Notes from the General Manager, by Diane Jacoutot
A woman in New York City splashed out $250,000 on a wedding for her dog. In case your invitation was lost in the post with mine, I can report that Baby Hope Diamond, a pooch belonging to Wendy Diamond of New York, married her paramour Chilly Pasternik in an event that included a $15,000 seven piece orchestra, a $5000 custom made dress (Not much of a market for off the shelf dog wedding dresses then?) and $5000 of sushi. For the human guests I hope. The wedding was planned by Harriet Rose Katz (ahem) who planned the celebrity wedding of Billy Baldwin and Cheyenne Phillips. Proceeds from the nuptials went to the Humane Society of New York but methinks that’s not the point. Diamond said. "I never need to get married, now, because this wedding has everything." Exactly.
It’s been a week of wedding talk for me. Nick, in our office, is off getting married in the Caribbean as I write this, and Lisa in our office is planning her wedding next year. Yesterday I met with some candidates who were interviewing with a client from Abu Dhabi, and quite a few of them were getting married shortly. One in fact said she was only getting married IF she got the job in Abu Dhabi after being engaged for 3.5 years (so far). Her mother, as you can imagine, is really hoping she gets the job! Me too.
Unmarried partners are quite a thorny issue when you go abroad. Because marriage creates a legal bond between two people that is verifiable and internationally recognised, going abroad as a married couple is far simpler than going abroad as an unmarried couple. Besides the fact that it’s illegal to live together as unmarried partners in some countries, if you are not married each person must have their own work sponsorship and each must secure their own job before going abroad whereas when you are married, one person can often sponsor the residency of the other ....although in some countries a man can sponsor his wife but not the other way around!
In addition, schools get really twitchy about uncertainty – what if your unmarried partner does not get a job or their job falls through? Will you pull out of the contract and leave the class without a teacher suddenly? It’s not something they or you have control over. And I understand this concern. It is not like a TEFL school where you can cancel class for an evening or two- we are talking about a class of 9 year olds who are there for the day or a bunch of 16 year olds studying for their exams. And you have a raft of demanding parents who are paying for the best education their money can buy. The stakes are quite high and when the stakes are high, most people try to minimise risk.
So what should you do if you have a partner and you want to go abroad? We usually recommend that your partner get a job first and obviously target places that have lots of international schools, then we can look for a job for you nearby. Make sure your relationship is secure, and your partner’s job is secure. Ideally, your life will be FAR easier if you get married so do consider that. (No I have not been lobbied by a group of mothers to say that- it’s the truth!) If you do not wish to get married, then certain parts of the world will be off limits.
So for reasons that are based in international practicality I am a fan of marriage. And for this reason, I raise a glass ..well a mug of coffee actually as it’s only 8am... to Baby Hope and Chilly. I wish you a long and happy (and puppy-less because let’s face it you are both neutered) marriage! Let the very expensive wedding bells ring.
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