 After making the decision to pursue teaching abroad, the next couple months went by with the usual routines. I dedicated some time to researching what I would need to do to apply for a leave of absence from my teaching postion, as well as completing a re-certification program (which really had me wanting to leave education entirely). Kristin spent additional time sending e-mails to the hiring service and contacting schools to apply and direct them to the service for résumé info. The service held a job fair in December in San Fransisco. When she checked the list of schools attending it was very sparse. She chose not to register, but would later regret the decision as the list swelled during the week leading up to the fair. She continued to contact schools and put herself through a mini crash course learning how to Skype. Early on she was contacted by a school in Paris, France. We were both excited by the prospect of living in Paris, as we had both spent some time there and could clearly visualize how life might be. As an artist I was excited by the opportunities Paris could provide. Unfortunately, although the Skype interview went well, Paris made no further inquires. Next she was contacted by a couple schools in rural China, but we decided China was not someplace we really wanted to live, save for Hong Kong or maybe Shanghai. Pollution was a “deal breaker,” and kept Beijing off the list entirely. Next was a school in Eastern Europe, and so it went until there were a handful of prospects but no solid job offers.
It was now the month of May and Kristin was feeling anxious about the prospect of not being hired and continuing another year at her current school. She was regretting not attending the earlier job fair in December, but was hesitant to register for April job fair in London due to the airfare and lodging. We decided London would be a great vacation, even if only for three days, and she booked the ticket. We flew Icelandic Air, spent a day in Iceland, and then hopped over to London. We had a fantastic experience at our little AirBnB just blocks from Hyde Park. I spent a day in the National Portrait Gallery and toured the city on the Big Red Bus tour line when she was talking with schools at the fair. We walked the city during her free time. It was sunny and clear and the fish and chips were incredibly delicious. It was a wonderful vacation. But, as far as the job fair went, you could call it money wasted. Not one school at the fair hired her. To say that no one hired her is a bit misleading. A tentative offer was extended by one of the schools in London. But, it was made clear that I would have to be working to afford to live in London (but no teaching position available to me), and Kristin would have to obtain a certification needed in the British system. This same certification requirement kept her from an offer in Almaty, Kazakhstan (also a British school). Two other schools operated on different systems as well, such as International Baccalaureate, for which Kristin was not uniquely qualified. Her expertise was Advanced Placement, used primarily by the U.S. Her school and school district were also a pioneer in the Project (or Problem) Based Learning (PBL). Shortly before we were to leave for London she was contacted by an international school that was looking for a teacher with expertise in both. They would not be at the fair and requested an interview by Skype. Kristin informed them she would be at the fair during the time requested, so the interview took place early in the morning before the fair began. After we returned home from London this school contacted her and extended an offer of employment. Kristin accepted, and suddenly we were heading abroad. That “something new” that we were looking for was taking us to someplace entirely unexpected. Shanghai. This is #3 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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 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.  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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