Michelle, according to the info packet from UNI that I got in november, there were 686 teachers at UNI last year.

Durianfan, I'm very interested in your fair experience because our backgrounds are similar. I attempted to PM you but got a message that the forum does not allow it. Anyway, I'm curious to see how it will turn out for you, good luck.

A school in my top ten wishlist, who is at the bangkok fair now, actually added positions in my field today. Looks like there will be jobs after bangkok.

[quote="marlow"]Just an FYI: my administrator just returned from the first Bangkok fair and said there were 100 fewer candidates than last year, and the second fair wasn't shaping up too well in terms of numbers of candidates. Quote: "Both were teachers' fairs." I'd guess there will still be a lot of openings![/quote]

Thanks for posting this, sounds like good news! Hope the jobs will still be there at the Feb fairs.

You are not alone here, I've sent out around 20 emails. I received about 5 replies which consisted of 'thank you for your interest'. I did have 3 schools email me to arrange an interview based on my profiles at UNI / Search, but they are all in less desirable locations with somewhat dubious repuatations on this site.

I am keeping my fingers crossed that I'll have some notes in my file at the beginning of the fairs that I'll be attending.

Would love to hear about any solutions to this issue. I am also certified in a state where it is impossbile to renew initial certification if teaching outside of the state. In my state you can apply for a (one time only) 3 year extension, but once that is up you are out of luck.

I actually called up my state's teacher credentialing office. I explained the situation and they basically said I was screwed, couldn't help me, and told me to get certified elsewhere. They mentioned Nevada as a possibility, but when I checked it out online it looked like a pretty convoluted process to transfer an existing license into a Nevada license.

Is there ANY state in the US which is friendly towards international educators? It seems to me that the state govs have given no thought whatsoever to the fact that many people get certified in order to be able to teach abroad.

How do schools handle the air ticket once they hire you? Do they book the ticket themselves and send you the details, or are you expected to fly yourself over (under a set price ceiling, I assume), and get reimbursed upon arrival? Is the employee given a choice or does it just depend on each schools' policy?