3.2 What Makes a Good Candidate

Am I a Good Candidate??

“Go to the front of the line ”

To be honest, this process is very much like grading beef: prime, choice, select, standard/commercial. In this post I’ll break down who ends up in which recruiting category of desirability.

But please note that even if you are not a prime candidate, there are always options and very few actual dead ends.

Non-Negotiable Requirements

“Nothing has more strength than dire necessity.
”

— Euripides

You must meet the school’s work visa requirements, meaning different things in different countries. Sometimes partners must be married, there may be limits on age, teacher certification may be required, plus clean health and criminal background checks.

 The school may also require legitimate and current teacher certification, two year’s successful teaching experience, even a Master’s Degree.

Candidates need to complete the application package correctly, meaning the CV needs to be clean and thorough, any transcripts or other paperwork supplied according to instructions and all deadlines met. One of my work visa forms contained a typo and was sent back, seriously messing up deadlines. Be accurate.

Positive recommendations must be supplied and do not even think about failing to obtain one from your principal; that’s a red flag.

 Subjective Desirability Rankings

“There is always room at the top. ”

— Daniel Webster

There is disagreement on this subject, but here are the broad outlines in order of desirability.

 Personal Situation

1.  Teaching couple/no dependents – Why? Because this configuration saves the school money in housing and transport (two-for-the-price-of-one.) A couple also cuts the recruiting load a bit and recruiters may feel a married couple is more stable.

Next in descending order:

2. Single teacher, no dependents.

3. Teaching couple, one dependent per contract.

4. Teacher with trailing (non-teaching) spouse.

Curriculum Experience

1.  IB teaching experience (the gold standard.)

2.  Specialty area in high demand – STEM, especially higher math, IT, or physics. Some specialists, like librarians, music teachers, and counselors, can also be hard to find.

3.  Certified and able to teach several subjects or grade levels.

4.  Experience and willingness to coach or organize extra-curricular activities.

Personal Traits and Intangibles

Recruiters need to believe that you are going to be two things:

1.     A good teacher.

2.     No trouble, meaning negative or disruptive to the community.

How can they feel confident they got it right, just from an online interaction or a stressful 15-minute interview in a hotel room?

• You provided positive recommendations and well-thought out supporting materials, even a portfolio or video of your teaching. They may even ask for a short impromptu lesson on the spot.

• Recruiters will then add any up additional factors that lead them to bet you will survive and thrive overseas. For instance, your application and persona demonstrate you are committed to teaching overseas, not just looking for a paid vacation. Maybe you’ve already lived overseas for an extended period or have otherwise proven adaptability. Your hobbies show a positive, social spirit.

  All these factors balance the equation in favor of “will not be trouble.”

Serendipity, Gut Feeling, and Dumb Luck

Here is where random factors collect. Does the recruiter think the candidate will fit in? Does this teacher fill a need the principal wasn’t even exactly aware needed filling? 

Blink: The Power of Thinking Without Thinking by Malcolm Gladwell illuminates how humans make these decisions in just a few seconds.

I once overheard a recruiter say, “We have too many Americans in that department.” Some factors are out of your control. Do the two of you connect? Does the recruiter even like you?

Reputation and Networking

“A lie gets halfway around the world before the truth gets its pants on. ”

— Winston Churchill

Everybody Knows Your Business

Meaning that news about you, true or false, can spread almost instantly. Your school may be large but the international school world is small and the spread of gossip has accelerated.

If you did not grow up in a small town, read this and pay particular attention to the section Everyone Really Does Know Everyone.

Reputation and networking – if you play this part of the game by protecting the former and cultivating the latter, you stand a chance of becoming an Alpha Dog when it comes to hiring at the best schools. 

Non-quantifiable elements can make or break your overseas teaching career. By that I mean the old-school values like a good name, basic skills like networking, and character traits like adaptability. Why?

It’s Who You Know

 Numerous studies and plain old common sense say “It’s who you know.” In the recruiting world this translates to networking and word of mouth. This is especially true once you have your foot on the first rung of the ladder.

I distinctly remember feeling stress at my second recruiting fair, then watching long-time international school teacher friends sail past, greeting old colleagues and possible employers from all over the world. They weren’t going to have trouble getting interviews. Their sterling reputations and numerous contacts broke trail; they were halfway to hired before they ever showed up at the fair.

The converse is also true, unfortunately. If you are a jerk, an incompetent teacher, troublesome staff member, or job-hopper, your reputation will precede you.

If you think recruiters do not talk to each other, you’ve missed a basic driver of human interaction. So use this trait to your advantage. Otherwise you will either not be hired at all or end up at a low-tier school.

Social Media and Gossip

 A new twist on an old story (gossip) is the viral speed of information or misinformation. Be extremely leery of social media postings on any platform.

If you haven’t learned by now that Facebook and its ilk can bite you in the pinfeathers, you haven’t been paying attention. Recruiters will be checking, or you should at least assume they will. Be discreet; your doings are not likely to remain invisible.

And lastly, try really hard to be an adaptable, trouble-free, good sport kind of person. If you’re not, at least pretend. If these character traits do not come naturally to you, just fake it till you make it.

That’s all the advice I have about personality. Just remember that recruiters aren’t looking for problems; they’re looking for solutions.

