It's a small world! Surrounded by flying objects!

This afternoon I am busy putting together study notes on communication technology for my senior students.

It suddenly occurred to me that there are loads of little (or not so little) satellites in geosynchronous orbit around the world with the job of making it possible for me to use international direct dial (IDD) to phone home.

I phone home a lot!

Since I've been teaching abroad I've noticed a lot of changes in communication technology. When I first started 10 years ago, I didn't know anything about email. I wrote and sent postcards (real ones, not electronic!) and letters. Then I moved onto sending my parents faxes. I am so impatient I couldn't wait for 3 weeks for the letters to get home to NZ.

In my recent interview series, Overseas Teacher Talk, quite a number of the international teachers I interviewed mentioned that a drawback to living overseas is the distance you are from your family. But with all the options for communication there are around today, you can be as close or as far as you like! I probably talk to my family more when I'm living abroad than I did when I was living in NZ. And I make a real effort to stay in touch with my friends too.

I love email, but when I travel, I still send postcards.

Do you know what you're doing this summer vacation?

I know it's only February, but I am nearly finished planning my summer vacation. Why? Because I'm in the middle of an overseas teaching contract where annual flights are included in the employment benefits. This means, sorting my flights out as early as possible so that I can get the maximum travel I can for my flight allowance.

I am off to Romania to hang out with a couple of American teachers I met when we were all working just outside of London, England. One of them is teaching at an international school in Bucharest. As I didn't make it out to see her when she was in the United Arab Emirates, I thought I'd make an effort to get out to see her this year.

And one of the best things about this vacation is that my flight allowance from my school will get me all the way to Europe and I will just need to buy some internal flights once we know for sure where we are going. We are thinking maybe somewhere along the coast of the Adriatic.

And we'll be spending some time in Romania, so I can check it out as a possible teaching destination in the future...

5 Things I Love About Living in Thailand

What do you love about the place where you live? Here are 5 things about living in Thailand that I love. I couldn’t possibly choose which of these would make it as my number one favourite thing, but these are definitely the top 5!

I love having a pool
I went down to the pool in my apartment building today after work and swam for a while. When I got back to my apartment, it struck me that having my own pool (okay, I do share it with the other people in my building but I am usually in it by myself) is one of the things I love about living here in Thailand.

It is hot enough here in Bangkok that I can swim all year round. I am sure I’ll get to the stage that I feel it is too cold for that one month of the year when the temperature sits at around 23C (73F), but I have not acclimatised to that point yet. The cool season is just ending right now, so the temperature is soaring again, and the humidity rising.

The pool in my building is maintained by the building manager’s staff and cleaned every morning. I can decide to go down there anytime and sunbathe (not that I do this much, I’m a Kiwi and as such, I am well aware of the damage this can do to my skin), swim lengths or read a book in the shade.

I love Thai food
Thai food can be rather spicy, but has a balance of many flavours. Every meal is a gastronomic feast for your taste buds. The seafood is always extremely fresh and I love it when it is prepared in tasty curries or soups.

The first meal I learnt to order was Phat Thai Jay, a traditional noodle dish that is a staple on most menus. I order it ‘Jay’ which means vegetable. This is not a spicy dish, but it is full of peanuts, so it’s no good for people with a nut allergy.

But Phat Thai Jay isn’t my favourite Thai dish. That’s reserved for Gang Kiew Wan Jay, Sweet Green Vegetable Curry. I would eat this everyday, and have had guests come and stay with me who did! This curry is not spicy by Thai standards, but sometimes it nearly takes my head off.

I love Thai food so much that I went to a Thai cooking school when some friends came to visit last year. You can find Thai cookery schools all over the country, wherever you are likely to find tourists. The courses are inexpensive and available in a number of languages. Usually you cook your own portion of the food, then you sit around with your classmates and eat it. This week when I was on vacation in Chiang Mai I did a second cooking course and learnt how to make Phat Thai Jay!

