Anyone moved from US to Europe?
Jun 5th, 2002, 11:43 AM
#2
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Become an international teacher! There are loads of international schools all over Europe. There are recruiting fairs every year...the big ones being from Jan-March. I am on my first 2 year post and I love it! I am in Latvia...many of my friends back home in the States debate whether Latvia is actually in Europe...blah blah blah. I tell them they're right, Latvia is on its own continent of "Baltica"!<BR><BR>Anyway, I highly recommend international teaching. Airfare is paid for to and from your home of record at the beginning and end of your contract. A lot of schools pay for housing or give a housing allowance. Also...shipping allowance and tax-free salary...the best part. You actually get paid what your salary is! No deductions! This of course depends on what country you accept a post in. In some countries you have to pay local taxes or are tax exempt for only 2 years. But you are tax free from the US up to $80,000 no matter what country you live in.<BR><BR>The next time I go to a recruiting fair, I am targeting the int'l schools in Italy!! I love Italy!<BR><BR>The good...easy to travel all over Europe frequently and I get to work with a wonderful international staff at my school.<BR><BR>The bad...my dog not adjusting well (and not digging the flight over here at all!), getting robbed in my flat (while I was at home) my first month in Latvia, getting in a car wreck the first month here, language barrier (Latvian and Russian are not easy languages to learn!) I think I have just had bad luck, but these things don't seem so bad when it happens over here...it just makes for more interesting news to report back home in the States!<BR><BR>Definitely recommend internatinal teaching! It's very interesting and great fun! My kindergarten class consists of 6 children...compared to the 37 children I had in my kindergarten class in the Chicago Public Schools! <BR><BR>Life is good....
Jun 5th, 2002, 06:21 PM
#4
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I'm doing this in exactly 10 days. My husband got tranfered to Southern France and we will live in a town 5mins drive from Cannes. I don't have any experience living there yet, but as soon as I do I will let you know. I know what I've seen on a recent visit to check on our house. I have been there on vacations before, but I had to look at everything in a different manner. I found everything very expensive and the way of life was so much more relaxed than what we are used to in the states and this can be very frustrating at times. I know this move will be very difficult for me. Since I will not be working I don't know how difficult it would be to get a job. I'm looking forward to the adventure. I know the International Schools have a great number of American and British citizens working for them.
Jun 6th, 2002, 07:08 AM
#5
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I've lived in Ireland (Northern Ireland, so technically the UK), and plan on moving back in a few years. I didn't have an issue with visas, as my husband's an Irish/British citizen (people from Northern Ireland can choose which passport to hold). I just looked for a job after we got over there. It took about 3 months until I started working full-time. I was able to temp from the day I arrived.<BR><BR>There have been posts on here previously, where I and others went into some detail, but I'll sum up my feeling quickly.<BR><BR>I loved living over there: the social life was tremendous, I loved being so close to the mountains and ocean even though we lived in a city (Belfast), the pace of life is so much more enjoyable there, we got to explore much of Ireland on the weekends.<BR><BR>However, I absolutely hated work. Hated hated hated. And so did my husband. I worked for the government, and he worked in private industry, and we both found the people we supervised to be hardworking and good at their jobs, but apparently our bosses had lost their minds when promoted to upper management, as they seemed to work hard at wasting money and killing morale. I've moved around a lot in my career, and have had 12 different jobs since graduating from college, and this was the worst management by far I had ever seen.<BR><BR>But at least I only had to work 9-5, with 2 tea breaks, and an hour lunch, 23 days vacation, several other random days off in addition to national holidays, and we got to leave early every Friday.<BR><BR>We also had problems buying a house. Real estate laws in the UK there are archaic, and buying a place can be an extremely frustrating experience.<BR><BR>Overall, I had a great time, and am glad I did it, and really look forward to going back when I don't have to work a regular job, and enjoy all of the great things about living there.
Jun 6th, 2002, 01:03 PM
#6
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I lived in Europe for a year--Munich. Also lived in Thailand and Israel. Am glad I did it--it was a wonderful experience, but it was difficult without knowing the language(s). I taught English at a university in Bangkok, lived on a kibbutz in Israel, and worked for the PX in Germany (which was awful). I sometimes think about houseswapping for a year, but the main drawback is that I couldn't stand leaving my dog for that long. But if you dream of doing it, I'd say--go for it. Good luck.<BR>