Recruiters’ Perspective 

“A Shot In the Dark. ”

— Inspector Clouseau in the "Pink Panther" movies

Process Also Hard On Recruiters

Imagine the strain:

• Hoping you’ve chosen a quality teacher who won’t flame out.

• Competing for great teachers in a red-hot job market.

•  Reading dreadful CVs and sitting through painful interviews, whether virtual or in-person.

Eventually there may be in-person recruiting fairs again, and things will be even more painful:

• Flying long distances and eating hotel food for weeks on end.

• Being away from your school with all its duties, and your family.

Competing Goals For Recruiters and Candidates

In this recruiting-hiring dance, the goals of each party are sometimes contradictory. For instance, tourist teachers may just be in it for the travel and adventure, then move on every two years.

The recruiter/principal needs staff stability and is looking for teachers to stay 4-5 years. Tourist teachers just mean unsettling turnover and a lot more work for the recruiter.

 Go down the list and see if you can work out what each party (recruiter vs. teacher) wants with #4 as an example:

1.     Salary

2.     Benefits and housing

3.     Facilities

4.     Workload - A teacher might want the smallest workload with no after school activities, while the principal wants someone who works late and is eager to coach, lead clubs and organize community events.

5.     Time off to travel

The Rolling Stones got it right: you can’t always get what you want. But now the tussle starts, and through the back and forth, both recruiter and candidate can get what they need.

Four Years Minimum

Pay attention to this advice from a long-time school head before you start recruiting. Read this interview with care and take it to heart. To quote Dexter from TIEonline again,

4) Do NOT interview or apply to a place that you cannot envision yourself at for FOUR YEARS minimum.

This mindset may or may not be how things play out, but beginning with an honest commitment to a long-term stay seeps into your interview, like a pleasant smell. Otherwise, recruiters might grade you down as a tourist teacher.

Paperwork

“We can lick gravity, but sometimes the paperwork is overwhelming.
”

— Wernher von Braun

Your paperwork is an instant sorter for recruiters: okay candidate, better, best. Make sure it is complete, on-time, and without errors. Your online CV and supporting materials need to look 100% professional. Your social media presence might need a grooming as well.

Recruiters will inevitably make negative judgments if they see any of this:

• A job-hopper, meaning a string of 2-3 year stints.

• Apparently you did not read the school website and adjust the query to match.

• CV boring, too general? Laden with jargon? Doesn’t tell a story?

Recruiters won’t be happy if they discover later that you have not been upfront with any potential problems: legal difficulties? a special needs child? unmarried or gay partner? bad relations with your supervisor? The issue may not always disqualify you, but don’t blindside the recruiter.

Zig-Zag Pathway

“There are many paths but only one journey.”

— Naomi Judd

These were my various routes to five overseas stints. The lesson is plain, meaning that there are many paths. Any longtime international school teacher will probably have a similar tale. This is my story.

1. Government of American Samoa – Word of mouth from brother-in-law already on island. They meant to hire us but forgot until October. We quit our stateside jobs and took off for the South Pacific.

2. AIS (American International School) Vienna – Paged through the ISS school directory (a fat paperback) and directly wrote aerograms to the 40 schools we liked. AIS responded, flew husband over for an interview for principal, and we were hired.

3. AASM (Anglo-American School) Moscow – Attended Search fair in Cambridge. Bingo (they needed a librarian.)

4. DAA Dubai American Academy) Dubai – Attended Search fair again in Cambridge. Bingo (they needed a librarian.)

5. APIS (American Pacific International School) Chiang Mai – Word of mouth again. Friend already working there said, “I know a librarian.” No Skype, just paperwork and networking.

Who’s The Judge?

“There’s a lid for every pot. ”

— Anonymous

By now you should have a firm idea of how desirable a candidate you are. However, you are not the one doing the hiring, which means you are not actually the judge of whether you are a good candidate. The recruiter is.

But good luck on the hunt; you will get hired if you persist.

4.3 Setting Up House

Housing Options

“Home sweet home.”

Mostly housing choices are out of your control. However, definitely confirm the details in advance, even before you sign the contract. I’ll summarize a few of the implications, the pluses and minuses, and questions to consider.

School-Supplied Housing

This can be a blessing, as you don’t need to waste time and mental energy searching. Perhaps you inherited from a departing teacher and made arrangements in advance to buy their stuff (teacher garage sale.) The school handles the utility setup and billing. Bingo, just hang your clothes in the armoire and you’re good to go.

Negatives? This housing might be sub-standard. The apartment might be on campus and you’d live in a fishbowl. Assignment of desirable units can be political and in the event you got lucky, you might be resented. Lastly, you have no choice in the matter.

Subsidy Provided

Subsidy may be provided but you find your own. Since you almost certainly do not speak the language fluently or have local knowledge, the school will assign you an agent. Then you can find what suits you best. This House Hunters International episode highlights one teacher’s experience in Tokyo with this model.

No way is this tub big enough!

Negatives? The hunt takes time, lots of it, just when you are trying to get settled and start work. What you prefer might be well above your budget and beware of the transportation issue; you don’t want to spend hours getting back and forth to school in hellish traffic.

Pay Out Of Pocket

The school provides little support and you pay out of your salary. Eek! Think twice about signing a contract under these conditions. ISR posted an informative discussion on this particular housing issue.

Red Flags

Keep your eyes open.