Last month I went to a restaurant called Bangkok Seaview. We had to drive for an hour in a taxi, then take a longtail boat for another 20 minutes to get out to this restaurant. The seafood was rather fresh, as the restaurant is built on piers out in the middle of the sea, I imagine they just catch the fish over the side!! The restaurant was full of Thai people, which is always a good sign, in my opinion, and the menu was written in Thai. We had to order from the 8 dishes that they of which they had printed photographs in the menu. The food was superb, the view was spectacular and if you're an enthusiastic ornithologist, the birdlife was abundant.

I love bargaining
When you buy something at a market in Thailand, you get to bargain the price down. To me, this isn’t just about the money. I love bargaining. I consider it a challenge to get the vendor to come down on his/her asking price. Often in the past I have paid the vendor their original asking price, if it was a reasonable one. I just enjoy the experience of bargaining.

I find it especially rewarding if I can do it in the language of the vendor. Here in Thailand learning to say the numbers in Thai was a priority for me. I can now bargain quite successfully in Thai. When friends come to visit they usually tell me what they want to pay for something and get me to do the bargaining for them, they like the price I get for them and I have some fun with the vendors.

I remember being at a night market looking at some cushion covers that I wanted for my mother. It took me about 15 minutes to bargain the vendor down to my price, she was great fun. She made no allowance for the fact that I didn’t speak very much Thai, I had to guess what she was talking about from her body language. When we had settled on the price, I paid her the original asking price. It was well worth it for the entertainment she’d given me.

On another occasion I went to the floating market with some friends. The driver we'd hired came on the boat with us and said he'd let us know if the price we'd been quoted was a good one or not. His code words were 'it's up to you,' which is what he'd say if he thought the price was too high. So, armed with the knowledge that our driver would prevent us from paying too much for our purchases, we went on a mini shopping spree. Only, each time I asked, 'what do you think?' he'd tell me to buy it and maybe go into bargaining for a living. I had a great day!!!

I love Thai people
The Thai people that I’ve met here are happy and contented. The Thai people are gentle and friendly and kind. The culture here is to ‘keep a cool heart’, which means don’t get angry. When you get angry in Thailand, you lose the respect of Thai people. I am a calmer person here in Thailand and could count on one hand the number of times I’ve been angry in the 18 months I’ve lived here.

Even when I haven’t been able to communicate well with people here, they have, without fail, smiled and helped me.

This has a knock-on effect into my professional life. The children I teach are polite, respectful and cheerful. I really get a kick out of walking into school of a morning to be greeted by smiling children left and right on the way to my classroom. Teaching at an international school is how I support my lifestyle in Thailand, and it’s a lot easier than the teaching I’ve done in state schools in the UK and NZ.

And not all the children greeting me in the mornings are Thai, so there’s a knock-on effect on other expatriates and their children too. The children here are well disciplined but have loads of personality and charm. They are a pleasure to teach.

I love being female

Thailand is a great country in which to be a girl! Thailand is abound with shops to get foot massages, full body massages, manicures and pedicures, facials and everything else you can think of.

I have one colleague who always has immaculate hair because she gets it washed and blow-dried a couple of times a week!

Last weekend I got all dressed up in a ball gown and went to the NZ Society Ball. In May I might go to the British Embassy Ball. If you like going out, dancing, eating great food and wearing posh frocks, then Bangkok is the place!

All in all, I’m happy here in Thailand. Happy with my teaching job, happy with my apartment and happy with the experiences I’m having while I live here. If you’re considering moving abroad, you should definitely consider coming here.

What Your Procrastination is Costing You!

I'm currently looking at the TES Jobs website in another window, and I've discovered that there are 229 international schools advertising jobs there this week.

I've looked at several adverts and many of these schools are advertising more than one teaching vacancy.

What are you waiting for? Check out the TES Jobs website today!

If you have any doubts that there are hundreds of fantastic opportunities out there for you to further your teaching career, go to TES Jobs and see what I'm talking about. It doesn't matter whether you are American, Australian or African, these are international jobs for international professionals.

Today there are teaching positions being advertised in:

• Indonesia,
• Taiwan,
• the Cayman Islands,
• France,
• Denmark,
• Spain

And those are just the ones I found on the first page before investigating further.

