Where is the Best Place to Teach Overseas?

Where is the best place to teach overseas? It is hard to decide where to go when you look at the scope of unique and exciting experiences that are available in the different regions around the world. This article is designed to give you information regarding the way your decision about where to teach overseas can affect your lifestyle while you are teaching abroad.

Leisure Activities

Choosing the best place to teach overseas may be tied up in the kinds of things you like to do outside of work. You can continue many of your favorite leisure activities while you teach overseas, or take up new ones. Many international teachers move to regions that allow them to indulge themselves in this way.

If you ski, then Europe and Korea are options you may consider. You can teach in Vienna for example and take a train to the slopes for the weekend.

Divers tend to look for international schools in Thailand or the Philippines. Thailand currently has many more international schools than the Philippines, so you are more likely to find a teaching job there.

Because most international schools are situated in urban or suburban areas, there is usually a wealth of activities you can take part in. While living in Bangkok I have attended Indian musical evenings organized by the Indian Embassy, attended numerous balls, learnt how to ride a horse and taken numerous dancing lessons in many different styles. My colleagues are more adventurous than I, they run in marathons, compete in triathlons, mountain bike, dive, play golf, and the list goes on.

To find out if you will be able to continue your hobbies in different countries you can search on the internet or check out the 'activities' section of the relevant Lonely Planet Guide.

Making Friends

At home you probably have many friends outside of work, this can be difficult to achieve when working at an international school, especially if you frequently move around to different schools.

One key ingredient to making friends with local people can be how much effort you are willing to put into overcoming the language barrier. Learning the local language will also help smooth your life in your host country.

To avoid this issue you can choose to work at an international school in a country where the majority of the population speaks English! In many countries in Western Europe, for example, a large proportion of the population speaks English fluently, so the language barrier is practically nonexistent.

To make friends who are expatriates but not teachers you can join groups like the Hash House Harriers (who organize group runs) and national groups like the New Zealand Society.

Domestic Help

Teachers with children that are looking to teach in a country with a lower cost of living than at home will discover that the lower cost of living also carries across into the cost of child care too, particularly in-home child care.

When you teach abroad you can choose to live and work in a country where you will be able to afford a nanny. Many international teachers with children employ nannies, especially in South East Asia where the cost of living is very low, and as a consequence, local salaries are low too.

Even teachers without children can enjoy the benefits of domestic help in countries where domestic helpers are relatively cheap to employ. Nearly all of my colleagues have maids or cleaners who come in and take care of everything from cleaning the apartment to doing the food shopping and collecting dry cleaning.

Finally

There are many different factors to consider when you are deciding where the best place to teach overseas is for you. But the main thing to keep in mind is that while you may have a wish list of where you want to go and what you want to be able to do once you get there - it may not work out the way you planned.

For example, there may be no teaching vacancies in your specialty in the country of your choice in the year in which you are applying. Or, there may be schools very interested in employing you but not in the region you were hoping for.

The key to being happy and fulfilled when you are teaching abroad is flexibility and a commitment to making it work for you. It is not going to be just like home, you will face challenges, and that is the best part of teaching overseas, no matter where you decide to go!

For more detailed information about Where is the Best Place to Teach Overseas [http://www.teachoverseas.info] get Kelly's Complete Guide to Securing a Job at an International School - now completely revised for 2008!

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Want to Move Abroad? But Where To?

I got an email from an old school friend recently. He had emigrated to Australia a few years back and we had lost touch. However, a chance email from a mutual friend inviting us all to a school reunion gave me his new contact address, and since then we have been catching up.

Like so many of the people now living Down Under he sings the praises of the life there: the sunshine, the outdoors living, the plentiful work and leisure opportunities. For all that, he still misses Europe at times. "I sometimes think having the sun and being closer to home would be nice, and you have that in Spain," he says.

Which underscores the predicament facing many prospective expatriate Brits: where is the best place to move to?

In every survey and poll Australia continues to top the list of the most popular destination for Brits moving abroad. And with good reason. There is the sunshine, of course. And the draw of those wide, sweeping, sandy beaches (just put the sharks out of your mind). Plus the chance to go diving off the Great Barrier Reef, skiing in the Blue Mountains or camping in the Outback.

But there is also the lifestyle. The balance that exists between work and play. The swimming pools and the barbies and the time to spend with family and friends.

It is English-speaking too, which makes the transition and integration so much easier.

On the downside, it is a day's flight away, with a time differential guaranteed to send your body clock haywire. Not the kind of place you can pop back from for the weekend.

As a result, everyone I know who lives there only makes it back for visits to the UK every few years or so. It hardly lends itself to close contact with the family and friends that have remained behind. Going to Oz (or New Zealand) is not just a move abroad, it is a dislocation.

By contrast, Spain - the second most popular British expat destination, and my home - is just a two or three hour plane ride away. Plus the flights are frequent and cheap. And while it may not have the Great Barrier Reef or Bondi Beach, it does have copious amounts of sunshine, fantastic scenery and a rich, vibrant culture.

Unless you speak Spanish though - or can pick it up quickly - integrating is going to be tougher. Without the language you will always remain a foreigner on the margins of the local community, as I see time and time again here.

Which brings me back to that conundrum.

Picking an English-speaking destination with the ease of transition it brings means travelling a long way from home: the States, Canada, parts of the Caribbean, South Africa, Australia or New Zealand. Alternatively, choosing to move somewhere in Europe means overcoming those language barriers.

So which is most appealing to you?

Paul Allen is the author of "Should I Stay Or Should I Go? The Truth About Moving Abroad And Whether It's Right For You," a comprehensive ebook guide for people considering a move abroad. For more details about the book, and to get lots of free information and advice on moving and living overseas, visit his website http://www.expatliving101.com