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In my home country (not the UK) - a living room or lounge is the same thing. If we are have a discussion about the correct terminology for lounge or living room - it makes us understand how challenging learning English as a second or third language can be....

As mentioned above - it's open to general interpretation but I think it's best if this thread dies a quick death as it goes down list of responded posts.

In relation to costs of accommodation in Tokyo - it really depends on distance from the station. I used to live a 5 minute bike ride from Motomachi Chugukai in Yokohama and rented an 80 square meter apartment for around 130,000 yen a month. That same apartment would be 220,000 right next to the same station.

I've also managed to rent a short term fully furnished apartment (albeit 35 square meter) in an older building in Hiyoshi for 120,000 yen a week (with an English speaking doorman - luck of the draw)....

Knowing locals or having excellent school support can make a huge difference in getting a good but reasonably priced place.

50,000 yen basically gets you a 20 square meter tatami room and a very small bathroom in an old dorm style building without an elevator. There are actually quite a few of these places....

I no longer have access to their pay scale - but I can say that St Mary's is a good school and that you be paid accordingly. As such - you will probably get a housing allowance (say 100,000 Yen a month) and probably a reasonable wage. You should have the ability to save and live quite comfortably.

In relation to the school - it's the best boys international school in Japan but there are not that many. From experience, I can say that the school does quite well at the International School Math competitions in Japan, along with being one of the best sporting schools in Japan in the international schools circuit.

You might get a flight at the start and beginning on the contract, but yearly flights along with flights with a renewed contract are basically extinct in Japan. Do note that the Yen is depreciating which has limited your ability to save dramatically. As such - if/when the Yen appreciates once again then your wage can rise significantly in USD.

One thing that you should know is that it's prohibitively expensive to set up your apartment in Japan. Normally - you pay two months rent for deposit and possibly one month key money depending on the company you use to rent. Also - almost all apartments have nothing in them. You even need to buy light fittings, blinds, hot plates, fridge etc..... You get the idea. As such, you will get a large (probably) settling in allowance.

For rent, it's very common that the school will give you some help by giving you a interest free loan and removing the deposit + key money which is paid back over a year. As such - you might not feel as though you can save as much as you can. On apartments - note that public housing is cheaper and are much better when giving you back money from your deposit. In general, rents are for 2 years with a very basic and small apartment costing 100,000 yen a month with 150,000 yen being the norm.

The closer you are to the station - the more the apartment costs. Most people in Japan use public transport as their main transport method - so this is normal. On a side note - I highly recommend buying an electric bike as this becomes your main method of transport. Suck up and also get a basket on the back and front and you can even use it for your shopping.

Do note that food is quite well priced in Japan, but fresh fruit can be expensive out of season and in certain places (such as Shibuya). In you live frugally, you can live off 100,000 yen a month not including accommodation and being reasonably nice with the air con / heater (meaning no 30 C in winter and 18 C in summer). Transport to work can also eat into this cost.

Most people say that travel around Japan is expensive - but it is definitely worth it. If you know how to travel and stay in cheap accommodation (e.g. Toyoko Inn) then it's fine. I've even gone away for a weekend (2 nights) for around 14,000 yen for a single with accom and transport at a Hot Spa resort in Izu...

As it's mid way though the recruiting season, I thought I'd start a thread which will either be very helpful or of little help.

It's a basic master list of what wage is needed in different cities to live comfortable. Note that as always this is open to people personal opinons to some degree. Here are the basic requirements

(1) City:
(2) Monthly Wage (USD$ after tax with comfortable lifestyle and ability to save 10K a year):
(3) Monthly rental allowance (in local currency on top of monthly wage for a confortable single person's apartment)

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

City: Tokyo
Monthly Wage: $4,000
Monthly Rental: 100,000 Yen minimum (20 sq meters starts from 50,000 yen)

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

City: Kaohsiung/Taipei
Monthly Wage: $3000
Monthly Rental: 12,000 TWD Kaohsiung, 20,000 TWD Taipei

Thanks for the info. Well - it looks as though I can easily afford a 3 LDK (It's strange I know it's 3 BR, Lounge Dining Kitchen straght away) - but I don't want something so big as it's just more to clean - even with an ayi...

I guess another way of looking at it is another machine with a HEFA filter to clean the air....

Thanks for the heads up. I've already lived in Taiwan in the past (not Taipei) so I'm aware of the 'staring' - albeit probably not as bad as what I may have in Suzhou. I don't really speak Chinese, but speak a few key words which should make my life easier.

I'm not really moving to my new school for the money (which is good), but more for the career opportunities.

Do you have any basic idea how much an average western 1 or 2 bedroom apartment may cost per month. I'm just trying to work out if my housing allowance will cover a nice place or if I'll need to dip into my normal wage....

It really depends on your subject. I've been to two fairs and dragged around a portfolio at my first fair but I never used it.

At my second fair - I did not take one. However, if you teach Art then I think that it's pretty close to a must take....

Hi All,

Next school year, I'll be moving to a new school in Suzhou (industrial park) and I'm just after any general comments about living here if anyone knows anything?

I'm not too interested in what people think about the school, as I've had quite a bit of feedback from this school from people I know personally which is always positive.

On pollution - I'm aware what I'll be up against as I've lived in cities which are quite polluted (including one city where I did not know I could see mountains from my apartment until a Typhoon came and blew away the pollution!!).

As such - I'm just interested in what it's like to live in as a city. Any general info on rents, quality of housing etc would be much appreciated.

On a positive note - I'm looking forward to travelling on weekends once again (let's just say my current post is a little remote)....

This info is not much - but I've never personally heard of the school. It has CIS and WASC accreditation which means the school is no fly-by-nighter. I will say that I'm not a fan of the IGCSE - but some people say the same of the American or IB system.

