Job Discussion Forums

[myownwoman]

I cannot believe I just realized this, but how do you move your boxes of stuff to a new teaching location? Of course it will be easier within the country but how about from S Korea to China, for example?

What moving company do you use? How do you keep your sanity afloat? What do you recommend when moving day comes?

Thanks all!

[nomad soul]

There isn't any one moving company per se; it depends on where you are and where you're heading. But generally, you'd shop around for the best country-to-country shipping rates offered through the various major air freight companies in your area. However, some teachers prefer to pack their stuff into extra suitcases and pay the additional baggage costs, while others try not to accumulate too much stuff and most likely dump, sell, or give away items to keep the load light. Sometimes it's cheaper to just buy replacement items in your new location.

[EFLeducator]

[artemisia]

Some Asian countries have very efficient, competitively priced post office systems. It's probably worthwhile checking out the size range of boxes from the P.O directly as well as the costs of air or sea freighting them. Of course you need an address to send them to and that can be problematic unless you have contacts in the new place, or can send them to a new employer's address.

If you do it this way, just make sure you know the opening days/hours of your local or nearest P.O and how you're going to get boxes there if you have a lot of stuff you really want to keep.

[tttompatz]

[Guy Courchesne]

Oh you can just fine in the Americas as well - with those qualifications and abilities of course.

I've been thinking about this question too lately...you can use shipping companies anywhere from Panama up to Mexico via truck to go north to US/Canada but I think the costs are enormous.

The longer you're in a place the more you accumulate. I think I'd have to have a big yard sale as I wouldn't want to pay 1000's of dollars for the move.

How long would it take to move your things from Asia to North America by ship I wonder? Anyone ever done this?

[tttompatz]

[EFLeducator]

[spanglish]

[Guy Courchesne]

Colombia sounds hard then...ELFEducator never got around to what you can do with proper qualifications here in Mexico though. The international schools are the very top paying jobs here yes, but you don't have to go that high up to see proper returns.

On topic - my cousins hired a van to move a fair amount of furnishings from Mexico City to Merida, Mexico last year (a 24 hour drive or so) and that set them back about 3000 dollars.

[coledavis]

I guess you could stop accumulating stuff. I bring books over and then either donate them to students/schools or to charity shops when I get back to Blighty. Serously though, I occasionally have a box or two, which I send via the local postal service (a bit difficult if it's the Russian pochta, but that's another story).

[santi84]

Remax

It was expensive but the company covered it.

(However, you also need a husband whose company transfers him and you just tag along as the TESL wife....)

[EFLeducator]

[santi84]

The government of Canada paid for Remax There is no way a person could afford that move on a TEFL salary, not even for a PhD ticket to the oil lands of Arabia...

BTW I have a degree in TESL, I still consider it a career with part-time hours But it's hard to go full-time when you've got 2 babies under 2 years old to care for.

[naturegirl321]