TES Jobs is the first place you should look to see what international teaching posts are available. Don't hesitate, go there and check it out now!

One concern for teachers moving overseas is...

Teachers who are looking to move overseas may be concerned about pension contributions. There are a number of solutions, and the solution will depend on your personal situation.

One thing that you can consider is an overseas teacher pension. They are available through a number of companies and most international schools will have a contact with one or two.

One specialised service for international educators is SCI Group Ltd. They offer solutions that are specifically tailored to teachers working abroad. Their website is easy to navigate, and they will provide you with a personal contact to discuss your situation with.

My plan over the next few weeks is to find out about overseas teacher pensions. I'll let you know what options there are when my research is complete!

Nothing about Teaching - All About Being Overseas

I know I've been a bit silent over the last week, it's because I've been on holiday.

This week I've had a friend from England over to visit me and we've been catching up and exploring Thailand. My friend, Sue, came to see me last February break and this February break and has already put dibs on next February break too!

In fact, she's hoping my next move will be to a school right next to a skiing mountain because she wants to learn how to ski! I am quite keen on that idea because I'm an avid skiier myself.

So, this week we've visited a mountainside temple, completed a Thai cooking course, painted bamboo and paper umbrellas and ridden an elephant.

I think the highlight of the week was attending the NZ Ball, an annual event here in Bangkok. A few of the Kiwi teachers and one of my students took part in a traditional maori welcome. It's always stunning to see your students step up and do a great job.

One of the pleasures of teaching abroad is that I have so many opportunities to do exciting stuff, and I can afford it too.

Decreasing Pool of Quality Applicants

In my last post I suggested teachers thinking of moving to the UK to teach reconsider and actually apply for teaching positions in international schools.

Between writing that post and this one I've learnt something very relevant about the international school sector. The number of international schools is increasing and the number of good quality teaching applicants for the teaching vacancies is decreasing.

The principal of my school has recently returned from the Search Job Fair in London. He made the comment that whilst he was able to find good candidates for the vacancies he needed to fill, he didn't have as much choice between good applicants as he'd had in previous years.

Conclusion - there is an opening in the international school sector for experienced, good quality educators.

Additionally, I picked up a newsletter published by the University of Bath in which there was an article about this very same topic! There is a teacher recruitment crisis looming for international schools.

Conclusion - now is the time for you to apply for teaching positions overseas.

The key to being successful in finding a teaching job abroad is in the preparation. Buy my book!!! And you will have a step-by-step guide to the recruitment process.

Did you know there are currently over 4000 international schools operating worldwide? I knew the number was big, I didn't realise it was quite so large. Last year alone (that's 2006) over 600 NEW international schools opened for business. Every one of those new schools will have to employ a teaching staff.

Will you be one of the professional educators who launch themselves into international teaching careers this year?

Source: ISC Research Limited

Teaching in the United Kingdom

I have a number of teachers who signed up to receive my TeachOverseas.info newsletter because they are interested in teaching in the UK. This isn't really what my site is about, although I have information on teaching in the UK, NZ and Aussie on the site.

The reason I'm not focussing on assisting teachers find teaching positions in those countries, is that most of the international teachers I work with have begun teaching overseas to get out of teaching in state schools in the UK, NZ and Aussie.

I started my international teaching career in TEFL. Then moved into teaching high school Technology. My first international teaching job was in a position in a state school in the UK. I spent 4 years total in the UK teaching high school, and I learnt a lot about the teaching craft and education in general.

I'm not knocking teaching in the UK. For NZers and Australians, it's a fantastic way to earn decent money whilst on your "big OE". But if you've gone that far, why not go a step farther and teach internationally.

All those things you don't like about teaching in state schools? Well, you don't have to deal with discipline problems, lack of enthusiasm, poor attendance, lack of resources, etc. here in the international school circuit.

Aussies and Kiwis are very desirable teachers for international school recruiters because we have a reputation for being adaptable, adventurous and trust-worthy.

Stick your neck out there and check out international teaching. Believe me, not one international educator I've talked to has any regrets about deciding to go into teaching overseas!

