FAQ

Why do you write this blog?

• Over the years, I've found a comfort in blogging and writing. As such, I've enjoyed finding other blogs to follow myself. Yet I've almost never seen a blog from someone who is actually a trained professional in education work overseas. It's common to see stories from folks who decided they need a change in life, go a TEFL/TOEFL certification, and then moved around the world to "start a new adventure". No knocking folks here, I'm all for it! I've moved across the world for my own adventure too! Yet they're not trained, experienced, forged-in-the-experiential-fires-of-the-American-classroom-teacher. So here I am!

Are you really a trained teacher?

• Yes! I earned a Bachelors of Science in social studies education and psych and a Masters of Ed in international education. I also hold licenses in North Carolina as well as from National Geographic, the AP College Board, and Mental Health First Aid. In addition to teaching for over ten years both internationally and in my home country (the US), I've also received several awards for my abilities and worked in several other capacities as well (such as being the grade level team lead and a mentoring teacher).

How many countries have you visited? Which were for work and which were for fun?

• To date (2022), I've visited eighteen countries around the world. The following were for fun: Canada, Belize, Spain, Morocco, France, Belgium, Netherlands, Finland, Taiwan, Hong Kong, Vietnam, Cambodia, Philippines. I have worked and lived, or visited for a teaching related opportunity, the following locations: Bulgaria, Greece, China, South Korea, and Thailand.

Would you recommend moving and teaching in another country to another trained teacher?

• Yes, in a heartbeat! Teaching is one of those few gifted and lucky fields where we can get paid to do what we love in another place! I never would have been able to experience as much as I did my first time living and working overseas if I had worked in the States. The work load of teaching in the US is so far beyond teaching overseas, and it makes me so sad to see how much work/stress American teachers accept as normal. In other nations, you can do what you love AND have a life as a teacher. I know, *gasp*, crazy talk. /sarcasm
• With that being said, it's not always perfect, easy, or what you expect, and aside from the obvious culture shock you'll experience, moving abroad comes with its own hurdles and struggles that all trained educators should be prepared to face if they decide to take the plunge. 

Why did you move back to the United States if you loved it so much?

• No job is perfect, and neither is any life in my opinion. I had been living overseas for 4 years when I made the decision to go home, specifically in China, and everyone reaches a point where they need a change. By the end of my fourth year, I felt I had missed enough weddings, family birthdays, and experienced enough holidays by myself that I wanted to go home. Honestly, I was also tired. Tired of always being the foreigner, stared at openly, have to work hard for things that would otherwise be simple back home (like figuring out how to get to place "x", or find ingredient "y", etc), and I wanted things to be easier. Thank goodness I listened to my heart, because I met my husband after only being back for one month! 

Where are you living now, and what do you do for work? 

• Currently my husband and I live in Chiang Mai, Thailand and I work as a M2 and M3 English teacher at a school in the area. M2 and M3 basically mean I teach the US equivalent of 7th and 8th grade. 

What would you say is the biggest misconception about teaching overseas?

• That it's this amazing opportunity where all of your students will love you, and you'll be filled with purpose, passion, and happiness. Look, I'm not trying to be a negative Nancy, but I just don't get this whole "perfect job" hype that the internet has for teaching internationally. I mean, it's a job you guys. *shrugs* I'm not saying people can't have happy experiences, find their purpose in life, or genuinely form connections with their students. I myself am still friends with students I taught my first year in Korea and they've either graduated undergrad and gone into the real world, or are in their masters now! I also still fondly think back to my year and half in a hagwon in Korea as truthfully, hands-down, the best job I ever held. I was the happiest in a work place setting I have ever been in my entire life, and loved my kids to the end of the Earth. But that experience isn't normal (one of my best friends was trapped in a hell-hole of a hagwon that wouldn't even pay him regularly!), and a majority of the time you're just a teacher to a class of kids who couldn't care less. For companies that help teachers find teaching jobs overseas, pretending that every day is a magical day filled with laughter, display the job through pictures of teachers smiling with a group of kids captured in a singular moment is the epitome of false advertising. Some companies are honest and upfront, so it's important to listen to them and not get drawn in by dreams in your head.

Have other questions, let me know!