I'm assuming this is for the QSI Schools there....Astana is run incredibly well, and for it's location, has an amazingly low turnover (I believe 1 person left this year). Other locations, not so much....we are talking 75% turnover.

If in Astana, you will like the city and be fine.

Any other city and stay away - trust me. I'm pretty resilient and it sucked the life out of me in 4 short months.

Pretty much, but I wasn't offered a position immediately because I was a single. They wanted to place all of their couples before placing singles, so I had to wait about 2 weeks to find out where I would be.

I guess it depends on which schools you go to. I didn't do my homework and research and went the "easy" route to go to my current school. It was too easy and I should have known why. There is a serious lack of professional development and resources for me to adequately meet the needs of my students.

It seems like many schools hire via Skype and other ways without the job fair, however, after just a few months, I want some extra reassurances. :)

Well, I got into international education for this school year without doing a job fair and feel that was a HUGE MISTAKE on my part.

This year, I'm not going to do the same thing and am more prepared than ever. With just one year overseas (thank goodness it's just a one year contract) and five years back in the states (primarily with elementary gifted ed), I hope I can be a fit for at least some "tier 2" schools. I just hope there are enough openings.

Thank you PsyGuy and overseas vet for the info. I'm going to an international job fair for the first time and this data is extremely helpful.

Do either of you think that there could be more positions opening up this year as the world economy slowly recovers? I know in the states, the teaching market finally seems to have opened back up a bit (from the glory days of 2006/2007). For a while, at my school back in the states, we would have 200 applications for one position. It was insane! I imagine it was similar in the international teaching arena in the past years.

Thanks psyguy....I created a generic e-mail account

tennisfanusa@yahoo.com

From there I can forward to my real e-mail.

Psyguy, is there a way I can e-mail you some private questions? I'm not sure if you remember me or not, but I'm currently at my first international posting with QSI in Kazakhstan. I'd like to discuss some things with you.

Good luck finding any school that is your perfect and ideal fit, regardless of the criteria. No matter what you do, you have to be flexible. If your friend does this, then there's no reason to not find a number of schools that she would enjoy. :) (now granted, I'm certain that there would also be a number of schools she would not enjoy, no matter how flexible she is).

I was always taught that the princi"pal" should be your "pal" :)

That's how I remember the difference!

Thanks Koda :) Taken care of.

I've read that some browsers automatically reset to the native language of the country you are in when you connect to the internet. Is this par for the course Danda?

Koda - do you have the link to those blogs? I've found some general blogs on expat-blogs.com but none are teachers.

Danda - thank you for your support! I will not be in Almaty, as that was my first choice, but I'm glad to know that now I won't be there with the air quality. I've heard that sometimes the snow is a dark color with the pollution in the air.

What type of electrical outlets are in Kazakhstan? The only electrical thing I'm taking is my laptop and I want to make sure it works. Is internet there reliable and fast? I can live just about anywhere as long as I have internet and a non-tropic climate.

I'm also in elementary so the mastery system is something I'm already required to do by my current school district....although I could imagine it is frustrating at the secondary level when student motivation becomes the sole determining factor of success.

Wow - this is my first international placement so I appreciate any support I can get. :)

I like the cold weather and I tend to be a loner that enjoys a night at home. If I hate it, then oh well, but I have to give it a try. I'm ready for a change from teaching stateside.

Kazakhstan - even though some on here said to avoid it, the country has attracted me, so it was my first preference, so I'm very happy.

koda - I'll be joining you in the QSI family - although in a different country! :)