greg:
I love the reactions you guys must be getting.

Monique:
You should see our family and friends.

Greg:
So tell us how you got to this point. You’re both teachers—tell us a little bit about your backgrounds.

Jimmy:
Yeah, so we’ve had a different kind of journey. Around eight years ago, I’m a middle school math and social studies teacher, and my wife is a school psychologist. We were living back east and started exploring international teaching.

Jimmy:
My wife was pregnant with our second at the time, and we just got cold feet. I didn’t think you could have babies in other countries. I laugh about it now, but I was like, we can’t do that.

Greg:
They don’t have babies anywhere else?

Jimmy:
Exactly.

Monique:
So instead we moved to Phoenix as a new chapter. Then COVID hit, and over the last year the idea came back up. We now have three kids—nine, seven, and five—and we felt like if there was ever a time, now was it.

Jimmy:
We signed up with Search Associates pretty late, around mid-January. Being a teaching couple with three kids and a school psych position, it’s a tricky puzzle.

Monique:
We went to the Boston job fair and had such a blast. I tell everyone to go to a job fair.

Jimmy:
We got approved just a few days before the fair and had to scramble for childcare. There was no way we were bringing all three kids.

Monique:
We’re lucky to have a great village. Friends stepped up to help with the kids.

Monique:
At the fair, I had a counselor and admin preview session before the main hiring opened, which helped me understand the process. Honestly, we got laughed at a bit. People loved us until they heard we had three kids.

Jimmy:
Yeah, it would go great until that moment.

Monique:
They’d invite us to the next step, then say, sorry, second grade is full. One class being full would block everything.

Jimmy:
But every offer we got felt very serendipitous.

Monique:
Jimmy literally ran into a head of school on the escalator. They were both looking the wrong way and bumped into each other.

Jimmy:
That turned into a great conversation and interview. We didn’t take that job, but it was an amazing experience.

Monique:
It was in Mexico. We live in Phoenix, and it felt like not enough of a change. We wanted something more different.

Monique:
Then another moment—we kept seeing two recruiters working on a puzzle in the hotel lobby. We made small talk with them over a few days.

Jimmy:
We joked about being the missing puzzle piece.

Monique:
They had already filled their position, but on the last day, they asked what we were looking for. We told them our story.

Monique:
She said she knew someone in Saudi Arabia and told us to meet back later that day.

Jimmy:
We had about a two-hour conversation with them. Saudi Arabia wasn’t off the table, but it was near the edge of the table for us.

Monique:
But it was the last day, so we went for it.

Jimmy:
We met with KAUST—an hour outside of Jeddah on the Red Sea.

Monique:
We had almost a three-hour conversation. It was very much a two-way interview. We were asking a lot of questions too.

Jimmy:
When we left, we took two steps outside and both looked at each other and said, that’s the one.

Greg:
That moment where everything aligns—that’s the magic of job fairs.

Monique:
It was a roller coaster—highs and lows, but amazing.

Jimmy:
We knew we had to put all our eggs in that basket and see what happened.

Greg:
And you’ve got three eggs already with your kids.

Greg:
Darien is already in Saudi. Why don’t you give them a quick snapshot of what it’s like for families?

Darien:
Well, it’s really neat because our kids are around the same ages. You said nine, seven, and five, and mine are eleven, nine, and seven. So we’re doing similar things just at slightly different times.

Darien:
We lived in the UAE before, which is considered more open, but I actually like Saudi Arabia more.

Monique:
I love hearing that.

Darien:
The UAE is a tourist dream. It has everything, but living there is different. Saudi Arabia feels more like a place to live a simple life and enjoy what’s around you.

Darien:
I’m from a rural area with fields and trees, and Saudi reminds me of that. Sometimes we just get in the car and explore, find little places, and meet people. It’s very welcoming.

Darien:
One time we accidentally drove onto someone’s land. The guy came out yelling, so I started backing up, but then he waved us in.

Darien:
We ended up sitting with him while he showed us a goat he had just prepared. We used Google Translate and had this random, amazing conversation.

Darien:
It’s very hospitable. This is our fourth year here, and I’ve really enjoyed it.

Darien:
Jeddah, where you’re going, is on the Red Sea and has a lot of culture. It’s one of the more vibrant cities in Saudi Arabia.

Jimmy:
We’re looking forward to that.

Greg:
What about lifestyle differences—things like alcohol?

Darien:
I haven’t had a drink in months. If people want to, they usually travel to nearby places like Bahrain. It’s common for expats.

Greg:
So there are options if you want them.

Darien:
Yes, but daily life is quieter.

Darien:
Jeddah is a big city—around five million people—so you’ll have access to everything you need.

Darien:
Living where I am is more rural, so we travel to cities for certain things. Your experience will be more urban.

Greg:
What did the recruiters say that really convinced you?

Monique:
We did some research beforehand. One concern was gender segregation—we saw things like separate spaces for men and women and worried about that.

Monique:
But during the interview, they told us a lot has changed in the last five to ten years—women driving, more openness. It’s not what we thought.

Monique:
The reasons we were hesitant didn’t really apply anymore.