Don't laugh - but sometimes the website tells you a lot about the school. The website is a little clunky and the photo's tend to suggest that it is mainly a Thai student body. This does not tell you if it's a good school - but lets you know that it's not NIST or ISB.

Others may have more info on the school itself....

Asking questions about living in the country I'd say is a reasonably important question if you are new to international teaching. It shows that your thinking about living overseas and what that might entail. If the school brings up accommodation, then you can ask some general questions but don't get into too much detail.

Just like normal interviews, it really depends on the interviewer what you speak about. I've had interviews which were quite generic and we did not really speak about content - but I've also had schools drill me on certain aspects. Only on one occasion have I had an admin lay a trap (ironically at a person to person interview) but it really put me off against that school....

I've interviewed with this school and also watched their 30 min info session at a fair. Overall - it seemed like a good school and they were quite open and honest about the school and living in the country itself.

I'd happily work at the school but I'm not sure about living in India. To the best of my knowledge - it's one of the better schools in India but it's location let's it down a bit.

They also have a very strong package along with good PD. They are not MYP and will not be in the near future if this is an important thing for you...

I went to the Bangkok fair last year and found it quite brutal. One thing that I will confirm was that I did have slightly unrealistic expectations of where I wanted to work (basically tier 1 schools not in China or the Middle East).

As such, I was a good candidate but did not stand out at this fair. I will say that many of the candidates did seem to think a lot of themselves - but if the truth be told I probably thought the same of myself but was not a vocal as some of the other candidates.

On never visiting another fair again - I'm now a strong believer in choosing the correct fair for the correct person. This year - I visited the Melbourne Fair and as I have a decent amount of international experience I really stood out and got a few offers - one which I accepted. Just remember that Bangkok is almost exclusively attended by people who have been on the circuit for a while and many are good at selling themselves.

You also talked about some unprofessional admin - I actually slightly relish overhearing these conversations as it gives me information on which schools I should probably stay clear away from. After some conversations last year - I now know of schools I don't ever want to teach at but some admin may also feel the same way about me - I never know ....

Just my two cents....

Although it's true that many positions will be filled at Bangkok (I think 50% of people accept a position from memory) we need to remember that quite a few of these people will then resign from their current position.

Also - many schools are still confirming who is leaving and who is staying for the next school year. As such - it's fair to say that there are still plenty of jobs out there include MANY that have not been posted as of yet.

I was just at the Melbourne Fair and there was a lot of people being offered jobs there. It seems as though there were not too many people who left feeling very unhappy from here. Some of the major schools (such as UNIS) were taking all positions to Bangkok which is fair enough. I don't like to say it - but these schools have a lot of people to choose from so they can test the markets and see who they like.

How it is all going this year - I can't really comment as I only went to BKK last year. From memory however - there is not really enough time to frequent this board during the fair as normally you are quite busy....

It's not exactly a diary - but I attended the Melbourne Job Fair this year (Search) instead of Bangkok which can be a bit brutal.

As I teach MS MYP Science/Math, I was a bit spoilt for choice but cast a very wide net over potential jobs. Apart from schools which I did not want to touch with a 10 foot pole, I ended up interviewing with a total of 12 different schools which was quite challenging. Completing a lot of research about potential jobs really helped as you don't really have any time at the fair to research 5+ schools in around 24-48 hours.

When I went to Bangkok, one of the main problems was the long waits for the elevator. Thankfully in Melbourne, this was not such a problem but I do suggest that you don't have more than 2 interviews back to back. Some people may also disagree with me - but I find staying at the hotel when you have interviews invaluable as you have a little oasis to get away from all of the interviews itself.

At last years Bangkok fair - I will say that I did find that there was not much collegiality compared to the Melbourne Fair. In general, everyone was very relaxed and very supporting compared to Bangkok. Don't take it the wrong way - but I think choosing the correct fair is very important. In the future, I'll choose the Melbourne Fair for myself as it has a good range of strong schools along with the odd Tier 1 school. I also have international experience which means that I stand out. Many of the schools are actually looking to hire but some schools like UNIS did not employ anyone as they were waiting for the Bangkok fair which is reasonable.

Overall - I was offered two positions (both in China at good IB schools) and had interest from some other schools in Europe and Asia. It was tempting to wait to see if UNIS would employ me after a reasonable interview in Melbourne - but I'll be fair and say I doubt it as there are normally quite a few teaching couples in Bangkok.

So if I was to give some pointers for any fair newbies, it would be

(1) Come prepared with a double sided resume and write a short note introducing yourself and which position you are interested in. Then - drop these in the folders as soon as you get to the hotel. This allows the schools to see you ASAP so that you may get a Fast Pass!

(2) Do you research early. Have a hit list of schools you want to work for and make sure you attend their information sessions (if they have one). The schools want to make sure you are interested in them - not just accepting as an option of last resort (a mistake I made last year!)

(3) Make sure you have a couple of questions about the school at the end of each interview. I would often have questions but they would be answered during the interview. However, I wish that I had some extra that I thought I knew the answer too just to make sure I was correct.

(4) Contact schools before the fair. They most likely won't reply - but at least the know that you are interested. This was mentioned to me by a couple of schools who noticed that I contacted them.

(5) Go to the formal . as admin wants to see what you are like with other people in a social environment. For some strange reason - I was very stiff at the BKK fair but very relaxed at the Melbourne fair. This could be the fact that it was a second fair. Also be friendly with the administrators - but don't force yourself onto them. I actually had admin come and speak to me this time which was a nice change. Also try and remember which school they are from - if possible. I looked like a NOOB when I thought I was speaking to a fellow teacher when I was speaking to the admin of International Academy - Amman (Jordan).

Best Regards,

Sciteach

I did have a few