• 10-month housing contract, meaning you’d have to vacate during the summer. Who needs that?

• Substandard (moldy, bad condition) or literally nothing livable in your price range available.

• Hidden costs that pop up without warning. Check who pays water, utilities, and Internet.

• The rental agreement in your name, not the school’s, which means you can be at the landlord’s mercy regarding repairs, safety, and deposit return.

• The school might assign you shared housing with a random teacher of the same sex. Again, who needs that?

Mechanics of Getting Settled

“When you’re safe at home you wish you were having an adventure; when you’re having an adventure you wish you were safe at home. – Thornton Wilder”

OK. You are indeed having an adventure. But here’s a checklist to be sure you don’t forget anything important:

1.     Register with the police – this is why you have a work visa. The school should arrange this.

2.     Electricity and heat or A/C – occasionally, heat for the entire building goes on on the same date and you have no control.

3.     Water – if you can’t flush the toilet paper, don’t drink the water.

4.     Mail – may go through the school.

5.     Internet and Wi-Fi – crucial to your well-being.

6.     Food shopping – explore local markets and expat stores.

7.     Paying bills – in school-supplied housing, you never even see the bills.

8.     Cash and banking – where and how. More on this in MONEY.

In the best case your school agent and new teacher mentor deal with all this. If not, you will have to make the arrangements, be present at the housing to let in workers, plus all picky details of renting.

 Scenarios For Outfitting Your Home Overseas

1.     You inherited a more or less completely outfitted apartment or made use of the teacher garage sale before you left, so you’re covered. You made contact with current or departing teachers to ask what you should ship. Good on you for preparing in advance. As always Amanda has pertinent and detailed advice, like be sure bring a Halloween costume. Who knew?

2.     School housing has the basics and you are provided with a relocation allowance and taken on field trips to stores where you can finish outfitting the place.

3.     Neither 1 nor 2, so you’re on your own and have to scramble.

It is almost impossible to overstate how important your home will be as a refuge and sanctuary. So prepare as well as you can in advance.

Note: do not take privacy for granted. An American landlord is required to give 24-hour notice and usually does. In Russia the FSB (formerly KGB) can make its agents at home in your apartment while you’re at work, listen in, and otherwise snoop freely. Several female teachers who lived alone would return in the evening and find the toilet seat up and coffee cups in the sink. Get over it.

Too bad they don’t vacuum and tidy up while they’re snooping.

Moving Pets Overseas

““That’s good chicken. No, it’s good dog.”
-Micronesian villager to Peace Corps Volunteer”

 Cultural Norms

Attitudes towards pets, particularly dogs, are country-specific. In Austria, for instance, dogs are coddled; in less-developed countries, street dogs may run in feral packs and pet owners are considered nuts.

America’s love of pets has grown exponentially and many international school teachers will bring/want to bring their pet. But as always, do your research in advance.

Can You Take Your Pet Overseas?

Let’s start with worst-case scenario.

1.     It simply may not be possible. Some countries/ schools refuse to permit entry to certain pets or breeds, period.

2.     Sometimes it’s easy-peasy. France loves its dogs and you might find yourself with Fido in a sidewalk café without a lot of trouble.

3.     The process is not easy or cheap, but it can be done.

 In each of these instances, you must do your research early. If Fido or Fluffy is a member of your family, confirm details with the school and study the country’s regulations before you sign a contract. Some issues are country-specific and some are school-specific. Make sure you deal with each.

#1 – Not Possible.

Before you even begin recruiting, research the breed you hope to bring with you. It could be the breed is banned, or quarantine is so restrictive that it would be cruel.

Once you have decided to interview with a particular school, clarify their policy on pets. Be up front and don’t waste their time and yours.

It may be that the landlord for school housing does not permit pets. The school may say ‘no pets’ and they pay your salary. It may be the administration has had bad experiences with troublesome pets and won’t hire you.

But if the answer is “sure, we hire people with pets,” then go to #2 or #3

#2  Easy

Either no quarantine or very short, a reasonably inexpensive process, pet-friendly city, suitable housing. But be sure to Google living conditions for pets in general.

•    Are there dog parks? A decent place to walk the dog?

•    Can the animal ride on public transport?

•    Are pet sitters available? What about summer and other vacations?

•    Will I need a yard? Can cats be let outside?

•   Is the climate too difficult? (Think Russia or Dubai)

• What are vaccination requirements and availability of veterinary services?

 #3 Not Easy Or Cheap But Can Be Done

There will be a lot of bureaucratic and organizational hoops, and be sure you have the cash to cover expenses. I’ve heard instances of up to $5,000.

But many teachers have successfully shipped their pets; it can be done. Companies like PetRelocation specialize in these details if you don’t want to do it on your own. The best piece of advice is to confer with school staff who have transported and now live with their pets. What is their experience?

 Transportation Mechanics

“Our perfect companions never have fewer than four feet. - Colette”

 Study this discussion from teachers who have gone through the process. Pay particular attention to their description of the preparatory work involved and how complex it can be. Again, you can pay a service or do the legwork on your own.

1.     Shipping crate preparation

2.     Health papers and vaccinations required

3.     Airline choice and route

4.     Temperature restrictions

5.     Checked luggage or cargo?

 What Is Best For the Animal

 The comments in this discussion are illuminating and some of the stories terribly sad. But if transporting your pet isn’t possible, there are typically plenty of adoption and fostering opportunities to fill the void.

