As some of you know, Andrew and I have been trying to get overseas teaching jobs for quite a while now. We've been looking since last December and have come quite close a number of times to getting jobs. Some of you may remember that we agreed to work at a school in Kuwait back in February, but found out shortly thereafter that it was gonna be a dodgy deal, so we cancelled that. The whole searching process has been quite the ordeal and a ton of work, but we wanted to get something good, so the work has been worth it.
We have now (as of Friday) signed contracts to work at school in Shanghai, China for a year starting late this August. I know it seems sudden, but we are PUMPED!! The school is a huge Chinese highschool, but within it there is a BC Offshore school renting out a few classrooms to run the English school, so basically it's a "school within a school". Andrew and I will be teaching our normal subjects (math/science and PE/SS/Planning 10) in the BC curriculum to Chinese grade 10 students. They'll also take grades 11 and 12 in the BC curriculum and then graduate with their Dogwood Diploma (the normal diploma we all get in BC when we graduate from highschool). This will enable them to come to any Canadian university without all the hassles of credits not transferring, etc, b/c they're from China. Cool, eh?! This is the first year that this English school will be in operation, but similar projects have been going on for years in various Chinese cities and they've been really successful, so we are confident that this will be a good place for us. Another cool thing is that there are only a few staff. There is one other couple going who have 30 years teaching experience. The husband, Ron, will be the principal, and his wife, Terri, will be teaching English. We have heard nothing but good about them and are sure they'll be a great support, especially as they've been doing this at a school in Bejing this past year already. The only other member of staff will be a secretary. I'm sure there will be pros and cons to working with such a small staff, but I'm sure it'll work out.
Shanghai, China
You may be asking why we're so keen to leave our nice little nest here in Vancouver to teach overseas? The main reasons are: less rain, more money, more adventure, less commuting, a full-time job for me, and more traveling. Our initial contract goes until July 2009, but there may be the option to renew it next year if we enjoy it. There is also the possibility that we could go to another country the following year to do something similar. We are still really interested in going to Dubai, which is where we were originally looking to go. So we'll see... it mainly depends on how we cope with being away from home and family for so long, and whatever else comes along in life.
A couple more details you may be interested in:
-they pay for our flights over and back
-we get a 3-week vacation in Jan/Feb during which we hope to explore Thailand, Indonesia, Cambodia, etc
-they pay for our apartment, which will be within walking or biking distance from the school (ie- we won't need a car!)
-there is one Protestant Church in Shanghai with English services... I already got the directions so we can go to it!
-Andrew is most looking forward to frequent sweet & sour pork!
-you can come visit!! We'll hopefully have a 2-bedroom apartment near the French Quarter of Shanghai
-we won't be selling our apt here in Vancouver, but will be renting it out. If you know anyone...
French Quarter of Shanghai... near where our apartment will be.