Jimmy:
And they fully embraced our family. Having three kids wasn’t an issue at all.

Monique:
That was huge for us. We knew we needed a place that welcomed our whole family.

Jimmy:
They also talked about compound living. At first that felt strange, but the way they described it made it sound ideal for kids.

Jimmy:
Kids can ride their bikes, go to the park, visit friends—there’s a sense of freedom and safety.

Monique:
People laugh when we say Saudi Arabia feels safe, but we genuinely believe it.

Darien:
I always describe it as living in the 1970s in the US—kids walking to school, playing outside, and a strong sense of community.

Greg:
That’s a big selling point for families.

Darien:
Absolutely. When we go back to the US, I have to remind my kids to stay close because it’s a different environment.

Darien:
Here, kids are expected to be kids. There’s more tolerance for that.

Greg:
That’s a great perspective.

Greg:
So what’s happening right now? You’re a few months out—what does life look like?

Jimmy:
Man, the anxiety cranked up just a little this morning. I woke up and I’m just waiting for emails now. That’s been my routine.

Jimmy:
I got one today about starting the visa application—getting degrees, medical checks, all of that together.

Monique:
I feel like we’ve already sent everything, but now it’s the real process. This is the official phase.

Greg:
Are you digitizing everything?

Jimmy:
Yeah, we’re starting to keep everything organized digitally.

Greg:
Good. You’ll need it again and again.

Jimmy:
We’re also getting the house ready to rent. That’s been a whole process—fixing things we’ve put off for years.

Jimmy:
Lots of YouTube tutorials—patching drywall, fixing the garage door, all that stuff.

Monique:
And deciding what to ship, what to store, what to sell. We decided to sell the cars.

Jimmy:
Every time we think we’re making progress, we realize there are twenty more things to do.

Greg:
Are you still teaching right now?

Jimmy:
Yes. We finish right after Memorial Day.

Monique:
And all three of our kids have birthdays in May, June, and July, so it’s a busy season.

Greg:
That’s a lot happening at once.

Greg:
Did you already resign?

Monique:
Yes, I had to resign early—around late March. It was stressful because we didn’t officially sign until mid-March.

Monique:
The process with KAUST was long and thorough, but that actually made us feel more confident.

Jimmy:
Some schools made quick offers, which felt rushed. KAUST took their time, and that built trust.

Greg:
That’s a great point for listeners. The process can be slow, but that’s not a bad thing.

Greg:
What advice would you give others going through job fairs?

Jimmy:
Engage as much as possible. Don’t just sit in your room—go talk to people, attend sessions, and network.

Jimmy:
That’s how everything came together for us.

Monique:
Absolutely. Jimmy even got an interview just by talking to someone while getting coffee.

Jimmy:
Yeah, a random conversation turned into an offer.

Greg:
That’s how small this world is.

Greg:
Let’s talk about your kids. What were those conversations like?

Jimmy:
We didn’t tell them much before the job fair. Afterward, we sat them down and showed them videos of where we’d be going.

Monique:
We talked about what life would look like and the opportunities to travel.

Jimmy:
We’ve already taken them to places like Colombia, Peru, and Ecuador, so they’re used to travel.

Jimmy:
Our son even said he wants to see all the wonders of the world.

Greg:
And now he’s close to the pyramids.

Monique:
Exactly.

Jimmy:
They’re excited now, but I think the reality will hit closer to July when we say goodbye to friends.

Monique:
That part will be harder than the move itself.

Monique:
We’ve always been the ones leaving, not being left, so this feels different.

Greg:
That’s a really interesting perspective.

Greg:
What are you bringing to make it feel like home?

Monique:
Family photos for sure. I want it to feel like our space, not just a furnished house.

Jimmy:
For me, it’s simple—family, a basketball, maybe a fire pit.

Greg:
All right, let’s get a quick police or customs story.

Jimmy:
We were in Peru leaving Machu Picchu and got stuck in a huge crowd at the train station. It was chaotic.

Jimmy:
We got separated, and I had to get help finding Monique.

Monique:
He asked for his wife in Spanish but used the wrong word, so the officer was confused.

Greg:
That’s not helpful.

Monique:
Then later, our five-year-old threw up on a police officer.

Jimmy:
We tried to clean it with a water bottle that had almost nothing in it. It didn’t work.

Monique:
We just apologized and left. Thankfully, no one got in trouble.

Greg:
That’s a solid story.

Greg:
Let’s go around for final thoughts. Darien?

Darien:
I’m excited for you. You’re going to find what you’re looking for and more. I hope we connect once you arrive.

Greg:
Welcome to the international teaching family. There will be challenges, but also amazing moments.

Jimmy:
We’re excited to take the leap and embrace the adventure.

Monique:
This feels like a dream. I’m so grateful we’re doing this as a family. I believe it’s one of the greatest gifts we can give our kids.

Greg:
Thank you both for joining us. We look forward to hearing your story in the future.

Greg:
And thanks to Darien, coming from the closet, and Kent as always.

Greg:
I’m not very good at endings, but thanks everyone.

[End of transcript]