 But above all else, keep the animal’s best interests as your top priority. You want to leave a Newfoundland alone all day in a 390 square foot apartment? Or provide kitty with an unhappy new lifestyle?

Everyday Concerns Like Food and Water

“           “Don’t drink the water!””

 You’ve made it through the first days and your house is more or less set up to your satisfaction. You are even awaiting the arrival of your shipment in about 6 weeks. Time to organize the basics of everyday living.

 Water and Bathrooms

Verify that this is a safe behavior.

Let’s start with water, which you should research ahead of time. “If you can’t flush the toilet paper, you can’t drink the water.” In the developing world drinking local water can be life-threatening,

With any luck, the school will provide bottled water for your housing; in Russia trucks came by with 5 gallon water bottles and installed them in a dispenser in our kitchen.

Or you may get lucky and tap water is fine. Just confirm. And before you rely on disposable plastic water bottles, consider the environmental impact and use your own bottle, please.

 Other bathroom features might be different than what you are accustomed to but might actually be an improvement. The toilet may be in a tiny separate room; water in the bath/shower may be heated with a wall-mounted water heater.

Toilets come in a dizzying array of layouts, but just remember that these differences are why you left home in the first place.

 Food Shopping Overseas

Options to keep yourself fed:

Our “pickle lady” at the reenok (farmer’s market) in Moscow.

1.     Local market including farmer’s markets - explore your neighborhood. This is where your exotic new life comes into focus. If you are a foodie and like to cook, become a regular.

2.     Local shops will be an adventure. In Russia there were 20 flavored vodkas and loads of root vegetables. In Dubai the row of olives and the fruit juice display seemed to stretch the length of a football field.

In many countries the default is daily grocery shopping and schlepping the bags back home. But this way of life seems to be vanishing in favor of large supermarkets.

3.     Shops catering to expats – you are bound to pay more, a lot more, but the staff will speak English and you are likely to recognize items.

4.     Superstores – if you have access to a car and adequate storage, this might work. Or perhaps a colleague would take you along on a shopping trip. These Walmart sort of superstores are becoming more and more common.

5.     Eat on campus – if you work at a boarding school, you can always eat with the kids. But it gets tiresome after a while.

6.     Eat out – this can get expensive and it is easy to fall into the same expat restaurants over and over. McDonalds and its ilk are worldwide.

7.     Get a cook – it depends, but this person can take care of the day-to-day grind and get a much better deal at the markets.

Food Cravings (and Children)

You (and your family) will absolutely be overcome with the deep need for comfort food on occasion. You and/or your children may have particular dietary requirements or worse, be picky eaters.  So let’s strategize.

1.     You cannot possibly take enough peanut butter to last two years. So you can either do without, buy Nutella, score a local source, or make your own. Peanut butter is, after all, just ground peanuts with salt and honey. In other words - be flexible and buy a grinder.

2.     If you need to be gluten-free or have other restrictions, you might very well be better off in certain culinary traditions. India anyone? But do your research in advance.

3.     Children mirror mom and dad’s attitudes. If you express culture shock through picky eating, your kids will probably do the same. That’s OK now and again, but you won’t last if you don’t pull up your socks.

 Medical Care Overseas

“Plan for the worst and hope for the best.”

In CONTRACTS you should have verified exactly what your medical benefit covers or does not cover. But verify these details.

o   Deductibles?

o   Reimbursement scheme or insurance billed?

o   Travel coverage? Out-of-country coverage?

o   Limits and exclusions?

o   Evacuation coverage?

o   Dependents coverage? Pregnancy and childbirth?

o   Disability or major illness?

 I hate to be depressing, but medical insurance is all about the worst case scenario. Just hope you never need to test the limits of your coverage, but read the fine print to avoid nasty surprises.

 Plan Ahead In Advance Of Need

Two issues you need to sort right away:

1.     What happens if an emergency occurs? Is there a 911 system? Does the school or Embassy have emergency contacts? Find out and put this number on speed dial.

2.     What if you have a pre-existing condition and require medication or treatment? Find out if you can bring the medicine into the country or if there is a local substitute; inquire about getting a physician.

Medical Tourism

You might be surprised to learn which countries have been ranked best healthcare. Expat teachers will be in a separate Western hospital/doctor system, most likely.

I needed an emergency eye treatment in Thailand and the doctor had trained in Boston. In Oman the emergency room stitched a bad cut for free and the staff spoke English. Ditto in France when my brother injured his eye.

 Self-Care

Above all else, take care of yourself.

o   Get plenty of exercise even if the traffic/weather/filth/crowds/pollution are too bad for outdoor exercise and you have to use a gym.

o   Avoid self-medicating with too much alcohol or with drugs.

o   Don’t short yourself on sleep; make your bedroom as quiet and soothing as possible.

o   Cultivate your support network.

Same old, same old advice, of course, but it’s far more crucial while you are adapting to a brand new way of life far from home.    

Technology Basics

“We are stuck with technology when what we really want is just stuff that works. - Douglas Adams”

Electricity

If a solar flare destroyed the electrical grid (SEE Dystopian fiction) technology and its blessings would end. So if you expect to maintain a 21st century lifestyle overseas, confirm the reliability of the electrical grid before your departure.

