When Leaving Is Hard For All the Wrong Reasons

I am drowning in a sea of red tape and ineptitude. I see no end in sight. Just when I think I have everything I need together and have been proactive, I find out it is not enough and I was either not told enough or the information was completely erroneous. All resigning teachers were sent this crazy complicated and involved flow chart to follow and a sheet with signatures to be collected. When I first started going through the exit process for my overseas job I thought it was going to be pretty easy and smooth. 

The first four signatures were easy enough to get. The principal signed without question. I got the IT guys signature which I thought was weird since I never received anything from the IT department. I felt bad for this dude because he had to go to the floor below him to get the signature for the only person who could sign off. The thing was there was another desk in his office and I couldn't figure out why that person wasn't there. So anyway, this guy stayed in shape by going up and down and down and up 2 flights of stairs a few hundred times a day. Then I went and did my very frank exit interview and got that signature. From there I went to another floor to payroll to get an idea of what my end of service entitlement would be. She was really nice, verbally told me, then signed the sheet. The easy part stopped there.

Now, before I did any of this I went into the housing department to get a letter that would be given to my landlord stating that I was leaving and no one would be moving into my apartment. (Remember this because it comes up later. ) I brought this letter to the office of my landlord to obtain another letter that authorized me to move things out of my apartment. This letter was to be given to the security guard in my building. I got this letter. Then I went to the internet company to give notice to have the internet turned off so that I could receive a clearance letter to give to my employer. It takes one month to complete this clearance. Luckily I started that over a month ago. Then I had to get a clearance letter from the water and electric company to give to my employer but they only needed 48 hour notice, so I waited on that one. 

Meanwhile, I am selling my furniture and appliances, which go very quickly. I am living off of that money now :) 

So a couple of weeks have gone by, most of my living room furniture is sold and folks are coming around June 30th to get everything else. July 1, my internet is supposed to be turned off but before they will do it I have to come back to the office and settle my account. I go back around June 28th to pay the fee for early termination and my bill for the month. I get to the counter and find out that because my husband opened the account under his name and he is now gone to the States, they won't close the account without written authorization, a copy of his passport and visa pages as well as mine. Why they didn't see this or mention it when I came in a month earlier, I do not know. So I went home, contacted Ryan and told him what I needed. He got it to me and I went back. I presented the information and it was fine. I paid the fee, which I had to insist on because I think the person helping me that day was new and didn't seem to know what was going on. I was given a receipt. To get the release letter I had to come back the next day. I come back the next day, go to a new counter, and present my receipt. The guy says he can't give me a release letter because he doesn't have me and my husband's visa and passport pages. He was on the same floor, in the same row of desks, maybe six down from the woman who helped me the day before and he needed the copies again. Not only that, she had not given me the form to fill out to get my clearance letter. I had no idea that there was a form to fill out. The guy had me fill out the form to get the letter. So, I go home print the copies of our visa and passport pages again and bring them to the company the next day. I get my clearance letter for the internet that is now shut off.

Now, somewhere in here I contacted the water and electric company to turn off my utilities. It takes longer than 48 hours. After numerous calls to them for clarification, I end up going to the office and sitting for an hour and a half, waiting to receive my clearance letter. At this point the utilities have been turned off and I am crashing on a co-workers couch who lived in the same building as me. 

So just about everything is out of my apartment at this point. I just had to pack up my clothes which did not take long. Now, just an aside, I am still expected to show up to work during all of this. The students stopped coming to school in mid-June, so for 4 weeks we were on campus with no students but I still had to report to work. Luckily, I had an understanding principal because in the end, I missed a few days of work. 

Also, somewhere in the midst of all this, I get the information from some source I have forgotten, that I need to get things settled with the credit card I had here in the UAE. I went to the bank where I have the limit greatly lowered, I paid off the entire balance, it was destroyed and a request for cancellation was submitted. I also find out that I cannot receive a clearance letter from them for 30 days or I need to give the entire credit limit, after paying off the balance, and I could get my clearance letter that day. I freak out because I would not be allowed to leave the country if this clearance is not received. Luckily a co-worker who had a loan the year before, left and came back told me that as long as there is money in my account to cover the limit amount, the bank will freeze that money and at the end of the clearance period, release it. I can only hope that this is the case when I finally am leaving. 

