FrenchGirl wrote:

> I did do some web research, but all I can really determine is that they are capitol
> cities in Asian countries, they appear to be nearly the same in everything from
> weather, culture, people, and lifestyle....

I believe you are correct about the capital city status. After that, you may want to keep researching. I find the culture, people and lifestyle in each country to be radically different.

You both sound like strong applicants, and I think you will do well.

I have a few thoughts, that you may want to consider as you prepare to package yourselves to potential employers:
1. Downplay your travel experience. Strong schools are really looking for strong teachers, period. If you leave room for them to think that you are more of a tourist, or just want to give your kids an interesting cultural experience, it will be a drawback. Generally tourists don't stay in a post as long as educators.
2. Downplay your higher ed experience. First and foremost, you want to be seen as an HS teacher. PhD and higher ed teachers often struggle when it comes to low-motivated or low-ability high school students.

That's just my 2 cents.

I think Sitka did an amazing write up. One more thing to consider is the cost of travel. If you plan on getting out of your host country on holidays, China is much more expensive. Just getting to Japan or Korea will often cost over $700 USD. Traveling to more desirable locations in China like Yunnan or Tibet can easily cost the same. In contrast, flights out of Dubai or AD are relatively cheaper and you can choose locations in the ME, Europe, Africa, or Asia.

Assuming the OP is a hetro male, I have a question about dating in MZ. Besides a limited expat pool, will there also be tons of Filipinas (like I've seen in Dubai and Abu Dhabi)? If that were the case, I would say that dating in MZ would be better, but probably not amazing. Shenyang will also have a limited pool of expats, and of course Chinese girls. In either location you can do well with expats, since most of the ladies will not want to date Chinese or ME guys. Most guys I know would rather date Filipinas over Chinese.

No one can really tell you whether USD or RMB will be better. if we somehow knew we could probably make a lot more money trading FX futures, than teaching.

I would say the RMB is a better option. There is a long trend of the RMB growing stronger against the dollar. As a result when you send money back, the RMB buys more dollars. Secondly, the IMF has been putting some pressure on China to stop artificially undervaluing their currency (this helps exports to be cheaper on foreign markets). My guess is that the trend will continue, and the RMB will continue to grow stronger against the USD.

Finally, you need to be responsible and ensure your long term wellbeing. I strongly caution against putting your investments in another person's name. I personally know someone who lost a house doing this, and I've heard of situations that are much worse. All your partner or someone in her family would have to tell you is, "take your belongings and never come back." If you wanted to push back against this, they could have you arrested. It's very unlikely that a Chinese court will side with you in any situation.

@Reynard, I wouldn't recommend China for first year teachers, unless nothing else was an option. I work in a good school in Shanghai now, but I've also worked in Europe and SE Asia, and those places were way more fun for me. China can be a tough place to live, unless you have a lot of money to shield you, and you live in an area with the right amenities. Sure, you can survive anywhere for two years, but then why not do that in Bali, Costa Rica or the like?

I would recommend China for those who can get employment in top schools because the day to day living can be great, the professional environment is fabulous and the savings potential is probably better than anywhere else.

reynard wrote:
> I'm wondering what advice you'd give to yourself, should you be starting
> your first year teaching in an international school in China, again?
>
>
> -----------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> Would you go somewhere different? Why?
>
> Would you avoid certain companies or places like they were the latest
> Justin Bieber song?
>
> What secrets did you come across, only too late?
>
> What other tips and hints would you like to share with a young padawan?
>
>
> -----------------------------------------------------------------------------

Schools have no problem hiring teachers from schools in the same city as long as they finish their contracts. Schools generally have their own policies regarding local or expat status of new hires. I think most schools would consider you a local hire.

@earthgirl,

If your husband gets some elementary school counseling experience it will be very helpful. Male elementary counselors are extremely hard to come by. Tier 1 schools often say that they don't want K-12 counselors, or counselors coming from other divisions. They want depth of experience in that particular developmental stage. Your husband would be able to meet that criteria, and schools would very interested in you guys.

For some, working at the school in Tel Aviv is a dream job. Let's just say that teachers want to go there for the location more than the school/package. Also, if you don't have a US passport, don't bother.

Psyguy, good catch on the Myers Briggs part of my comment. I shouldn't be typing when half asleep.

Hi Earth Girl,

To increase your competitiveness as a couple, your husband may want to focus on middle or elementary school counseling. Tier 1 and strong tier 2 high school divisions set themselves apart with college acceptances and standardized test results. In all honesty 50-75% of HS counselors time and energy gets spent on the admissions process.

HS Counselors are key players in helping students and families understand how to prepare for these types of tests, and how to set themselves apart as college applicants. Schools also put a premium on counselors who are well-networked with college admissions officers and regional reps. If more seasoned intl counselors are competing with your husband for a position, you can imagine how hard it would be for him to get an offer. Attending OACAC the summer before you recruit would be a start.

if your husband could add some training around assessing learning disabilities (KBIT, WISC, Myers Briggs, ect) it would really strengthen his chances at landing a high end MS or ES position. His therapy skills will also be helpful, but ideally counselors refer long term counseling out to community resources. Short term counseling strategies around stress, anxiety, depression, eating, cutting, relationships, self esteem and transition are all you really need.

NACAC posts sample school counselor job descriptions. I would use that description over other descriptions posted on this thread.

I don't know anything about the school, but I really enjoyed Warsaw. I spent about one week there in about 2005. The highlights for me were, best food in Eastern Europe, great college town feel, lots of really interesting Jewish history and a lovely central square and old town.

If you can make decent money, you should be able to enjoy a relatively low cost of living, and enjoy the best of Western Eupore on your vacations.

Good luck to you!

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Use this as a chance to perfect the art of transitions. Don't emotionally leave before you physically leave, and don't get too irritated with the things you've been putting up with for a while now. The bad comes with the good, and your next posting won't be perfect either. Be a professional at all times, and leave with pride in knowing that you did your best.

To answer the question about which school with kids, I would choose Manila. Teachers can rent a large house in a gated neighborhood with a swimming pool and a house cleaner, gardner, driver, and childcare.

whoamI? wrote:
> Let the haters hate, you're missing out on one of the word's oldest cultures. =)

Don't get me wrong. I live in shanghai, and I love it. Shanghai is currently the 3rd largest international school market in the world (behind Dubai and Singapore), and it currently has the highest achieving students anywhere when you look at standardized test scores or any other metrics that get passed between international and private schools.

However, ancient Chinese culture is not something you experience in China. If you stop to think about it, Mao, the Great Leap Forward and all that came after those things really disconnected Han people from their culture and communities. They lost their religion as they knew it, most of their historical buildings and old things were destroyed, most of the educated people were killed off or fled, families and neighbors grew to distrust and fear one another, and people were isolated from the rest of the world. I think that China is kind of moving out of a dark period and into an age of prosperity. In reality, Han culture today is thought of in fairly negative terms - spitting, shoving, pollution, human rights abuses, . corruption, etc.

Now there are minority people groups who live in China and visitors do enjoy their cultures (Tibetan, Miao, Uighur etc). However, many feel that Cultural Sinocentrism or Han Chauvanism are being used to break down those cultures as well.

> eion_padraig wrote:
I have to say that if you went to an Ivy League school as an undergrad and all you're doing is college counseling, you probably weren't very successful in college... said no school counselor ever!

I find this funny because I know that every major city in the world has an informal network of ivy-trained counselors working in it.