Scribe is right, I was writing about Gems Abu Dhabi which is different from Gems Dubai. Sorry. My mistake.

Just over a year ago, Gems moved to a massive and beautiful new campus in Khalifa City A, on the outskirts of Abu Dhabi. It's in the same area as The Canadian School, Raha School, Horizon and a British school (can't remember the name). There is such demand that many schools have waiting lists. The area seems out of the way but it is developing quickly and you wouldn't have a problem living there. Some really nice bars and restaurants have opened up within the area, and Yas island is very close (if you want a night out without going into the city). I do think it would be difficult to enjoy living or traveling out that way without a car. When I was in Abu Dhabi having a car was a must, and although there are probably more taxis available in Khalifa A now, I wouldn't want to be waiting around every time.

As for the school, the campus is new and beautiful and there is a very international student population. I agree though that this is a high stress school. As with most schools that shell out a load of cash on a new campus, the way to start making the money back is a bums on seats policy, so anyone who pays gets in. I've spoken to quite a few that work, or have worked there and I have only heard bad stories about the way teachers are treated and the excessive work load that is thrown upon them. There is apparently quite a negative atmosphere, though admin have apparently been working hard to boost morale. It does seem that many simply go through their contracts and move on. You don't get so many staying longer than the standard 2 years. That's not always a sign of somewhere bad, but when you see so many people who are seemingly desperate to get out, it doesn't paint a good picture.

Maybe the people who I know are too negative. It Would be interesting to see if anyone has heard things from a different, more positive perspective. My overall impression is that it would be a good place to start out in international schools to get the experience, but beyond that it's not a place you would go to further your career.

Hope this is useful.

I think that it does depend on where you go to some extent. My impression has always been that the better schools really don't seem bothered about appearance at all, but lower schools do show greater emphasis. This was certainly the case when I was in Bangkok years ago. Better schools seem to focus on skills, personality and what you bring to the job rather than appearance. Lower schools seem to have this thing about teachers really "looking the part" to show all the parents how wonderful they are. It's ridiculous really.

Personally, I agree with Sid that "The aim is to make your appearance so professional that it falls into the background, and your personality, skills and experience shine forward".

I've been looking at Korea for a long time and feel quite certain I'll be there next year. A lot has happened in Korea, with some schools now benefiting from a lot of financial support as an effort by the government to develop a few very good schools that make expats less worried about relocating with families. The great thing for me is that the new schools opening up seem to not have the Christian requirement, which usually leaves me unqualified in Korea. I now have new hope.

Seoul Foreign School had a great reputation for a very long time. They have a campus in a prime location, have loads of money, great facilities and a good compensation package. Unfortunately things seems to have gone down a hill a bit there of over the last couple of years so I'd try and get some inside opinion before applying. It also has quite a heavy Christian ethos now and from what I understand employees are expected to follow that.

Dulwich has been open there for 2 years now, I think. Maybe 3.

The new Dwight school has great facilities. It's fully IB but this is only their second year in operation so it'll be a lot of work. Great if you're up for the challenge and are ready to dig your heels in for the long haul though.

Busan International Foreign School is probably the best option outside of Seoul (in my opinion). They're also IB, have good facilities and apparently now have decent packages. They moved campus a couple of years ago and grew a lot in a short time.

There's also one new school on Jeju that's quite appealing but I can't remember which is the better one. About 3 have opened up in the last couple of years and I'm struggling to get any real info about them.

Seoul Foreign School probably has the best reputation, but they've been around for a long time.

Hope this helps. Personally, I think korea is very exciting at the moment. I've been in the Middle East for a few years now and have probably stayed just a year longer than I should have. Looking forward to experiencing something different.

A PD allowance is a great extra little benefit to have. You have the usual PD and workshop stuff provided by the school, and then some extra cash for other PD you're interested in. It's great if you're doing a Masters and also good for attending extra workshops, depending on how much they give.

