 My wife and I both realized there were immense positives to our current positions. We worked in a well-respected district and school. We both spent considerable time developing curriculum and building strong relationships with students and families. I had worked to build a strong visual arts program at the middle school level, and she had designed a challenging, yet fun and engaging Advanced Placement Psychology course. It would be difficult to leave behind our accomplishments, teaching environments, and friendships. We’d be leaving behind family, a pet, and an area of the country that we deeply loved. As difficult as it was, I knew that something different had to happen. I had experienced “burnout” during a particularly rough year and never really recovered my energy and desire to benefit the school reputation or the administration. I made the decision to take leave for a year, in hopes that I could return refreshed - or possibly to a different school within the district (I had worked at the same school for over ten years). My wife was also beginning to experience burnout. We both needed something different … something new.
We made our decision to move toward a big change early in the school year. As early as it was, around October (when the summer’s idealistic teacher dreams implode), it was probably not early enough to start on a path to teaching internationally. Most international schools seem to hire around December or January, with most international job fairs occurring around that time. I was very much looking forward to an entire year where I could focus on my own art, music, and writing - as long as our finances could sustain it. I liked the idea of living abroad, but still had some reservations. My wife, on the other hand, has a passion for international travel. Knowing that I was fully “on board” with living abroad, she jumped at the opportunity and registered with an international teacher hiring service. I should have known that with her qualifications she stood a great chance at being hired. I should have started getting rid of some of our numerous possessions at this point, before I felt I would forever be trapped in a heap of IKEA bookshelves, unread books, wine glasses, and kitchen utensils. This is #2 in a series that chronicles my own experiences as an artist and teacher ditching the daily grind and moving from Seattle, WA to Shanghai, China.
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 For a number of years my wife and I had talked of traveling to various countries in the world with a desire to spend enough time in an exotic place to develop and understanding of the culture and a feel for the “way of life.” We discussed ways of accomplishing this with the limited income we were experiencing as teachers relatively new to the profession. Even as our paychecks grew (meagerly) we still found it difficult to travel outside of the U.S. and still get a valuable experience for our money. After airfare and lodging there was never much left in the proverbial pot to do much with. We discussed running an educational travel tour and take students abroad, but felt it would not provide the experience for us that we desired. International teaching was something we were interested in, but decided we’d run into the same issues that frustrated us about the educational system here in the U.S. We lived in the great metropolis of Seattle in Washington State, and spent our summers road tripping the West coast and Southwest and soaking in the sun on Oregon beaches. During those summers we truly took a break from the classroom environment and returned refreshed for our meetings and “staff retreats” before the school year officially started. Although we both enjoyed working with students, we quickly found those summer memories struggling to sustain our good dispositions as we ran up against issues that would frustrate and infuriate us both, and dispel any idealistic teacher dreams that we had cultivated over the past summer. After teaching for fifteen years we felt it was time for a change and began talking seriously about international teaching opportunities. We figured that experiencing the same types of issues in other countries was at least as appealing as experiencing them in the U.S. with the added bonus that at least it would be someplace new…a possible great adventure.
This is an installment in a series that chronicles my own experiences as an artist and teacher ditching the daily grind and moving from Seattle, WA to Shanghai, China. |
AuthorScott Anstett is a American artist, teacher, and avid cyclist living in the Pacific Northwest. Categories
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