International School Teaching, Part 3: So You Got the Job: What to Expect Before Moving Abroad as an International Teacher

The Hardest Part of International Teaching Isn’t the Classroom

---

My hometown elementary school is just like every other school I have taught in - four walls, classrooms, teachers, and students.

What’s the hardest part of international teaching? It’s not the classroom. The kids are kids, the curriculum is curriculum. The real challenge begins the moment you sign that contract — and suddenly your life becomes a blur of paperwork, packing, and patience as you prepare to start over in a new country.
​
I recall my first international school assignment. This was a several-year process. Offered a position with a company at a February conference, I didn’t feel drawn to the location being offered. I said I wanted to wait and see if any other schools they managed had possible openings. We agreed to remain in touch, and I waited.

Spring transitioned to summer, and to my dismay, nothing opened up that fit my criteria. As another year began, I maintained an open channel with the same company. By November, I was instructed to reach out in mid-December to get first dibs, if you will, on their list of openings. From there, the process went quite fast. 

By the end of December, I had identified five different schools that fit my criteria, and so I reached out specifically regarding their schools in Belarus and Kazakhstan. I have a background in the language and have always been interested in exploring that part of the world. Alas, a day or two passed, and I received a series of emails from one of the hiring team members. They didn’t want to offer me Belarus, but instead a position in Italy, of all places. I never saw that happening. 

Honestly, my heart was set on former Soviet Union countries, so when they suggested that southern Italy would be a great match, I found it funny simply because this was never on my radar. My mother was pleased, but for me, it took a week to wrap my head around going to a location I not only hadn’t considered, but didn’t feel a pull to. 
​
As many international school teachers will tell you, be open to any location, because you never know what that school will bring in terms of professional and personal growth. That seems a no-brainer, but it remains solid advice.

---

---

Paperwork: Your First Big Test Abroad

---

After formally accepting the position and signing my contract, the fun began. The paperwork trail started the moment I signed and continued for the next eight months in a series of steps that, even for me, is boggling. For many countries, you can’t just show up and apply for the right to work. 

I wish it worked that way, as it would have mitigated any drama, but as you are agreeing to teach and live in a country for multiple years, there is a different path that you are expected to follow. If this is not followed exactly as prescribed, it can result in deportation and a fine for the school. 
​
What I remember about the Italy process is a blur, and yet I know I had to get all of my transcripts, copies of my degrees, teaching license, background check, and a few other items to get the ball rolling. Once those were sent off to Italy, whether by airmail or email, waiting became the common theme. 

---

Patience (and Persistence) with Visas

---

You have to be patient, but eventually you will get to the airport as Freddo, the Arctic Fox did on our way to Italy.

A valuable lesson ensued, one on the importance of patience when faced with this application process. Countries frequently revise their legal codes, and procedures sometimes become more complicated or less so, depending on the government in power. 

As I shared in my book Brindisi and Me, I had to go to the police station upon arrival to complete my paperwork, and this was only after I picked up my right-to-work form and number.

While most of these things are out of your control, if you don’t have the paperwork ready to go, you’re just delaying the process.

One thing I would suggest to make your life easier is to make sure you have a current passport. Honestly, don’t even play the it’s got six months card. You need to double-check that it doesn’t expire during that first school year. Why subject yourself to a delay that you could have taken care of well beforehand? 

Some countries allow entry with less than six months remaining on your passport, while others will reject you immediately. You can’t count on border patrol being charmed by your Yankee accent to allow you in for this permanent stay. Knowing this, keep an active passport with a cushioned expiration date. 

Second, when conducting your background check, ensure that your school provides you with the timeframe for this document. In Italy, I was fine with a generic FBI background check, as long as it was conducted during the school year in which I applied for admission. The Italians were fine with a PDF copy. Meanwhile, in Morocco, I had to ensure that my check was completed within a few weeks of my pending arrival and that it was printed on the specific type of paper. 

If you don’t ask for specifics, this is an easy area to screw up the application process and cause headaches during the school year when your thoughts should otherwise be focused on your lovely students. 

