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Heading back out

 
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ecocks



Joined: 06 Nov 2007
Posts: 899
Location: Gdansk, Poland

PostPosted: Wed Mar 14, 2012 1:00 pm    Post subject: Heading back out Reply with quote

Well, after a three year hiatus I am heading back out to the FSU hinterlands.

Despite three years in Ukraine where I built up to a good situation and made several friends, I am stepping a bit further eastward this time out and going to Baku, Azerbaijan.

My first thought was Japan but almost every position seemed to involve teaching children or disclaimers that you might be doing some classes with them. The money seemed okay, living conditions tolerable and it certainly would have been a different cultural exposure but I really wanted to work with adults.

I also looked Saudi but the overwhelmingly consistent negative tone and the restrictive environment led me to realize that the money just was not worth it to me. I briefly considered Turkey but the money there was a tad light and, frankly, I wanted to get a little further from Europe to get more of an Asian and Middle Eastern flavor in the mix.

So, Baku, here I come, let the games begin!
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coledavis



Joined: 21 Jun 2003
Posts: 1838

PostPosted: Thu Mar 15, 2012 11:04 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Baku..Sounds interesting. Let us know how it goes.
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ancient_dweller



Joined: 12 Aug 2010
Posts: 415
Location: Woodland Bench

PostPosted: Mon Mar 19, 2012 12:01 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

get involved! I hear they are hosting eurovision!
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ecocks



Joined: 06 Nov 2007
Posts: 899
Location: Gdansk, Poland

PostPosted: Mon Mar 19, 2012 2:39 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Yep. I'm looking forward to it much more than I did my arrival in Ukraine.

Course, I'm obsessing over maximizing the two suitcases but also looking forward to making a new home.
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ecocks



Joined: 06 Nov 2007
Posts: 899
Location: Gdansk, Poland

PostPosted: Sun May 06, 2012 4:57 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

So it's the end of my first month in Azerbaijan.

Impressions:

Not a bad gig - the money seems a bit more than adequate so some savings or good vacations are in the future it seems.

The students are more motivated (open classes at the school, corporate and privates).

Privates are easy to build and you can certainly build a practice up with some fairly simple effort.

The city strikes me as better than Kyiv although it could just be that the lighter tones (tans and browns) life the spirits a bit more than the grays and blacks of Ukraine.

The people here are far less Russian than the Ukrainians but Russian is still spoken in the city.

The effect of the oil and gas industry on the economy and mindset gets the credit for the generally more positive atmosphere.

Individuals are just as hopeful, but planning much better, that they will breakout and find a greener pasture to graze.

I'm looking forward to a good year.
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da teacha



Joined: 15 Oct 2010
Posts: 12

PostPosted: Tue May 08, 2012 8:31 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Thanks for the update.

Are there many teaching gigs going around in Baku to warrant going out there with CV in hand? Not a place I see popping up online often.
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ecocks



Joined: 06 Nov 2007
Posts: 899
Location: Gdansk, Poland

PostPosted: Sat May 19, 2012 4:25 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

da teacha wrote:
Thanks for the update.

Are there many teaching gigs going around in Baku to warrant going out there with CV in hand? Not a place I see popping up online often.


There are gigs here.

Whether you can find one that will do your work permit is the bigger problem. Visa runs from here are expensive. The border is closed between here and Russia, Georgia and Turkey are a long train ride away and you can form your own opinion about hopping to Iran or crossing the Sea to Kazak or Turkmenistan for border runs.

Absolutely a teacher on the street here will be working full-time by the end of the week IF THEY TRULY WANT TO.

However, you have to figure out how you will obtain the visa and work permit if you're working for a school which isn't used to dealing with the Ministry of Migration. There are a couple of schools that do this who would be happy to grab a locally resident native speaker (we have three who were already resident as spouses of residents) but you would have to survive until there was an opening at one of those schools.

Money is in the mid-30's, prices are not cheap but I live well so far even while I am still buying things to make the cave more comfortable such as rugs, towels, coffee-maker, etc.
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jserio



Joined: 15 Jul 2010
Posts: 61

PostPosted: Wed Jul 25, 2012 9:52 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

ecocks wrote:
Georgia and Turkey are a long train ride away...


I spent two years teaching in Georgia - both in Batumi and Tbilisi. As I recall, Baku is about 230km from Tbilisi. I always wanted to visit but never found the time. But my colleagues who did said it was an overnight train away. Could you just take the train to Tbilisi overnight, stay there for the weekend, and then return?

I'd love to live and teach in Baku but I'd hate the idea of going there with no job. I did see one posting on the job board recently.
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