International Teacher Prep Work

The countdown to my departure features smaller and smaller numbers these days. In some respects I am excited for the next chapter to begin and in other ways I feel more butterflies in my stomach than ever before. I thought I would take a moment to explain the sheer magnitude of prep work one undergoes when accepting an international teaching position.

It starts the second you sign your contract. You start googling the city and school in which you will reside so that you can learn everything possible about what lies in your future. Next you begin a long and arduous process of securing a work visa. I started the process for mine in February and I had it in my passport ready to go by the end of April. Needless to say, its a long process and it can be very frustrating to complete. The day you go to the consulate to finalize everything is a pretty awesome moment.....and its just the beginning of the to do list.....

Since then I have..... cleaned out an entire classroom full of teaching supplies and an entire apartment's worth of personal items. They've all been put to use in various ways... donations to friends and schools....a very large garage sale..... teacher to teacher deals.... and the trashing of things that nobody ever really needed or things that have been so used and abused they aren't of use to anyone any longer.

Learning Brazilian culture and the Portuguese language becomes an all the time hobby. I've got guide books, language books, Rosetta Stone, and talking partners that I constantly practice having conversations with to increase my ability to communicate.

Then the doctor visits begin. I have seen every doctor imaginable before my departure and I've gotten every CDC recommended shot imaginable. Some days I felt like my arm was actually a pin cushion.

Shopping becomes your weekend ritual. Every weekend you make a list of things you need to take with you on your move and then you set out to collect the items that you think you are just going to have to have with you when you move. I have found myself numerous times reflecting over purchases only to realize that I absolutely will never been able to use what I bought in Brazil. For instance, I bought the most amazing hair straightener in the world as a special treat to myself only to realize that if I try to plug it into the wall in Brazil I am probably going to start a fire because of the difference in voltage. Womp. Womp. Womp.

After all of this is said and done you will find that your list is still not close to completion. I recently got to sit down with a good friend who is already an international educator and her encouragement really helped me calm down. I think its imperative that anyone making this type of move accept that not everything is going to get done and that is absolutely okay. You will finish the tasks you need to finish, you will pack the things you need to pack and you will have the skills you need to have for a successful transition.

The key is to relax and accept the crazy moments as they come and to enjoy the moments with friends and family that are helping you make the move. When you think about it.... spending quality time with friends and family is the most important prep work of all. For me, I've gotten to a point where I know what still needs to be done and I've scheduled when I'm going to do the remaining items. The rest of my time is going to be spent enjoying summer with the people I love here in Texas.

Me, my sister and my teacher bestie from a former school at a comedy show in Houston.

My two oldest and closest friends at my Birthday Bon Voyage

My amazing teacher colleagues at my Boa Sorte Brunch 

New Adventures Ahead!

Job opportunities and new faraway travels.... 2017 has already been a year filled with change and adventure for me. I took a trip to Waterloo, Iowa and accepted a job offer to teach kindergarten in Porto Alegre, Brazil for the next two years! 

Grapevine teaching will be coming with me on my adventures to serve as a place for me to share my stories, my photos, and my memories from my newest chapter of life. This blog will be a place where I share my personal and professional knowledge gained on my journeys and hopefully a place where I can share my advice to those interested in similar pursuits. 

I think the place to start this show would be to explain exactly how I got my job. This is a popular question I am asked on a pretty regular basis as you can imagine. A friend once told me that travel job opportunities tend to find the people in the world who are looking to wander. I can say that is a pretty true statement with the caveat that it is because those who are looking to wander are drawn to the places and spaces that are looking to hire expats. 

This is not a decision I took lightly or one that I made overnight. I started looking at the idea of teaching internationally 5 years ago. It started with simple google searches for international schools abroad. Each hiring season, I would send my resume off to far away schools hoping for that random response back offering me a position.....this did not happen..... but honestly I wasn't serious enough about moving to deserve a response back. Over time I learned of the serious international teaching websites and how the job search works in the field. I learned through the grapevine of a job fair at the University of Northern Iowa. For three years I contemplated attending..2017 was my breaking point year. 

This past January I had applied to a job with the US foreign service that I had gotten incredibly excited about pursuing. I had been in the running for the job since October when the news came down the wire that I was no longer being considered for the position. I was crushed.

I LOVE teaching. I had not applied to the foreign service job to run away from teaching. I had applied to it to run towards adventure. That night I realized what I had to do.... I had to register for that job fair in Iowa and I needed to go find my next adventure doing what I already love to do.  Within 3 days I had registered for the fair, got my letters of recommendation lined up and had started  contacting all the schools I was interested in...this time as a serious legitimate candidate for the positions. The fair was the second weekend in February and most candidates register in November so I was a bit behind the curve as far as networking went but I wasted no time. Every night after work and on the weekends, I Skyped with different schools around the world, talking with them about their programs and life in the cities in which they resided. With every conversation I learned more about my new life ahead. 

The weekend of the fair came and I headed off to Iowa with a folder full of resumes, a laptop and a notebook full of notes and questions. I was ready. This weekend would be a decision making weekend and my objective was to sign a contract by the time I got on the plane to come home. Hours after my arrival I met with my first school..... a sweet little school from Porto Alegre, Brazil. As I walked into the convention center and saw the school with a table full of information on the country of Brazil, I got more excited. I sat down with the school superintendent and discussed my questions and answered his as well. At the end of the conversation, we agreed to meet again the following afternoon. 

The fair officially started in the morning with a round table meet and greet session followed by an afternoon of individual interviews. I talked with schools in person that I had Skyped with online for the past several weeks. Everyone had an interesting story to tell and a different opportunity to follow. What I enjoyed most was being around the other candidates. Like I said earlier, those who love to wander tend to find one another. Between interviews I made friends...each one had his or her own big decision to make in the coming hours. We were instantly pouring out our concerns and excitements with one another about opportunities that were presenting themselves. Each one of us supported one another and hoped for only the best for one another. 

Before I knew it, the next afternoon had come and I was back at my second interview with the school from Porto Alegre. We talked about how I felt about the school compared to other ones I interviewed. I talked about how much I really liked what I had learned about the school so far and how much I liked what I had learned about the town so far and how I was ready for the personal growth that would come from a move such as this...and before I could finish... I got offered the job! 

And with that, I signed a two year contract to teach in Porto Alegre and began the process of transitioning to the expat life!

Pictured above is my amazingly sweet teaching team throwing me a going away party sending me off to my next big adventure! We've already got ideas for some trans-continental team teaching in the works and I for one cannot wait!

And with this I invite you to join me on my adventure....where I'll continue to share what I learn through the grapevine.