Whilst I agree in principle with fighting for what you believe in, I simply don't have time to fight about everything Psyguy says that I disagree with. Psyguy might have time to respond to everything, but I have a full time teaching job AND a life outside of the Internet. I just don't have the time Psyguy does.

I still maintain my original assertion that I believe this board would flourish without Psyguy.

AnnieT, I have to disagree with your suggestion that without Psyguy this board would be dead. There have been numerous posts in which people have claimed to be discouraged from contributing to the board due to ignorant, arrogant, false and antagonistic responses from Psyguy. If you know that whatever you say will be shot down in a way that makes you feel bad, then why would you write? No-one likes feeling bad. I also used to comment much more freely on this board, but now comment less so as i find it challenging to prevent myself from "getting into it" With Psyguy. I derive no pleasure from arguing whatsoever. Some have been offended to the point of leaving the board completely. The guy from ISB that deleted all his posts is a perfect example of this. I understand all the stuff about freedom of speech and opinions on a public Internet forum, and I'm fine with that, hence i generally don't join in anti-Psyguy threads. However, I personally believe that this board would flourish without Psyguy.

Boatdrinks, considering your qualifications and experience in the field, you look very suited to Academic roles, but I think it will be difficult to get interviews due to lacking teaching certification and having no experience working with kids. You might get some offers at smaller fairs, but I think the ultra-competitive January Bangkok fair would be a disappointment for you.

In my opinion, any decent Masters in Education (including ESOL education) will be hard work, and I don't doubt you have learnt A LOT that will be applicable to classroom practice, but with you doing a PhD you come across as an ESOL specialist rather than someone who really wants to be in the regular classroom. Convincing people otherwise could be challenging.

There are lot of people in international schools who started out as language school ESL teachers (myself included) liked it, got certified and then moved into international school teaching. They can dress up their ESL experience to some extent by referring to their experience working with kids, and explaining how that endeared them to the profession, but without certification it's hard to get interviews in the first place. If you do get interviews, do you have any experience working with kids that you can draw on, because the question on everyone's mind will be, "You seem like an ESOL specialist, so why now turn to regular classroom teaching?".

You wrote, "I sub at a few schools here in Korea and live near another so I know that most of the students speak Korean as their native language. This is often a problem for IS teachers here". In every school I've worked in, and especially in the language schools I worked in many years ago, teachers have been strongly encouraged to ONLY speak in English. Whereas an understanding of linguistic structure may be beneficial, presenting your knowledge of Korean as a strength in interviews may go against you, especially in schools with a high population of Korean students. I will never forget what my first ESL school boss told me in Taiwan- "They're paying a lot of money because you speak English better than anyone here, so don't rob them by speaking to them with your Chinese". I guess he had a fair point.

It's interesting that you said about your wife teaching Korean. It was in another post recently that someone pointed out something along the lines of "Where there are a lot of Korean students, there are Korean cram schools nearby". I have personally seen these schools, and Koreans go there to learn extra Korean so as to continue to develop proficiency in their native language whilst living overseas, so if you're looking at other countries there could be something in that for you.

Hope this is helpful, or at least gives you a different perspective to draw on.

All the best.

Thanks for the responses. I've personally never worked in an international school that doesn't provide yearly airfares at all, even when i worked in a low end school in Bangkok years ago. Seems like I might want to enjoy the benefit while it lasts.

What are the rules regarding Koreans studying in international schools in Korea now then? Are there any restrictions? I heard that there used to be some rule about only being allowed to study in an int'l school if they'd already lived overseas for a few years, but then I saw some schools having almost all Korean students. Any up to date info on this? (Sorry for going a bit off topic PsychBean but hopefully the info will be useful to you too).

Regarding other schools, I looked at Korea a lot over the last year and will likely do so again within the next year or so. The school I found most appealing was Seoul Foreign School which seems very well established but prefer Christians, which rules me out. The other schools I found interesting were all new(ish) or seemingly on the up, hence my decision to wait for another year or so and see how they go. I think the Dwight school, Busan Int'l Foreign School and the new ones in Jeju are worth keeping an eye on. Personally I want to stay IB so the first 2 of those are more appealing.

