you guys are a huge help, honestly i'm so glad to have found this place. will check out the expat site, ironically i was on expatwomen.com which is pretty useless .. not the same as expatwoman.com .. so thanks for that tip!

ok so I would prefer an American curriculum but that's not a priority. we *plan* on leaving in five years, and that would mean my eldest does high school back in the states which hopefully she can readjust to. as long as the teachers are good, i expect my kids will thrive.

i have a friend who says that british kids bully the american ones so that's my only real concern (since spelling and history can't really count ;)) i will also check out middle east intn'l school which i hadn't heard of, along with asd, acs, and compass intn'l. (am i missing anything?)

wish it were as simple as arriving, finding a school, and moving into a place.. but everything depends on the other, so it's a bit confusing right now.