live abroad for a year

I love the idea of travelling around the world and experiencing the different culture’s around the world. I have been on holiday to Turkey quite a few times in the past two years and really enjoyed spending time in a different country. I would like to travel and experience life in different ways, perhaps working with children in different ways along the way.

I decided to start a blog, keeping track of our move to El Salvador:

http://untilnextstop.blogspot.com

For now, I think I can check this goal off. Further updates will be on the new blog!

I’m going to El Salvador for two years! SWEET.

Going to an international job fair next week! So excited. I’ve already set up one interview in advance, have contacted more than a half-dozen schools, and am hopeful to set up a few other interviews soon.

I went out this weekend and bought new interview outfits, got a hair cut, and got my eyebrows done. :) Now that I feel physically ready (almost – still sick from the flu!), I can concentrate on making copies of resumes, reference letters, etc.

I’m excited! I’m realistic about this – there is a good chance I will not get a South/Central America job offer out of this weekend. But, if I do, I will very likely jump on it. So, wish me luck! :)

I am slowly exploring all my options for contacting the international schools. Joyjobs.com has a ton of excellent information, delineating the differences between a resume and a CV and giving step-by-step tips on how to most effectively market yourself as a teaching candidate, via a personal website. It also outlined the differences between different types of international schools, how to approach recruitment fairs, etc.

I’ve sent out various requests for professional recommendations, and hopefully I can dig up my teaching evals somewhere at school to be included in my file and order some extra transcript copies on Monday. I’ve decided to complete one more application for another recruitment agency (Search Associates) by mid January, so that I can attend a recruitment fair in February and meet with some South American recruiters in person.

Argh – so much to think about, and even more to do!

I looked last year into the possibility of working abroad. Now, a year later, my resolution is stronger and more focused. I am looking at going abroad by August 2009, to teach in Central or South America.

The international schools recruitment for 2009 – 2010 has begun in December. The Central and South American schools had a job fair the first weekend of December, which I missed because I wasn’t on my A-game.

Life has been crazy, but I finally started sending out cover letters and resumes. I researched and contacted seven Brazilian American schools today, plus four Costa Rican schools. Keeping fingers crossed, by the end of this week, I’ll have contacted a bunch more schools—just before the principals return to school post-holidays. :)

I think this is going to be a long and frustrating process, but thankfully, I am patient. It took me physically visiting 20 apartments to find one that worked for me—looking for a job abroad could NOT possibly be easier!! So, I’m bracing myself for a few long months.

Cheers!

I’d like to get out of the mountains and live aborad in a warm beach location for a year. My kids are 11 and 9 and my husband is retired. So, I’d have to find a way to support the family abroad. It could be an amazing opportunity for all of us. Greece is a great possibility, cause I’ve always loved the food there and the water is terrific. If I could sail, all the better. Still, how does one support oneself abroad? Lots to think about.

I’m thinking Spain, Costa Rica, France, or Sweden. I’ve been planning on it forever, but I just can’t decide between the countries! I also don’t know whether to go my senior year, the year after, or during college. So many different choices!

maybe France, maybe Italy. Definitely somewhere where the main language spoken is not English, and definitely NOT somewhere I get sent for work.

I felt profoundly sad today.

I’ve been aching for the opportunity to teach abroad. I love my current school, and 2008 is also not a good time for Geoff to leave the country, so we’ll likely go in August 2009, at the earliest. But, being a cautious life-planner (as always), I’m running myself through the entire process of applying to teach abroad now – a full year+ prior to actually doing the real application that matters – to make sure that I’ll absolutely be mentally and emotionally and professionally ready for the commitment next year.

A few kinks did come up this year in my dry run. For one, I hadn’t realized that these schools that offer teach-abroad opportunities aren’t your regular schools. They’re not even regular private schools. Most of them are world-class private schools that charge fees up the wazoo. And, as a public school teacher from the Bronx who believes in educational opportunities for all, I can’t help but feel disgusted by the way they advertise their schools’ achievements (I don’t think there’s anything to brag about, after charging their exorbitant fees), and it’s not really an enterprise that I’d want to be a part of, broadening the achievement gap.

But, there is the benefit of going abroad to cool places like Barcelona, Rome, or Buenos Aires, for two years. That’s a priceless experience. The only other way I can think of, that I can seamlessly be guaranteed a foreign experience for two years, would be if I joined the Peace Corps. And with the Peace Corps, Geoff wouldn’t be able to go along with me.

So, anyway, today I feel like a small part of a big monstrous machine, as I contemplate the possibility of selling my soul for two years to go for something I personally want to experience. That awareness made me profoundly sad, both about the system and about myself.