Traveling Around: California, United States

Traveling Around: California, United States

Can you relate? (to reverse culture shock)

(from an international teacher living in China)

  • Pointing to things in the restaurant menu that you’d like to order (like you do in China most of the times, even if you do know Mandarin!) and having your family and friends laugh at you because it is more customary to just say the item on the menu that you want.
  • Watching car after car slow down to let pedestrians cross the street as if they have the right of way.
  • Not hearing the honking of car horns everywhere when driving down the street.
  • Hearing the sound of a lawn mower
  • Driving to all the stores we want to go ourselves, not using public transportation or taxis.

(from an international teacher living in South Korea)

  • Actually knowing the difference between Korean and other Asian language when I see it on signs while in Los Angeles! (I never had a clue before!)
  • Seeing no one walking on the streets……….everyone is in a car or bus.
  • Getting a break from AFN (the Armed Forces Network) on the TV
  • No extreme climate in California
  • Noticing the “larger size” of Americans…..

If you are on a trip right now, away from your host country, write to us at admin@internationalschoolcommunity.com with your “Can you relate?” traveling experiences.  Tell us where you are traveling in the world, what you are seeing and how you are coping with any culture shock.  Once your Traveling Around experience is posted on our blog, International School Community will give 6 free months of premium membership!

International School Community News v2011.03 – 9 July, 2011
v2011.03 – 9 July, 2011:
The summer has now officially arrived for basically all international school educators.  Some will continue their summer vacation until the end of August, but many international schools start up again at the end of July/early August.  If you are moving to a new school this year, many new teachers must start work around that same time frame or even earlier!  Take this time of relaxation (on a beach in Thailand or Mexico for example!) to fill out some information about the schools you know about on International School Community.  So far, our current members represent more than 45 different international schools!

Site Stats:
Current members: 86
School profiles: 831
Surveys: 4
Blog entries: 68
Posted comments: 461

Member spotlight:


Katie Jervis: “Originally, I was only going to go for a year in an attempt to save enough money to pay for teachers college…”
*If you’d like to be one of our next member spotlights send us a message here.  Highlighted members will receive a coupon code for 6 free months of premium access!

New members:
Tasha Fletcher
Chris Ma
Floralisa Badescu
Helen Temple
Nexus International School Putrajaya

New Survey Topic:

Vote here!

Website updates:

Many updates are planned for later this July!  Stay tuned for updated school and member profile pages and the blog format.
Highlighted Link
http://peacequilt.wordpress.com/ is a blog. This project began as an idea back in September 2008, the idea being to unite schools all around the world, in some way, potentially as a celebration of the London Olympics, 2012.  The people involved asked themselves to think of an idea of uniting schools all over the World. Many international schools have become involved already. A teacher who is inspired can inspire students and other teachers!
FAQ:
What do you mean by “kinds of student” in the school search function?
For many international schools the kinds of student there can be very important to know for certain teachers who prefer a certain type of students population.  “Mostly int’l” means that the majority of the student population is from other countries in the world, even if the majority of the population is from one specific country that is not the host country.  “Half int’l/half local” signifies that around 50% of the student population is from the host country.  “Mostly local” means that the majority of the student population is from the host country.

Incentive program for free premium membership:
Now when you submit comments on the school profile pages, you can earn a coupon code to receive up to 1 year free of premium membership access!  Putting-in 15-29 comments gets you 6 months free. Submitting over 30 or more comments will get you 1 YEAR FREE!  Please remember that the comments you submit on the school profile pages are anonymous, but we can keep track of which members write how many comments in our system.  Once we see you have submitted your comments, we will send you an email with a special coupon code to extend your current premium membership.

