The Expat Teacher Life ain’t easy, but it is worth it.

Living overseas as an expatriate has its perks and benefits. Simply living in a different, foreign country is an amazing growth experience. Not only does one get to learn about a new culture, but they also get to live it daily. Not only that, one gets to be gainfully employed while doing so.

Living overseas is not for the faint of heart. Some of you should just stick to vacationing for a week or two at a time and returning to your home country and experiences. If you don’t believe me, just consider how the last twelve months would have been for you living overseas in a time of COVID.

I love education. I have been asked repeatedly why I got into education and who my role models were. I am honest. My dad told me to do anything other than education, and I went out to prove that I could do what he did. He had the right reasons for pushing me away from education, and I respect that knowing his career. He was also my biggest supporter once I decided to become a teacher and seek administration.

We all have that person who pushes us towards our goals. For me, it was my dad who supported me as I sought a teaching career. That is once he recognized I was not going to waiver from it. But, in my international career, it was a friend of mine named Sam. He and his wife had taught overseas and, over summer break while catching up, he encouraged us to try out the international life. They thought we would enjoy it. A year later, we were on a plane to Tokyo and a new adventure.

Now, I love talking with friends about teaching overseas and encouraging them. I tell them of the travel, the lifestyle, and the joys and benefits of living in a different country. I encourage friends to consider Asia over Europe, only because most people have experienced a western lifestyle and frankly, Europe is more expensive.

Over the years, I also give my friends a more or less set talk and homework. When they are truly excited about living overseas, I tell them they need to take a night and talk. I tell them to get a bottle of wine, favorite beverage, maybe go to dinner and have a serious conversation about living overseas that is not about the lifestyle and money they can save. I tell them to talk about the hard stuff of life and if they are prepared to deal with that.

Some of the things that one deals with when travelling are easy. Moving out of a house, storing items, and moving overseas are standard. But, moving into an entirely new neighborhood where most people do not speak the same language as you is hard. You are starting over from scratch. You will miss home at some point. If you have children, you are taking them from what they know, to someplace totally different in the world. The lose their friends and must find new ones. You must find a new social group. Oh yes, and you are living and working there, not just on vacation. Trust me, the honeymoon wears off in about two months at the outside most.

At some point, you do ask the question, “What have we done?”

You move forward and adjust, or you choose to finish your contract and go home. In most cases, people adjust and love the lifestyle. But this is the easy stuff.

Are you prepared to be away from your family for an extended time? 3 months? 6 months? 18 months or longer? Right now, my family is stuck overseas for an extended period. I have not been home in over a year and it will be a number more months before I can return easily. This year is different yes. However, 6 months away from your home country is a reality.

I also encourage my friends to talk about, what if something goes wrong? When we landed in Tokyo, Japan in August 2001, we were so excited to travel and did not have a care in the world. All of that changed very suddenly about one month later in September when we faced an unknown threat as foreigners in a foreign country. Ultimately, we felt safe, but some did not. The same thing happened in Korea during our time there. Some people did not feel safe with the issues between North and South Korea and chose to leave. Frankly, all the places we have lived, we have felt safe and not threatened. In 11 years overseas, our skins are a bit thicker. I would be lying if I said we have not had conversation about going back to our hometown.

Our greatest concern did come to reality in the last years. My father passed away shortly after a close friend passed away here. I just recently learned of the passing of another friend’s mother while he is overseas and cannot get back home. These are realities of living overseas. Life goes on. We talk about the realities of this. We may not be there for these life moments and we must acknowledge and accept that we may miss them simply because of distance. A friend of mine was living in the same city as I and missed the birth of his first child simply because he could not get across the Pacific Ocean fast enough.

Now, I encourage friends to talk about changing world conditions. How comfortable are they with the politics and issues of the world? Or to be more blunt, are they open enough to view other peoples values and beliefs as important as their own? Can they look at the world with open eyes and accept others for their place in life, not as how they think it should be? A healthy world view, or at least eyes to see and ears to hear, are required in most places in the world. In fact, the experience is richer if you are open.

This year has been tough for education all around the world. It will take time, but it will come back to a sense of normal. New skill sets will be needed. New opportunities will be available. New schools will open, and teachers will be needed to fill those roles. Teaching overseas is an amazing opportunity for those who are open to it.

If you are considering the possibility of teaching overseas, feel free to connect with me and ask questions. The opportunities that are available are experiences you will not regret.