Category: Living Simply

I thought during last school year that I would finish one more year here in China. I had applied to four jobs before that summer but did not get any interviews. Given the start of COVID infections around the world, I thought it was also better to stay. The bonus the school gave did not hurt either.

So this year I actually gave up teaching biology and taught the senior environmental class instead. As the IB classes are two years long, starting a new class as juniors would mean I would leave the biology students in between their two years. I wanted to avoid that disruption. It was also an opportunity to have another colleague experience teaching International Baccalaureate.

I used the same site I did last time: Search Associates. They vet the applicants and the schools and it is much easier to shop around and compare. Many of the countries have age limits for their visas and that eliminated many. I was primarily looking for Africa and Ecuador. Seemd very narrow, but this may be my last school and there are a couple places I want to live and learn the culture. Many African countries I was already too old for. I did apply to a dozen other places in South America and Asia, but international teaching is odd in that they are looking for something specific in the candidate: part of a teaching couple, weird combinations of certifications, or looking for certain diversity or age.

I actually had interviews each with Lusaka, Zambia and Quito, Ecuador. I always wanted to live in Africa. It is a good school, more laid back than China, but the tax rate is high and more difficult to move around and go places. Flights in and out are in and out of many small airports and could take two days. They also did not have health insurance when I go back to the US. The idea of being along the Serengeti was exciting. Security and corruption is an issue but one of the better African countries to be in. I had two interviews and they wanted to offer me the job. Unfortunately, the girl leaving was not sure and the board kept extendimg the final decision they had to make.

In the meantime, I started interviewing with Ecuador. The school is not as great as Lusaka. It will be a little laid back as well. There is corruption and security issues as well but Quito has less issues than neighboring countries. I was offered a contract. I decided to accept it as there was no guarantee the Lusaka position would actually be available (it was in the end). I was put in contact with a present teacher who answered many of my questions and concerns. One concern I had were reviews of student behavior but that really depended upon how you approach a class. The thought of being in Ecuador and seeing much of the continent was exciting. I would also be closer to home and finding a retirement property in the next few years would be easier. I would be able to save approximately the same amount of money in both places though the savings is much less than in Asia. I also think Ecuador offers more for my adventurous side.

Could I have waited and found another job? Possibly. But there are many applicants for jobs right now and my age does not help me there. I also found a school possibly near a place I wanted to live. I kept my online account open just to watch what happens. Of the other dozen applications I had sent, I received no reply. I did get messages from Kuwait and Ningbo China to apply at their school, but was not interested.

Signing a contract takes the pressure off. When the school is on the other side of the world, it means late night interviews. Exhausting. And then waiting to hear back…. But after I signed I still woke up in the middle of the night wondering if I made the right decision. Buyers remorse exists here too and mostly fueled by the daunting task of starting over somewhere else. Every major life decision can lead to that. But everything always works out. It is challenging to uproot yourself and start over in foreign places. New country with its rules, new schools with its procedures, and IB Biology has new curriculum worldwide next year and not even sure the extent of those changes yet.

In the end I liked both of the directors that interviewed me and was excited about both the schools. It will be very different from China and less pay, but also a different pace of work.

And then there is China….. It is becoming difficult to even go from one place to another. They have spent so much energy on testing, identifying contacts, and quarantine that they are not even pushing vaccinations and boosters. They put themselves in a corner and now cannot let the virus spread without over running the hospitals. So now we have been online for 7 weeks. And with the final relaxing of all restrictions has created chaos. I still don’t trust China. Local areas can have their own rules that is more extreme than the national policy. We will see.

I had wanted to write this post earlier but teaching online, testing daily, and other facets of life took over. Here is to new experiences!