Recent blog entries:

· International schools that were founded in 1996 (China, South Korea, Moldova, etc.)
“Busan Foreign School opened its doors to the Busan community and its surrounding areas in October of 1996. With only two students originally, it has….”
· Which international schools do International School Community’s current members represent?
“At International School Community, networking and gathering information is very easy.  Get answers about schools that you are…”
· Do you want to teach in one of the most expensive cities in the world?
“I was just talking with an international school teacher friend of mine who is part of a teaching couple with 3 children.  They are looking for…”
· TEN COMMANDMENTS OF RELOCATING OVERSEAS: #1 – Learn as much as possible about…
“1. Learn as much as possible about the host country in order to have realistic expectations.  How much can you learn about a host country before…”
· To touch your produce or to not touch your produce: that is the question!
“I don’t know about you, but I prefer to touch my fruit before I buy it….”

Recently updated schools:

· American School of the Hague (5 new comments)
(The Hague, Netherlands)
“Take home pay examples: single teacher BA step 10 = 3488 EUR, single teacher…”
· Cairo British School (31 new comments)
(Cairo, Egypt)
“The school building is very small, no sporting facilities, the students have to go by…”
· Pechersk School International (11 new comments)
(Kyiv, Ukraine)
“Travel in the city is easy; taxis and mini-buses are plentiful and cheap. A single taxi fare…”
· The International School of Azerbaijan (5 new comments)
(Baku, Azerbaijan)
“Azerbaijan has a varied climate; notably hot summers, warm autumns and…”
· Qatar Academy (5 new comments)
(Doha, Qatar)
“I interviewed with 2 administrators at the Search fair in Boston (2011). They were very…”
· American International School Bucharest (1 new comment)
(Bucharest, Romania)
“The interview went very well, she was willing to allow me to lead the interview by…”

(Click here for the last 40 schools to be updated with new comments)

Recently added schools:

Requested schools to be reviewed:

This last month we have had visits from 51 countries around the world!

 

New survey: Which curriculum do you have the most experience in?

Survey number 4 has arrived!  Topic: Which curriculum do you have the most experience in?

Have you ever been at a job fair and had a school say “sorry were looking for…” teachers with more experience in a certain curriculum? I know I have.  Sometimes I wish I had experience in every curriculum so that I could be a more desirable candidate.  Because I have experience in one curriculum, does that mean I should teach in that curriculum the rest of my life? I hope that teachers get an opportunity to experience other curricula (if a school will hire you without experience in their curriculum), as it will broaden your frame of mind about your teaching and teaching in general.

So, which is it?  Go to the homepage of International School Community and submit your vote today!

Survey results are in – Which benefit is the most important to you?

The survey results are in, and it seems as if HOUSING and SALARY are the most important benefits for the teachers that voted.  They both received the same amount of votes.

I have worked at an int’l school where the housing wasn’t included and I have also worked at a school when the housing was included.  It definitely made a difference on how I spent my money in those cities.  Rent usually accounts for a sizable portion of your salary.  When that cost is not there, then of course you will have much more money to spend on travel and just “livin’ it up” in the city you are in.  It is nice to not have to worry about paying your rent.  Sometimes the housing allowance does not cover the total cost of the rent, but still in that case it is more ideal than getting nothing to put towards the rent cost.  Other times you can find a place under the amount of your housing allowance.  In many countries the landlords can falsify the rent receipt documents to say that it costs more so that you can pocket the remainder of the housing allowance for yourself!

Yes, salary.  We all want a higher salary.  At some international schools the annual salary can be upwards of 100K USD (e.g. in some schools in Switzerland), but in other schools you salary can be much, much less.  Usually it depends on the cost of living in the city though; which is usually the main factor in how the school decides the salary to give to its teachers.  In some cities where the cost of living is low, you can save much more money even when your salary is also lower.  You can’t just look at a salary and make your decision whether or not to take the job.  The other benefits for sure come into play.  You must factor in the other benefits when looking at the salary amount.

Luckily on International School Community you can find detailed information about the salary and housing situation on a number of international schools right now!  Go ahead and have a search through the hundreds of schools that have been updated recently and check out their housing and salary information.  Our members are encouraged to submit comments and information about the salary and housing on the schools they have worked at.  Just scroll down to check out the benefits section.  It looks like this:

Too many benefits (or lack of benefits) to consider.  The problem is though when you move back to your host country.  Then you are most likely not going to get any of the benefits we get as international school teachers!

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