The adventure begins...preparation days

Welcome to my newly created Kuwait City blog. Many of my readers already know me...and have followed this long journey to new adventures through my facebook updates or my other blog. As I begin the preparations for this big move, I thought it appropriate to create a blog specifically for this time in my life. I will try to post regularly, and provide updates about life in the Middle East for any of you that are interested in following along in the adventure!

For those of you just tuning in...my name is Amy and I'm a global nomad. I grew up overseas, attended college in California, worked in DC, and recently graduated with my master of arts in counseling from a seminary in Orlando. After graduating, I considered moving back to DC, but God had other plans. As I began looking at job postings and sending in my resume, a friend sent me a job link for a counselor position at Georgetown University. As I read the fine print, I realized that it was for their Qatar campus (in the Middle East)! On a whim, I decided to apply. I never heard back from that job, but God doesn't do coincidences. Applying for that job opened up a whole new realm of ideas and possibilities. Over the next few weeks, I began to apply to more and more jobs in the Middle East. By July, I had decided definitively to move overseas, and was applying exclusively in that arena.

I can't say that this process has been easy. I spent several summer months working, temping, and agonizing. I waited. I sent in 59 applications. I had a couple interviews, but they just weren't the right place for me. And then, in late October, I got an email about an interview at American University of Kuwait. Five days later, I was welcomed to the team as a student affairs/career counselor. This was it! I think this is exactly the right place for me, and I can't wait to get started. We decided on a post-Christmas move, and I'll be starting work on January 4th.

I'm now in full preparation mode...working out plane tickets, housing, finances, packing, sorting, and selling random stuff like my keyboard and my car :-) It's been a huge blessing that I get to be with my family for Thanksgiving and Christmas (maybe this is why the process took so much longer than I expected...to make sure I got to spend time with my family?!). I'll try to post updates every once in a while as the moving process continues, and then will definitely post regularly once I'm in Kuwait and have my DSL up and running.

Let the adventure begin...