In response to dimnds recent post about initial contract airfare I mentioned that the times that I have had issues with airfares have been with the yearly flight allowance. I've worked in a couple of places where they've given me an amount that really would only get me the cheapest of the cheap flights with at least 1 long stop. I know quite a few people who have felt hard done by with yearly flight allowances. On the other hand though, 1 place I worked gave the money in March so teachers could get a good price early on before all the prices went up. I'm not sure how common this is, but I was impressed. What are your experiences with yearly airfares? Is it standard practice to get the money early?

Everywhere I've been have always come good on the intial airfare. One school did ask me for the date I wanted to fly and then sent me the ticket, but everywhere else have reimbursed me, usually at the end of the first month.

The times that I have had issues with airfares have been with the yearly flight allowance. I've worked in a couple of places where they've given me an amount that really would only get me the cheapest of the cheap flights with at least 1 long stop. I know quite a few people who have felt hard done by with yearly flight allowances. On the other hand though, 1 place I worked gave the money in March so teachers could get a good price early on before all the prices went up. I'm not sure how common this is, but I was impressed.

Change of name or otherwise, I would personally avoid anything associated with Siam International School. It was one of those places where you heard so much negative about the place that you didn't think it could possibly all be true, but when you spoke to people who had actually worked there you found out that it really was that bad. Believe all the bad press it has had. It's a few years now since I was in Bangkok and I know that things can change, but I think it's hard for things to turn around when they've been so, so far in the wrong direction.

I disagree about the place getting dressed up more though. One of the biggest sellers was the appearance of the place. The building is very nice and appears to show off a lot of modern facilities. I think anyone could be forgiven for passing by and seeing all their promotional products and thinking "This place looks alright". I think that's why so many people got sucked in, and then let down badly.

The location itself isn't that bad if you're looking to be away from the city. It's about an hours drive from Bangkok centre (if there's only a bit of traffic). There's a massive mall nearby (Future Park) and they were building a new Tesco, but that's about it. The benefit of the location is that you're an hour closer to places north of Bangkok than if you were living in the city. Whether you like the location or not though, I wouldn't even recommend Siam International School to someone I really dislike.

My information is a few (4) years out of date here so hopefully you'll be able to find something a little more up to date from other posters. A couple of my buddies worked there at the time and I must say it seems like quite a nice, small campus. There are only a couple of hundred students and they they vast majority local. It's quite central in a good location close to Victory Monument in Bangkok. At the time the salarary was about 80 baht plus a very average housing allowance. I think that was all before tax too. A few years ago they had difficulty keeping staff with a lot complaining that the work load simply wasn't worth it, but not sure about now.

Good luck.

I'm in my 10th year internationally, and I'm a lifer now. The life has its ups and some horrible downs, but overall I've loved it and wouldn't change it. Even the downs are all part of the learning experience, and they certainly make you stronger.

There was a tough time half way through my second international school (after about 4 years overseas) when I thought, "Shouldn't I be planning on going "home" now? But that was mostly down to peer pressure from seeing friends buying houses at home. I know a lot of people do get pressure to return to "real life". The thing for me was, when I was looking at leaving my second school, I felt down about the idea of getting rid of a load of stuff again and moving on with just a few bags. I started stressing about whether or not I should be setting up properly at home. It was a horrible head vs heart time, but I trusted my heart and stayed overseas. I'm delighted with the decision.

I love living in different countries. The learning just never stops. Even when it's a bad experience, you still come out of it thinking, "I learned something there". The travel experiences are amazing and are limited only by how much you limit yourself. So many people talk about going overseas, and very few of the people that talk about it really do go and do it. But once you've done it once, you realise how easy and enjoyable it is.