Job Discussion Forums

[timothypfox]

I'll answer this question on a more emotional level because it is also an important aspect of calling a place in another country your permanent or at least long-term home.

First, don't let the notion or idea of contracts pin you down. Find out the visa regulations in the countries where you find work. You may need work to get a visa, but in several country the visa is yours if you decide to change jobs.

Also, always have money set aside for a return. Ideally money saved, and non-ideally a credit card. Things may happen in your family such as an illness, or you may have a change of heart about being overseas and really need to go back for a while or permanently. Don't be afraid to call it a day if you feels your needs or wants out of life change. Of course give things a fare chance and put up a good fight as there will always be challenges to face starting something new in a completely new country.

Many countries where ESL teachers are needed are low immigrant countries meaning that minority populations are quite small. Under these circumstances, even if you find yourself well-adjusted to life and doing well - you will still be viewed as different and not one of them - and probably only as an English teacher. Some people are quite good or get good at ignoring this kind of nonsense, but other people find this grinds them down. For me it goes in waves. Sometimes it grinds me down, and sometimes I don't really even notice it.

The grind comes from little things like being stared at, or people choosing not to sit next to you on a train even when that is the only empty seat. Or, people asking you the same questions over and over again.

What's annoying is that you will start to notice that people also do a lot of these things in the US and Canada and other multi-cultural countries even though they are supposedly open-minded immigrant societies. If you been in Japan for awhile, and then return to a place like New York - you may find yourself very quickly irritated with Americans for asking a Japanese person you know (or are married to) about kimonos, maiko, or sushi. It gets very old very fast.

[Perilla]

Returning to the subject of the home country and friends/family back there, I agree with the main points raised by various posters above.

Maybe the two most salient points are these:

1. No matter how hard you try and despite the "supposedly" improved communication systems these days, losing contact with people back home is inevitable in the long run.

2. How often you return home depends very much on you.

I've been in Asia for 16 years now and have returned to the UK every one of those years to see family and friends. That said, I've pretty much lost contact with all but the closest of friends back there (unless you call Facebook contact - I don't). I reckon this process of a gradual whittling down of the number of people you remain in contact with is unavoidable, but on the plus side you will (or should) make new friends in your new locality to offset that.

Probably also worth saying that I don't have kids. If I did I probably wouldn't have managed to get back to the UK every year. I know lots of expats here with kids who don't go back for multiples of years.