I've been putting off writing this post - but it should be helpful for the most part.

In general, most objects can be found quite easily in Japan but there are a couple of things which I strongly suggest you bring. The main things are below:

1) Bring all of the clothes you think that you may need - as sizes/shapes/styles are most likely different than what you will find at home. Basic things like socks, shoes, gloves and the like are easy to find. Of course, specific female shoes can be a bit hard to find but females with more western style shoe sizes can easily pick up sports shoes which are mens sizes. I've got a normal sized male shoe and picked up most of my shoes in Japan (I've also got a fat sole). A strange piece of information I've been told (I'm not sure if it's true) is that many larger asian people tend to have fat on their backs, unlike caucasians who tend to have most fat on the front. There are larger male stores in Japan (called aptly Big & Tall) which I've never looked at but have seen in most larger cities.

2) If you like tea towels - bring them with you as good ones are hard to find. The same is also true of good sponges which are different than what I am used to in Australia. There are however a plethora of other types of sponges in the many 100 yen stores.

3) Almost all appliances can be purchased in Japan at a reasonable price. Do note that if you are waiting to buy an expensive laptop or camera, it's probably best to get it at home as prices seem to be more expensive in Japan and many models may be Japanese language support only (specifically for cameras).

4) If you want access to good cookware it can be found but is a bit more expensive and slightly hard to find compared to other countries. This is mainly due to the fact that most apartments have no ovens at all - and they are also hard to find. You can source ovens locally, but they tend to make the international space station look simple as they are all pre programmed in Japanese. My suggestion is to buy a more simple electric oven from Costco (I did this in Taiwan but not in Japan).

5) Learn to love Amazon Japan and Amazon US/UK. You can get a lot of clothes delivered and Japan Post is awesome. If I got home before 6PM then I could ring an English speaking JP rep to get my package delivered that night between 7-9PM.

6) Just bring the things which are really important to you - so don't overpack things which are sentimental but sit in a box. If you can leave a couple of boxes in your home country - this will make a big difference.

Unlike other countries I have lived in - there are not really a lot of things which I would bring with me. There might be some specific sweets or a type of food that you like which you could not find - but most things can be found in Japan.

If you have any specific questions - just PM me!!

To be fully truthful, your husband is teaching in an area where there is too many teachers trying to get positions.

Ironically - you are the one which is probably most in demand.

I've got a friend that used to do some work for one of my previous international schools who was a Speech pathologist such as yourself. In the end - she ended up being asked to work at the school full time with all of the benefits that comes with it (apartment paid for, kids schooling paid for etc).

My suggestion is to email your husbands associate and see if you can be added onto Search Associates.

You would not be applying for teaching positions but specialist positions. One potential major advantage is that some schools look for people such as yourself and will fill positions such as your husbands for a teaching couple position.

Your right - most of the stuff is body spray. They normally carry one strong MALE (don't know about female) type in Lawsons. For the rest - you have to go to chemists.....

Are you sure about that? I've found that available in basically every convenience store or HAC Drugs in Japan....

It's however not available in the supermarket.

While it is true that many schools that still have positions may be low paid and/or in undesirable locations, there are still some positions that pop up at Tier 1 schools or strong Tier 2 schools due to personal circumstances or change in enrolments. However - almost all of these better positions will be filled through Skype interviews or personal contacts.

These jobs are either advertised on the school website or the bigger job agencies (Search - ISS) apart from hard to find positions (Physics, certain electives etc).

Many people say that it's not worth working overseas due to low pay and a lack of retirement savings. For me - it all comes down to choosing your schools carefully and completing a lot of research along with keeping in contact with previous staff members.

It's pretty fair to say that most peoples first foray into International teaching is a crap shoot as you have no idea what the schools are really like. This only really comes through experience and speaking to people. I've been in international teaching for 5 or so years and it's now that I am starting to know enough people who know a bit about a certain school. But of course - those contacts can at times give bad advice but it's better than going in blind like your first school.

While I have not saved a lot of money in international teaching, this is mainly due to the amount of travel I have completed. For example in 2014 I visited: Japan, Taiwan, Australia, Vietnam, Thailand, Kazakhstan, UAE, Morocco, Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Czech Republic, Slovakia and Hungary.

I've travelled less this year but am about to travel to Georgia and will travel to Japan (again) during the Summer vacation. I have however been able to significantly pay off debts this year.

I will say that not all teaching professions are created equal. For example, Science/Math teachers have it much better than Humanities or Elementary teachers. Having kids does limit which schools will employ you (apart from lower ranked Asian schools who want a non local face in the classroom) and so does not having a non-teaching spouse.

But there are still jobs out there which are worth applying for - but they are fewer and more far between.

A school that I worked for that had the 'best' perceived reputation out of the schools I have worked for employed me in April. However, I did join Search Associates late that year and they contacted my associate within 20 minutes of me contacting the school (meaning they were looking to move quick if they found someone appropriate).

So - put your chin up and there might be your dream job still out there (possibly). Just remember that peoples first job's can be a hard slog.....

Quite often your school may allow you to pay your wage (or part of it) into an overseas bank account. This is what happens in China when I teach there next year - but I also get a living away from home allowance which is meant to pay for most basics in China....

Many international schools tend to have 1 or 2 Special Education teachers who help work with integration. They are normally quite experienced as a lot is expected on them and they don't have the support of a large SE staff to bounce ideas off.