French plugs

Also verify the power system (most likely 220 V) and plugs. Generally speaking, laptop computers can switch seamlessly between 110 and 220 volts.

Small household appliances, not so much. Printers, hair dryers, kitchen appliances? Best to skip buying adapters and 30 pound transformers and just buy locally, or better yet, buy from departing teachers in the teacher garage sale.

Internet

Network and Internet reliability are local and unique to your school and city. As always, try to confirm the situation in advance. Some schools did not invest in a fast, reliable network and staff the IT department with capable people, meaning those big dreams of interactive whiteboards in the classroom and streaming Netflix at home are just that – dreams.

Always remember there is a difference between PR and reality, so take the school website with a big lick on the salt block in this regard and trust but verify. 

Censorship and Security Overseas

The next issue is national and even global. Some countries don’t give a hoot about free speech and they censor or block information on the web. Google, YouTube, Facebook, news sites, and Twitter may even be blocked. What a time-saver. Just prepare yourself.

 Some countries are hacker heavens and you’d be wise to take security into account. The only defense users really have is to pay for a VPN (virtual private network) which hides your IP address and encrypts all the data you send and receive.                                                

It’s not perfect but it helps. VPN is a good idea even at home, but particularly out in a public unsecured coffee-shop WIFI setting, especially online banking. Ounce of prevention…

 Backups and Password Managers

A word about the most crucial failsafe of all: backup. It is not a matter of whether your hard drive will fail, but when.

If you want an instant headache, imagine the disaster your life will become when failure occurs and you did not backup properly: 15,000 photos lost/ five years’ worth of brilliant lesson plans/ financial records/ and so forth. Experts suggest the rule of three.

1.     Make three copies.

2.     Use two different formats minimum like an external hard drive + Dropbox or Backblaze in the Cloud.

3.     Store one copy off-site and or even on paper.

And of course your best computer friend is the password manager, if you don’t already use one. It’s a jungle out there and along with a VPN, these tools provide another level of protection.

 Staying In Touch 

““Distance sometimes lets you know who is worth keeping, and who is worth letting go. - Lana Del Rey”

Cell Phones

As  always, do your homework first. Cell phone issues differ when you are a traveler as opposed to a resident.  

o   Want to keep your current phone number? Can your phone be unlocked? Check with your current carrier. Typically you have to own the phone.

o   What do teachers at your school use for cell phones? What about a local SIM card?

o   Would you want to be tied to a two-year contract? In some countries, you will need to prove you’ve paid it off before receiving an exit visa.

o   What about when you are traveling and not at your new school? This advice is from Rick Steves, the PBS travel-guru.

Electronic Mail

Communicating with family and friends is a long long way from aerograms and waiting two hours at the local post office for a 3-minute phone call. We are so lucky today. FaceTime, Skype, email, blogs – there is no excuse for not being in touch, as long as you have a good internet connection.

Paper, Physical Mail, and Packages

As always, it depends. Sometimes letters and packages need to go through diplomatic pouch. Sometimes mail and packages will come directly to your home or the school. Or maybe you do without altogether.

In some countries corruption rules and customs workers may view your package like a Christmas present, so the item may or may not arrive in one piece, or ever. 

Amazon, FedEx, and UPS do ship internationally but not everywhere; check with your school on delivery options. Be aware of customs regulations and duties. And of course, international shipping will cost a lot more than you are used to.

 Social Media

More on this later, but let’s just be clear – it’s a jungle out there. Remind yourself that social media provides zero expectation of privacy. You may post a blog with opinions you may regret later and these words will follow you forever. Caveat Emptor.

 Transportation

“You won’t need to go to the gym
to get your heartrate up.

”

Options For Getting Around

Let’s run through your choices, from easiest to most “exciting”:

1.     If you live on campus at a boarding school, just walk to work and go home for lunch. Even so you will need to get into town or go traveling on breaks; that means car-sharing, renting a vehicle, or taking public transport.

2.     School-provided transportation could mean a bus to take teachers to and from school housing every work day.

3.     Public transportation infrastructure is frequently much better overseas, and the typical big-city resident won’t even own a car. Automobiles are too expensive, for one thing.

4.     Hire a driver. Sure, it’s expensive but it is also stress-free and provides employment to a local.

5.     Buy a car or motorcycle. Maximum independence. After all, you teach overseas to explore, don’t you?

Car Ownership

For us this ranged from a Samoan car so rusted we could see the road through the holes in the floor to a bright green Jeep for dune-bashing in Dubai. We had two accidents in Thailand where they drive on the left, but otherwise emerged unscathed and do not regret buying a car and driving.

Some things to watch out for:

1.     Get local advice to help with the purchase and someone you can trust. Ask around school.

2.     Buy a common car, nothing fancy or unusual or flashy. You’re going to be a target anyway with your expat license plates.

3.     City streets can be narrow and parking spaces tiny, so keep size in mind.

4.     Some countries permit driving on your American license but some require driving lessons and road tests, which can be a royal hassle, but interesting. Check before you go to see if an international driver’s permit from AAA will do the trick.

Cultural Norms

Getting to work might end up being the most exciting part of your day and not in a good way. In some countries you will learn the true meaning of defensive driving. As always it’s a jungle out there, in some countries more than others. Be careful. Below are my evaluation of various driving environments I lived through:

1. Lawless, chaotic, and downright dangerous. That was Moscow. Way too many vehicles, a culture of corruption and entitlement, and inexperienced drivers produced a toxic brew.