International Footballers in Your Midst

It's crazy the things I'm finding out about my colleagues as I interview them for my new product, Overseas Teachers Talk.

This morning I interviewed the Vice Principal in Charge of Curriculm and discovered that he played in the football (soccer) world cup. He played for the Bahamas team for which he was selected when he was teaching in the Bahamas.

How crazy is that?

Apparently he is also one of the players you can choose in a FIFA Playstation game, because he's registered with FIFA as an international football player.

Do you think he'd have been selected to play for England, if he'd remained teaching in the UK? Probably not, he might be an awesome footballer, but is he in Beckham's league?

In my mind, this is a prime example of how teaching overseas can open up completely new and surprising opportunities for international teachers. NOT just in education.

What opportunities could be out there awaiting you? Don't hesitate, get out there and start applying to International Schools today!

To be a university lecturer? I think not!

As you might have guessed, I work at an international school. So, I practice what I preach, I teach overseas. I'm currently based in Thailand and have been here for 18 months now.

On Monday evenings I go to a belly-dancing class. There must be something wrong with my accents because many of my colleagues and friends thought I did ballet dancing until they saw me perform with my class at one of the fairs last November.

But that's not the point of my post, nor is it the fact that it's truly odd to be learning Egyptian style belly dancing whilst teaching abroad in Thailand. I'd try Thai dancing but I can't bend my fingers backwards!

The point...

I was talking to my dance instructor, who works at one of the universities as a lecturer about holidays, and I was shocked at what I learned.

I'd always thought that university lecturers had it much better than international high school teachers, but I was wrong.

Teachers who teach overseas may be required to be in school for 180 to 195 days a year, and the rest of the year is divided into various holidays for which we are paid. My bellydance teachers only receives two weeks paid holiday a year. She can take the summer vacation off, but she will not be paid for any of it. She usually chooses to teach over the summer break so that she can earn some money.

Those conditions sound a lot like when I taught TEFL at private language schools. I got out of that kind of teaching because I HAD to work over the summer in order to have any savings. If I hadn't taught summer school I would have used up all the money I'd managed to put aside throughout the year.

So, do you want to be an Overseas university lecturer? I certainly don't! I think I'm onto a great thing here in Thailand. Teaching overseas at an international school is definitely the cream of the crop of opportunities out there!

Europe and the aged

I thought I should add an addendum to my last post. If you are desperate to teach in Europe, are over the age of 55 and don't have European Union Citizenship, you might be out of luck. Within the European Union, many countries are refusing to give working visas to non-European workers (applying for the first time) who are over 55.

I'm not saying it's impossible to get teaching jobs in Europe once you've turned 56, I'm saying you might not find it easy to find one, and that you may need to look at a European country that isn't a member of the EU.

How old is too old?

And on the other side of the coin, how young is too young? I'm talking about teaching abroad, of course.

I received an email from a lovely lady called Marlene who is very keen to move her teaching career abroad, but is concerned that, at 57, she is too old!

Here is an excerpt from my book, The Complete Guide to Securing a Job at an International School that deals with just this topic:

"Age (at both ends of the scale)
Age might be an issue in some countries because of visa requirements, but usually more mature people are attractive to international schools because they are believed to be stable.

On the other hand, many schools operate a salary scale that makes less experienced (which frequently means younger) teacher financially attractive to schools.

If you are used to being on the top of the pay scale, you might want to ask if the salary step you start on is capped. I have heard that some schools require all new teachers to the school to start on the same salary step, regardless of years of experience."

As I told Marlene, there are some schools that will not offer you a new full-time teaching contract after you turn 60, and there are some that will. Also, there are some countries which will not grant you a new working visa after you pass the age of 60. However, for every country or school that won't you will find a school or country that will.

If you are approaching 60, don't let this information put you off teaching abroad. Even if the country you desire working in the most is one that has the over 60 rule, you can certainly pack a number of unforgettable experiences into the years before you reach the big 6-0.

Mature teachers have a lot to offer schools and many recruiters recognise this fact.