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.
I am so excited about following your blog! I can't wait to hear what the future has in store for you! (and those precious kinder babies!)
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