2.  A sense of fatalism and entitlement, plus big heavy expensive cars and drivers who trusted to Allah and not traffic regulations to keep them safe. That was Dubai.

3. A relaxed Buddhist go-with-the-flow attitude seemed to make traffic flow by magic, except for the horrendous traffic death numbers. That was Chiang Mai, Thailand.

4. A Teutonic adherence to order made the roads very safe, if somewhat anal. That was Vienna.

 Moving On

“Life is like riding a bicycle. To keep your balance you must keep moving. -Alibert Einstein”

Occasionally expats may find the place they were meant to be and spend the rest of their lives there. Most of you, however, will sooner or later be moving on.

Let’s start with the most common reason for departure, meaning a new overseas school. Then we will move down the list to the least common reason (evacuation, either medical or political).

Basic Advice

1.     Plan as far in advance as possible.

2.     Set aside money in savings. These moves require liquidity.

1. Next School

You just perform the moving process all over again, but backwards. For instance you are not the one buying from the garage sale but the one selling or giving things away.

You have been through the shipping allowance experience, so none of this will be as stressful as the first time.

Keep an eye on the recruiting calendar, meaning that the autumn of Year Two (or Three or Four) you will need to give notice and start looking.

Since you are overseas already, you may be able to attend an overseas fair in Bangkok, for instance. Or you may have developed enough contacts that you can recruit directly or digitally.

2. Home For The Summer, Or Not

This is the default, especially for families. Grandma and grandpa want time with those kids, plus there is a lot of shopping and visiting to do. You will want to reconnect with friends and go camping/rock-climbing and other things you cannot do in Dubai, for instance.

Home for the summer with friends, family, and familiar pleasures.

Or you can just stay and travel like a relaxed tourist in the wonderful place you call home. Visitors can be expected no doubt, and it’s a lot easier to host when you are not working. Conditions like weather might make this too difficult, of course, depending on where you live (rainy season/extreme heat/hordes of tourists.)

Your Apartment During Summer Break

1. You can leave the apartment vacant and arrange for the guards, your cleaner or some school staff member to keep an eye out; be sure to pay them generously.

2. Depending on where you live, you might be able to arrange a house exchange. Teachers from Mumbai spent three weeks in my house summer 2019, for instance, and I just had a request from Barcelona teachers in 2021. 

3. Maybe an overseas teacher from elsewhere might want to stay in your apartment; put out the word on the grapevine.

4. Some low-end school housing allowance only covers the school year and you must relocate for the summer. The cure for this is to (a) confirm the details in advance and (b) don’t take that job.

3. Breaking Contract

Sometimes the school is just too awful or health issues or a family emergency arise, and you need to skip town. The bottom line is that the administration will not be inclined to be helpful or cough up money.

You’re on your own. This is when you will need teacher and staff allies to help you. Also be careful about regulations for an exit visa, or you might not get out of the airport.

4. Evacuation

Once in a great while, a natural or political disaster means the school needs to evacuate for safety. Think of Paradise, CA and how little time residents had to flee. If this sort of evacuation seems even faintly possible, prepare yourself with a safe bag.

1.     Important papers, especially passport and laptop with backups

2.     Cash (several hundred dollars or Euros in small bills)

3.     Small suitcase with the most necessary items.

5. Home For Good

This can mean either retirement in your home country or overseas where things are cheaper, or going back to work stateside. Since in this instance you fulfilled the contract, the school will provide transportation and shipping, as per the contract.

Details That Can Derail Your Move Home From Overseas

Follow the advice of the business office to the letter regarding cancellation of contracts/rental agreement and deposits/car payments/and so forth.

You have to pay your final bills and prove it. Schools typically have favorable arrangements with landlords and do not want to jeopardize future business.

You’ll be selling or giving away all sorts of things either you won’t need or do not have the shipping allowance to take home with you.

Some shipping advice? Remember that your stuff will arrive back home weeks or even months later. Decide how long you wish to live without your household goods overseas.

Note: There are tax implications regarding bona-fide international residents i.e. staying out of the country a certain number of days . Go sit on a beach somewhere to make the yearly minimum and avoid paying US taxes. More on this later in MONEY.

But for now you live in a new world, the Expat world. You’re an official member of this tribe.

5.2 The Expat Bubble

The Expat Bubble

“Stranger in a strange land. - Robert Heinlein”

Think about a bubble or snow globe. On the one hand, everything inside is protected. On the other hand whatever is inside, in this case you, is isolated and frozen in place. This is the essence of the expat lifestyle, both good and bad.

I remember how lucky we were to attend the Vienna Opera Ball; I hadn’t brought a ball gown, of course, but managed to buy one from the Embassy’s used clothing outlet. There we were in the balcony at midnight watching the flower of Viennese youth dance to the Blue Danube waltz, naturally. But we were on the outside looking in. We had not attended tanzschule (dance school) every week in middle school, nor been fitted for a long white evening dress or black tails in high school. We were just onlookers. Expats, in other words.

Your employer offers school housing support, you earn many times more than the local school staff, and you can expect a lifestyle you could never afford in your home country. You have the opportunity to travel widely and your worldview is forever changed. You are privileged.

