Moving Your Teaching Career Overseas - Remember those you leave behind

Wherever you go you build relationships. Just because you're leaving your old home for your new home teaching overseas, doesn't mean you have to sever ties with the people you're leaving behind.

10. Email addresses, mailing addresses and phone numbers of the friends and colleagues you’re leaving behind

I also took the leaving cards I received from friends and colleagues. You may be tempted to pack these in your shipping or you may even think about throwing them out. However, if you have enjoyed a great relationship with your colleagues then you will miss them. I found that having a reminder of them around me when I was dealing with the initial stages of culture shock reminded me of the good things I’d left behind, but also all the stuff I didn’t like! It helped me to refocus on the reasons I had moved my career overseas!

Having been a global nomad for more than 10 years now, I’ve found that staying in touch with friends and colleagues at home is really up to me. I haven’t stayed in touch with any of the fabulous people I met and got to know in the first 6-7 years of teaching abroad, and it’s mostly my fault because I didn’t make any effort.

I’ve been much more conscientious in recent years and I believe it’s worth it. I love catching up with old friends when I go back to places I’ve lived before; I always have a plethora of places to stay and have even hosted some of my friends when they’ve visited my new home.

Moving Your Teaching Career Abroad - contact details of people you leave behind