That being said - there may not be a large number of positions but there are even fewer people applying for these positions. It may be possible to be an SE teacher at one of the lower tier schools straight off the bat - but if you have strong references and work your way up you'll find that you can make your way to one of the top tier schools much faster than many other people....

From memory - there is good savings potential at TES. But yes you are correct - there is a sizeable pay disparity between the two schools. Do note that TES is still one of the better paying schools in the country - but TAS's package is much better than any other in the country by a country mile.

Also - Taiwan has a strange health care system which works out well for you. You pay a small amount - but almost all hospital, GP and Dental work is very cheap and at a good level of quality. For example - we are talking about $5 USD for a filling at the dentist...

One of my former co-workers is at that school and has been there for around 4 or 5 years from memory.

The school itself has a good reputation in Taiwan and is probably the best or second best (the other being Taipei American School) in the country. Some people do not like the admin at TES - but others speak highly of it. From memory - it's quite an IGCSE style system and is not IB or American in their thoughts. That's either a good or bad thing depending on your style....

Taipei is a nice place to live. There is great nature and hot springs only a short distance from the main city. You can get most of the things that you need and food is reasonable in quality and price. People do talk about it raining a lot - and it's mainly drizzle. As I used to live down south - my joke would be....

"What are the two types of weather in Taipei?"
"Answer: Raining or about to rain"

The weather does get hot - but in the dry winter season it can be quite nice and even slightly chilly up in the mountains.

If I was to talk about the locals - a lot of them don't think about what they do but they are a little more Japanese in their manner than Chinese (meaning they kind of line up - don't normally spit on the street apart from beetle nut - yuk!) which is a positive thing.

If there was a school and job that really suited me - I'd move back to Taiwan in a heartbeat. With time - the country really grew on me and I now see it as my second home. I'm currently in the IB system, but if I was more looking at the English system I'd strongly think about applying for a job at the school. I do know they normally have quite strong candidates for most positions due to the reputation of the school.

My past few schools did not have a specific policy on scoring 0's. I gave my first 0 at my current school and it was not questioned...

However - I've also never taught at a school where we were pressured to change a mark.

To the best of my memory, the Dip Ed degrees for Australian teachers are recognised by almost all international schools. This is because you had to complete a normal degree before you complete your 1 year Dip Ed in Australia. Do note that Dip Ed courses are quickly falling out of fashion at Australian universities and are being replaced by Masters in Education or Teaching. I'm not sure if you can still get a Dip Ed in Victoria anymore.

As you can probabaly tell, I'm Australian and I have also worked in Japan. I have met numerous teachers who have Dip Ed's from Australia who teach in Japan at international schools. Do note that all teachers also have or have had full teaching registration from their individual state and normally at least 2 years of experience at home.

Competition is quite fierce for positions in Japan, apart from some totally unknown schools down in Okinawa which pay accordingly and woud not advertise on Search, ISS or possibly even TIE....

If you read on the website - Dubai normally has around 60 schools which is what they currently have listed at the moment. The Bangkok Spring Fair states it normally has around 30 schools and they are currently in the low 20's. They will have more schools but I would not expect a lot more.

Apart from the Dubai school which may have some Tier 1 ME Schools (I don't know the region so I may be wrong) it seems as though it may be slim pickings in the March/April fairs. Some jobs will come up out of the blue, but most schools are starting to employ earlier each year compared to even a few years ago.

The London fair is the biggest late fair - but I doubt that even they don't know who will attend yet as schools who can't fill positions at the earlier fairs of Skype normally come to these fairs. Some lower ranked schools which arnt allowed in the major fairs (such as BKK, London - I'm starting to see Cambridge as the poor cousin of the three) may also come to these fairs...

You'll also probably know that many position will start to disappear around early March and much fewer jobs will replace them - but there will still be a small number of jobs.....

I would not say that all of the associates are average or 'eh'. I've dealt with Nick Kendall in Australia and my associate (Barry Drake) and they have both been fantastic.

It should be noted that I have heard mixed stories about some associates - specifically somes based in the US but this is not the place to mention it plus it's second hand information.

My associate never found work for me - but for me personally it's better choosing the schools I want to apply for than a normal company trying to send me off to the first school they find with a position that suits what job I'm looking for.

I've dealt with one or two job agencies and the quality of jobs can be quite low. However - everyone is different.

If you have not joined yet - it may be possible to request a person but others will probably know more....

Unless you have done something as major as gross negligence towards the school (highly improbable), then Search will just allow you to re-activate (should be at no cost - but I'm not promising) and use the database as per normal.

It is however tempting to wait a week or so to see what else comes up out of curiosity - but it's not however encouraged....

When looking at jobs overseas, it does not pay to look at the final wage and comparing it to your wage at home. For example - I have been paid less in every country I have lived compared to my home country, but my savings potential is much higher overseas in the countries and jobs I have chosen.

It is true that there are many jobs which pay terribly, but I tend to stay away from those schools. I have seen quite a few single mothers on the international circuit, but they only tend to have one child and I'd probably wait until they are a in an upper elementary grade until leaving home. This is due to the fact that a child may be seen as a liability. For example - if the child gets sick then the sole care giver will need to stay at home to look after the child.

On one note - some schools want white faces in the classroom so will happily employ a family with kids if your 'colour' is desirable. This often happens in some Asian schools and works mostly against western teachers of asian origin who have kids - but this is only the case in some rare cases.....