Expat Hazards and Traps

“You have been trapped in the inescapable net of ruin by your own want of sense. - Aeschylus
”

— https://www.brainyquote.com/topics/trapped-quotes

In spite of these advantages, culture shock and homesickness will no doubt sideswipe you at some point. It’s a long way back home, and where exactly is home anymore? This sense of dislocation and frustration can lead to some bad expat behaviors. Let’s start with a lack of discretion.

 Social Dangers

Photo by John Arano on Unsplash

The expat life has two features which can lead to disasters. One is a frequent temptation to drinking, drug use, and subsequent stupid behavior. Expat life is generally very social. Then add in the attraction of duty free liquor with the frequent passing through airports. This means plenty of opportunity to make an ass of yourself.

The second characteristic of expat life is its small-town feel.  We’ve discussed this before, but the international school community is more like moving to Drain, Oregon than to New York City, at least in terms of everyone knowing your business. Social media makes things even worse.

Protect Your Reputation

Your reputation is golden, so develop strategies for protecting it.

• Confide only in trusted friends or family.

• Do not post indiscreet comments on social media, or at least give yourself a waiting period before going live.

• Verify that your behavior is in line with local norms, especially sexual and dating norms.

• Take sensible precautions when out drinking or clubbing.

Loneliness and Negativity

“The Slough of Despond. - John Bunyan”

Loneliness is a normal feature of human life; a person can be bitterly lonely in the midst of even social uproar, plentiful activity, and tight family ties. You may be more or less an extrovert or introvert. But certain features peculiar to expat life lend a different flavor and require dealing with.

 Elements Peculiar To Expat Loneliness

For one thing you are far from home and will at some point suffer from culture shock. This disorientation and homesickness can lead to bouts of piercing isolation and loneliness, even clinical depression.

Staying In Touch

You would not be suffering from culture shock at home, as this is the water you have swum in since you were born. All is familiar and comfortable.

The lifestyle is also inherently transient. Most expats will not be spending their lives in the country but will move on within a few years. This means maintaining friendships will be more difficult; most of these relationships will fade away over time.

Compare this to camping with a friend you have known since middle school. There is a history, an ease, an intimacy impossible to recreate with a member of the nomadic expat herd. This lack may wear on you over time.

Cultures also vary in their social openness and warmth. Some cultures are at ease welcoming foreigners, while others hold back and socialize mainly with family and long-time friends or take a long time to accept an outsider.

Compare gregarious Italians to reserved British, for instance. You may feel left out. You are left out; you’re a foreigner. Language will also be a barrier, of course.

 Particular Expat Categories

1. Families and couples typically respond in two ways: they either fall apart or they pull together. Fractures in relationships will be spackled over temporarily in the excitement, change, and stimulation. Children ditto; they might be overwhelmed or they may thrive.

2. You’d think singles, particularly women, might be particularly susceptible to loneliness. Yes and no. On the bright side, the peculiar setup of most international schools can lead to plentiful opportunities to defeat loneliness, mainly the proximity of living in school housing.

3. A teacher does not need to retreat to a solitary apartment and see nobody until school starts again on Monday. Just go down the hall and see if somebody is going to the Reenok (open-air market) Saturday morning or wants to buy season tickets to the Bolshoi ballet. Ditto for finding a travel companion.

4. If you’re not interested in dating, you’ll find plenty of girlfriends or guy friends to do things with. If you do want to date, here are two links. This thread highlights the “homely Western man dates beautiful local woman” situation. This one summarizes some pitfalls of dating locals; you could also just date another expat.

5. If you are gay, socializing may be easy or more difficult depending on the country, and more or less discretion may be required. But finding a community is not impossible; just do some research and persist.

Staying In Touch

Thanks to modern technology, contact has become immeasurably easier. However, in one way Facetiming too frequently may actually worsen loneliness. For one thing digital contact is second-hand and lacks the intimacy of human contact through the five senses.

The blogger cited above has some pertinent things to say about the downside of being far from home. Making local friends overseas is a delicate dance and she notes aptly that “we carry the burden of staying in touch.” She is a trailing spouse and must have had a bad day.

Too-frequent contact could also mean that you are so closely tied to home that you may set yourself up for increased homesickness. After all, you are missing out on the action. At low points you may yearn to rejoin them on the other side of the screen.

 Dealing With Loneliness

If you are a gregarious extrovert, you require lots of social stimulation, while an introvert is perfectly happy spending large amounts of time alone recharging batteries. Whichever you call yourself, the primary way to deal with expat loneliness is positive action.

If you wait around for someone to rescue you from loneliness, you really will be lonely. You must force yourself out the door, make an action plan, approach people, become a joiner even if it feels unnatural.

Unhappy In The Bubble

Here are some behaviors that mean you might be stuck in a dangerous rut.

You isolate yourself; whine incessantly to friends and family back home; take up heavy drinking or emotional eating; devote all your free hours to binge-watching anything available; align yourself at school with the negative crowd who have nothing good to say about the country and school.

You may actually tip over into clinical depression, putting you in serious danger. This may lead you to break contract and go home. You may fall into an emotional state that calls for professional help. Or you may just remain miserable the entire time overseas, never to return.

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What Doesn’t Kill You…

If you do survive culture shock and its attendant bout of loneliness, congratulate yourself. You are now officially a stronger, more resilient, more empathetic person.

