Making A Moving House To Do List

Moving abroad can be an incredibly stressful thing. With this in mind, you should really make yourself an all encompassing moving house to do list. It's well worth spending a decent amount of time on this, as one single moving house to do list with all the important information you'll need will be a godsend in the coming weeks and months. So what needs to go into this document?

First off on your moving house to do list will be to sort out the finances involved in the move. This will include things like taxation. If you're moving to the EU, there are many ways to offset your tax burden, so schedule time with the tax office and get some solid advice. This will include pension forecasts and social security.

Similarly, health issues should be looked into. Finding out what your rights are as regards healthcare is important for your family, and should be one of the first things on your moving house to do list.

What about if you have a home in the UK that you are keeping to rent out or sell. You will have to let your mortgage lender, insurance provider and council know. You will also have to think about your children if they are still of schooling age. Have you found an expat school for them? Putting this on your moving house to do list and getting the children involved will help ease what will almost inevitably be a stressful experience for all concerned.

Then, of course, you need to think about the actual nuts and bolts of moving. Are you going to use a delivery auction website, or are you going to find the cheapest quote yourself? It might be prohibitive to move all your belongings, depending on where you're moving, but are you likely to sell it all off, or perhaps put it into storage? All of these considerations should easily make it onto your moving house to do list, but none are as important as ensuring that you and your family go through the move as relaxed as possible.

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Making Life Easier When Moving Overseas

One of the great opportunities that some people experience is the ability to live and work in another country. There is a significant difference between moving to a country where English is a well accepted and spoken language by the majority of the population and a non-English speaking location. The non-English speaking environment has some obvious issues with communication. However, the challenges of both are in some respect just as difficult and initially everyday living may not be easy.

In both situations, the major issues to deal with are finding somewhere to live, finding schools, understanding transportation, how to travel around, grocery shopping and what is available to do in your leisure time. However, in a non-English speaking country there can be an advantage in that often there is a tight expatriate community that can be tapped into that is always very helpful. It can be a source of quick and targeted information because there will always be someone who already has the knowledge. This is particularly true if you have school age children. With most people sending their children to an English or American school with a concentration of expatriates, making friends can be just that bit easier as everyone is or has been in a similar position. As such many parents will meet through school functions or just dropping children off at school.

On face value an English speaking environment may seem easier and in some respects is. At least the language is relatively similar although there are differences in expressions and interpretation of language. One of the key problems is finding new friends. Many find it difficult to find and develop relationships with others and will rely on work colleagues to help them along the way. In many places, the expatriate community may not be as well organized and so this avenue is not as readily available.

Having children becomes a great catalyst for integrating into a community. You will meet other parents, but it is not may not be like an expatriate community. In many cases parents drop off while rushing to work and don't stop to meet and chat with others. Therefore, participation in sport can be a big factor and if both parents and children join sports clubs the ability to meet others and settle in is dramatically enhanced.

The key to success of any overseas transfer may not necessarily be the work itself, but the ability to quickly settle into life and become comfortable in a new culture. In either case it can be a real benefit to have a helping hand, someone who knows the ropes and can give you expert advice. The ease and speed at which a family undergoing a corporate relocation can settle into a new country will benefit the company significantly.

Some international moving companies will have staff with the knowledge and experience to guide you before you arrive in your new country and be a friendly advisor once you arrive. Moving overseas and taking up a new job and having to quickly fit into the local company culture is difficult enough. However, if your family is settled and enjoying the new experience much of the daily stress can be relieved. This allows you to concentrate on making most of your new appointment.

To assist you, think seriously about engaging a relocation consultant that has the local knowledge to help you and your family settle into a new location quickly. The benefits will far outweigh the costs.

Geoff Cooper has undertaken a number of corporate relocations including two to Asia. His international moving experiences have been significantly enhanced by using the right moving company with international expertise that has a broad range of services to help families settle into their new location quickly and easily.

Making It Easy for Children When Moving Overseas

Moving abroad with children requires a lot of planning in advance to make the transition as easy as possible for everyone. There's no doubt that you'll be faced with hitches along the way, but everything that you can do to prepare in advance for your children's new school needs will help you move your whole family overseas successfully.

Specialist agencies have helped hundreds of teachers and their families move to new teaching jobs abroad. This is the advice they have to offer for anyone moving overseas with school-age children, whatever the reason for your move:

Find out what schools are available in the area that you are moving to. Your company may well offer one, or a limited number of schools that you as a family can send your children to. This may include full payment or a contribution towards school fees. Make sure you know exactly what your company is paying for and the additional costs that you will incur. Tuition fees can just be the start of the expenses with costs for such things as uniform, resources and school trips ending up being very extensive.
Investigate the curriculum your children will be learning in their potential new schools. It may well be a school delivering the English National Curriculum or a curriculum that your children have learnt in their home country, but the approach to learning and the standards may be very different. Your child may well have done some of the work before or may have missed out on parts of the curriculum.
Be prepared for your children to be learning alongside many children where English is their second language. Some parents see this as a very positive experience, others feel that their children are being disadvantaged. Your child may be one of just a few children in the school speaking English. This may be an issue when it comes to making friends. Children can feel very isolated in situations like this or may end up in a very tight group of 'friends' they may otherwise not have chosen, just because of language similarities. Help your child to prepare for this, suggesting ways to make friends through non-verbal actions.
Check out the pastoral care provided within the school. Some schools have an onsite counsellor or assign a pastoral head of year, some schools have a buddy system for new children. Some schools are much better than others at helping new children settle.
Organise an interview with the Headteacher of your children's school upon arrival in your new country. Disclose all information about your children at that point in time; the more the school knows about your children the better they can support them. At this meeting schedule follow-up meetings with the Headteacher so that you can be sure of regular updates on your child's progress as they settle into their new school.
If your child is joining an international school where many expatriate children attend, then expect the school to be the social as well as the learning centre for the community. Parents are often far more involved with school activities, there may be regular family-oriented events and usually plenty of opportunities for parents to volunteer support. This all helps everyone to settle in quickly and easily.
Learn some simple phrases in the host country's language before moving out. Once you're there, use them when you can. This will not only help you to settle in with the local community but will also show your children what a difference making an effort with your local language can make.
Research sport and social clubs in the local community that your children may want to get involved with. It's a great way to get to know local people.

Go in open-minded. Moving to a new country opens up huge possibilities to become immersed in a different culture and this can be a very enriching experience for the entire family. Don't limit your new life entirely to the social community created from the school; be prepared to look further afield. But in your first few weeks, your children's school can be a common ground to help make friends, share experiences and feel a little bit of home away from home.

http://www.findteachingjobsoverseas.co.uk provides services to teachers trained in countries with English as a first language. Particularly the UK and USA but also Australia, and New Zealand amongst others. Our website provides information to help find teaching jobs abroad, teaching jobs overseas, and teaching jobs Europe.