The most significant piece of advice I can share is to be proactive. For Italy, I wasn’t allowed just to show up and use the Schengen agreement. Because I would be working, our process was to apply for a multi-visit visa. Unlike some countries, where this can be done via mail, the Italians want to see your face. They also want to waste your time, but that’s a story for another day (there’s an entire chapter on it in Brindisi and Me) 

Honestly, I had to visit the consulate in Miami to drop off the paperwork for them to process everything and return my passport with the new multi-visit visa page. I wish it were simple, as in just showing up and dropping off everything. But it doesn’t work that way, or at least it didn’t in 2017. You had to schedule an appointment, and the only way to do so was to use the wonky website. 

Rest easy knowing there were no appointments for me that fit my timeline. The first one I found was a week before I was due in Italy. This was three months out. Instead, I had to perform daily checks for several weeks until an appointment became available for the following day or later in the same week. This was stressful, and all of my colleagues had to deal with the same fiasco. There was one option to show up for 8:00 am and hope they could take me, but there was no guarantee, as I saw firsthand when I was onsite meeting with the officer. 

If you can’t keep your documents in order and be on the ball with these applications, then you might as well stay put in the United States. This is the easy part, because once you arrive, there is so much more to process and take in between the new position and getting adjusted to life in a foreign country.

---

---

Packing Smart: What to Bring, What to Leave Behind

---

Before we can even focus on this new life, what else should you have ready for your big move? That’s easy, pack too much. Pretend you are going to college for the first time, and pack your entire room up to be transported. I’m not kidding, you could take my approach and pack less, but you might forget something you really like or need to have with you.
 
On all of my moves, I have only brought three bags with me, full of clothes, medicines, vitamins, soap, and pictures. Each time I wanted to gather all my books, CDs, and miscellaneous items that make a place feel like home, but I also realized that there’s an added cost to shipping additional items. This is something you will have to consider. Take a moment or two, to decide what can be left behind and what must accompany you on the journey. My stuffed animals and pillow had to make the trip, while my two boxes of books remained behind under the guest bed at my mother’s.
​
Then again, I woefully underpacked for meds on my first overseas assignment because I just assumed the country would have the same things we had in the States. Isn’t that a joke? Don’t get me started on my third posting, which is now in Morocco, and how that story continues to unfold in the same way. Thankfully, I learned at this stage what I need to stock up on to get through the year. Walmart, anyone? 

---

Learn the Language Before You Land

---

The more you can plan for and have those things ready, the easier your life will be when you leave for the airport. If I can provide any further advice, I recommend getting Rosetta Stone or Duolingo on your phone and studying the language of the culture you will be residing in. There’s something said about being familiar with the dialect, as it makes you feel more welcome, more understood, and you don’t have to rely on your phone to have a simple conversation. I studied for an hour a day from January to August to prepare for my trip to Italy. Now, did that help me learn the language? Let’s just say I reverted to Russian at the first hint of Italian from those around me. Maybe you’ll have better luck. 
​
Lastly, I recommend getting a multi-currency card, such as Wise, which allows for easy transfers of money from your American accounts to an intermediary card that facilitates currency conversions. This has been a lifesaver, especially when transferring money home, paying in local currency wherever I’m staying, or visiting. I don’t have to worry that my bank card at home will be compromised. In a similar vein, for those with credit cards, I would suggest having a card with no foreign transaction fees that you can have available should you need it during your teaching assignment.

---

Final Thoughts: Be Proactive, Be Positive

---

On the school bus, heading to work in Brindisi, Italy.

I’m confident there are more tips to share, but for right now, these were the big ones in between getting your job and the steps that lead up to that fateful flight. Be proactive, be positive, and ask questions. If you do those things, you’ll be fine. 
​
Before I end this blog, I would be remiss to share that Brindisi and Me spent quite a bit of time on my transition to life in Italy. If you're interested in learning about these experiences, feel free to take a look at the book. As for this series about International School teaching, we have one more to go, living in a foreign country. We’ll focus on that the next time around.

---