International School Community Blog

Blogs of international school teachers: “The Present Perfect” (An international school teacher at the American International School of Budapest)

Are you inspired to start up a blog about your adventures living abroad?

Our 38th blog that we would like to highlight is called “The Present Perfect: Living for the present.  My life as a semi-nomadic teacher.”  Check out the blog entries of this international school educator who currently works at American International School of Budapest in Hungary.

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A few entries that we would like to highlight:

Job Fair Success

“On the interview sign-ups morning I was armed with an excel sheet of my targeted schools (that is to say, schools that had potential openings for me). Right away I found that a couple of schools that I had on my list no longer had postings for my teaching area and a couple of others didn’t grant me an interview. By the end of the two sign-up sessions, I had scheduled interviews with 13 schools (including second interviews with the two Skype schools). I arranged interviews with schools from China, to South America, to Africa, you name it. I went for jobs in ESL (elementary and middle school), ELA (middle school), and elementary classroom teacher. I didn’t rule anything out at the sign-up sessions…”

I like having a plan of attack as well; good to have the excel sheet of targeted schools…which will keep you extra focused during the fair craziness. 

It is tough finding out which schools don’t actually have a position you could apply for anymore, but that is definitely a reality of the first day of the fair.

Good then to not rule out any schools during the sign-up sessions. As they say, you never know what will happen at the fair!

Want to learn even more about which international schools like to do Skype interviews or the ones that prefer to interview at the recruitment fairs?  We have a comment topic called “Describe their hiring policies. Which recruiting fairs do they go to? How do they typically hire (e.g. face-to-face interview, Skype, etc.)? Are there any hiring restrictions mandated by the country?”  Currently there are 799 individual comments in this comment topic talking about 100s of different international schools. Check them out by doing a search for the school you want to know about here.

What to do on a rainy Saturday in Beirut

“Head over to Mar Mikhael for a burger, fries and a shake at the teeny tiny, yet adorable, Frosty Palace.

Then cross the street to Papercup and browse the carefully curated selection of books and magazines while sipping a perfectly pulled espresso.

Purchase a book to take home if you’re so inclined.

Remind yourself that you’re still in Beirut and not Brooklyn…”

It is a good idea to get out of your home as much as you can in your host city, even if it is a rainy day.  There is always a cozy cafe to relax in, in most cities in the world.  Also, you never know who you will encounter when you are out and about.  Hard to interact with the locals in you are cooped up in your home.

Want to learn even more about what international school teachers do in the cities they live in?  We have a comment topic called Sample activities that you can do around the city? Including ones that you can do with a family (children)?  Currently there are 83 individual comments in this comment topic talking about many different international schools. Check them out by doing a search for the school you want to know about here.

Want to work for an international school in Budapest like this blogger?  Currently, we have 5 international schools listed in this city on International School Community.

There are seven International School Community members who currently live in Budapest. Check out which ones and where they work here.  Feel free to go ahead and contact them with any questions that you might have as well; nice to get first hand information about what it is like to live and work there!

If you are an international school teacher and would like your blog highlighted on International School Community contact us here.