We will next discuss how to avoid falling into this negativity trap in the first place, the boring stuff like get plenty of exercise. But by far the best defense is choosing the right friends.

Which friends you choose makes all the differences. If you hang out only with negative people in the bubble, guess what? Your time overseas will be either ruined or seriously compromised. So let’s move on to coping strategies.

Social Life

“You gotta have friends. - Bette Midler”

If you expect to survive culture shock, never mind thrive, you need friends. Who will these friends be?

 School Community

We’ve touched on your cohort, the colleagues you stumbled off the plane with and went through orientation together. This is an intense relationship, and they most likely will be your first group of friends.

Also, if you are in school housing, socializing is just like a college dorm; knock on next door and invite whoever answers over for coffee. At school there will be your fellow teachers. Easy-peasy. These friendships are the path of least resistance.

Some of these friendships will be lifelong while some will fade away when or if you move on with the nomadic tourist-teacher herd. The title of this article hits the nail on the head. Wanderlust gene: how expats can spot each other at 50 paces by Kate Lord Brown. “You skip several months of ‘getting to know you,’ she says. Exactly.

But while you are together overseas, you will almost certainly be closer than you would back in your home country by the intense nature of your shared experiences and everyday proximity. You take the school bus to work, eat lunch and work together, live down the hall, and inhabit the same expat bubble.

The wider school community also provides options: parents, classroom assistants and other school staff, parents of your children’s friends, expat community members you meet through school events and activities.

 Outside the School Community

If you have a particular interest or existing affiliation, the pathway to a wider friendship circle just opened up. This is one of the healthiest ways to combat loneliness and negativity.

The Moscow AV guy was the Maori husband of a New Zealand diplomat. He loved rugby and back in Auckland, performed the haka even though he was the sweetest and least scary man. In Moscow he immediately joined the Moscow Dragons RFC and found a diverse gang of friends right away.

The advantage to seeking out a wider circle is that you cannot just bitch about the school copy machine, the unfair administration or parents from hell. Guess what? Nobody cares; they’re involved in their own concerns.

And guaranteed, these new friends will all have interesting stories. Teachers tend to be a certain kind of personality with similar life experiences. Expats in your new expanded circles will be different and have fascinating stories. Go for it.  

Having Fun Overseas

 Join, Explore, and Travel

 Be open to growth and get your butt out the door. The possibilities are endless once you start looking. If you are a runner, look up Hash House Harriers (“a drinking club with a running problem.”) Join a Trivia Night team at your local. Attend church. Volunteer at the orphanage. Join the birding group, go salsa dancing, take a cooking class, sign up for walking tours. Get on the Embassy mailing list and attend outings that interest you; search Meetup or similar expat sites.

Adventures and pleasures sort themselves in categories, starting with the prime motivator for teaching overseas, meaning travel.

1. Travel

2. Home entertaining

3. Culture

4. Sports and outdoor activities

5.   Clubbing and going out

Travel

Start with the activities mentioned above, get out the door and engage with the city and country. Between your teacher-friends and the new expanded circle you’ve cultivated, chances to travel together will come up.

Travel, of course, is one of the prime reasons to teach overseas, so do not turn down any chances. Most likely teachers have a relationship with a local wizard travel agent who can put together trips and find amazing deals. Cultivate this person.

Since you now live overseas, you can take the overnight train with friends to Venice just to eat Italian food. You can spend spring break at a Red Sea resort or attend the theater in London, and all of this without a 14-hour transatlantic flight and jet lag.

 Entertaining

Since expats live for all practical purposes in a small town, dinner parties and gatherings seem to be more common than back home, where you might typically be inclined to have the weekend pizza-movie night and a big shopping trip to Costco on the weekend agenda.

Eventually, people run out of energy for throwing parties, but then they can move on to the next posting and start all again.

Overall, expats seem to fall more into the extrovert group, not the introvert. Something about the fact that they all rolled the dice and abandoned their old lives makes them particularly outgoing sorts in the first place.

 Culture

If opera, art museums, and music matter to you, let’s hope you factored this into where you applied. In Moscow we regularly attended the Bolshoi and in Vienna the opera, for instance. Just find like-minded friends, figure out how to stay informed, and go. Life is short.

 Sports and outdoor activities

This club is a ready-made group of friends.

If sports and the outdoors are very important to you, check out the possibilities a bit ahead of time. Consider bringing your own equipment and start looking for like-minded expats or locals even before you arrive.

 Clubbing and Going Out

Do some research first and gather local sources of events and locales. Research the limitations and norms. For instance, Spanish restaurants may not even begin serving dinner until 11 pm. In some countries drunk driving laws are strictly enforced, and I mean strictly.

In some countries homosexuality is actually a crime, so best be discreet. Hundreds of expats are currently residing in foreign prisons for drug smuggling, so rethink careless drug use.

Top 10 Overseas Survival Skills Recap

1.    Understand basic everyday differences.

2.    Respect an alternate worldview

3.    Successfully navigate the expat bubble.

4.    Survive the stages of culture shock.

5.    Accept the differences from Western values.

6.    Rely on common sense ways to stay safe.

7.    Maintain healthy social life and friendships.

8.    Keep your family and children happy.

9.    Deal with family and friends at home.

10.  Go back home and readjust successfully.   

You’re about to have the time of your life. Have fun!