Okay, now, I have the letter from the housing department in my employers office saying I am leaving (I think); the clearance letter for the internet; the clearance letter for the utilities; oh yes, and a clearance letter from the building manager to my landlord that the premises are in good condition. 

I go to my landlord to give them these documents to then receive clearance that I can take to the housing department in my employer's building and get that fifth signature. Things were a little funky at first as the ladies who were supposed to help were really testy. Not sure why. Things seemed to chill out a little while later and I was all set to get my letter. Then, oh no, there is a problem. The letter I was given almost two months ago was dated for last year and stated, in Arabic, that someone was moving in. They couldn't give me a clearance letter based on that information. I go to my employer to get a new letter and to apply for temporary housing. It was a mad house there when I arrived. Despite it, I applied for temporary housing and requested a new letter. I am given a letter and I rush back to my landlord's office. I give it to them, the date it right but it is still saying, in Arabic, that someone else is moving into my flat and this time they have the wrong unit number listed. By this point, housing is closed. They had shortened their hours right when people started coming in to get things taken care of to leave. I waited another day. I didn't go into work.

The co-worker I am staying with sends me a text message to check my work email. I open it up to find out that all housing and visa related things are to be taken to a new office. Thank God!!! she sent me this text message!!! So I head over to the new office. I take a number and then realize I am not seeing any numbers in my range. I ask where to go for housing and I am directed to a desk where a woman is on her cell phone. She motions for me to wait. I wait. When she is finished she directs me to a man who directs me to another woman. She is on her cell phone. I sit and wait, and wait, and wait. When she hangs up, we realize we don't speak each other's languages so she asks for the man who sent me to her to come over. I tell him what I need. He tells her and something inside me says, "They are not understanding." Luckily, one of the people in the landlord's office had given me a number that people could call him to get clarification. I phoned him and gave her the phone and I could tell she got it. There were all these form letters in front of her. She chose one and began to write, in Arabic, painfully slowly. She got a phone call on her cell and talked for a bit before leisurely getting back to my form. In the middle of her writing I noticed that she had written the wrong unit and I told her. THANK GOD!! And she started all over again. When she finished, I thanked her profusely, and as I was leaving, asked the guard who looked Arab if he could translate it for me. He did and it was exactly what I needed. So, I went back to the landlord and got my clearance letter. Then went back to the housing office to hand it in and was told they needed a copy of the utility clearance. So I went back to the landlord, go a copy, and went back to the housing office and got the fifth signature. YAY!! Small victory!!!

Now, I go to visa cancellation. It was Thursday afternoon. Everyone I had known was getting theirs back in 2 working days. So, I went back Monday afternoon, “it is not ready...you didn't sign the form authorizing the cancellation of the visa”. The first I had heard. No one told me to come back and sign something more. So the form I filled out to cancel my visa wasn't enough. Ok, so, I went back Tuesday afternoon, it was not ready. I went back on Wednesday, it was not ready…"is there a problem?" "No, no problem, it is just we got 400 passports and they are moving through the stack. Come tomorrow morning at 9:00, it will be ready." Ok. I went back Thursday, "There is a problem. You had a dependent, your husband. We need his passport and visa copy." I called my husband to ask him to resend the documents to my email so I can just get it without looking through past emails. Drove around trying to find a place to print and finally found somewhere, printed two copies, went back to the visa office and submitted them. I insisted that they be placed with my documents and not just randomly placed somewhere. I watched the guy put the copies with my paperwork.

So, as of now, I will have cancelled 3 flights home, I have slept at one friend's place, was put up in a hotel but my employer would not extend my stay, so now I am at another friend's place. Hopefully, when I go to the visa office tomorrow, it is ready and I can take it to payroll. These are the final steps. If all goes well tomorrow, I will spend my finals days here in Dubai with a friend.

I cannot believe how much less weighted down I feel now that I have written it all out. This really was a catharsis of sorts and if no one bothers to read it, that is fine. Putting this experience into words has really released pent up emotions. I think I will do some more writing :) I sure have lots of time!!!