I work in Japan at a small school. There is one black faculty member on staff. In the city, I personally know at least one black JET English teacher. I can't speak to demographics of the student body at international schools in Japan, as my school is too small from which to draw any conclusions.

The Japanese people are the most polite people I've ever met, and while there is definitely some xenophobia in the country, I've never seen or heard of any racism directed towards black foreigners (but I'm white, so take that with a grain of salt).

I would definitely try to apply. Don't be discouraged.

--Sushibreakfast

P.S. Now if you were Korean, on the other hand... Might be a different story.

I'd say Japan if you stick to towns with more than a million people (so they are more likely to have an international school) but less than 5-6 million (so you can actually save some money).

I'm in Japan now... The weather is nice (if a bit hot), the water is potable, the scenery is gorgeous, and I should be able to save a little money (not middle-east money, of course, but enough to make me happy).

Haese is popular, but a bit on the easy side. The Oxford books are nice as well.

I'm not sure what you mean by re-teaching yourself... If you are qualified to teach IB Math (SL or HL), then you will not need to re-teach yourself much of anything. This is equivalent to saying that if you need to re-teach yourself much of anything from an IB Math course, then you are not qualified to teach it.

Do you have a math degree?

Just as a contrast...

I accepted a job in Japan shortly before the Cambridge fair, and since then, the principal has been very good at keeping me in the loop. We exchange emails frequently, contracts were mailed/returned, and the wonderful staff liaison person has begun the visa process, explaining each step along the way. If I have any questions, I know that they will be answered promptly. This contact has really kept my mind at ease and reassured me about accepting the position.

I hope the rosy picture I painted doesn't make you more nervous... :)

I hope your situation works out well... It is not uncommon for schools to put lots of things on the back burner until close to deadlines. Many years ago, after accepting my first teaching position in the U.S. in April, I barely heard from the school until August when staff orientation started. Of course, that was a local job; I would have been a nervous wreck if the position was 10,000 miles away with such little contact!

:SushiBreakfast

OrangeSoda: "Do you mind me asking, what you think changed from the period of getting nothing to some interviews etc.?"

We literally did nothing different between our early emails and later emails... I just changed the school name and cover letter where appropriate. I think what "worked" was emailing lots (and lots and lots) of schools until an administrator took notice.

It was the same thing with our Skype interviews... The first one went nowhere, but the second ended in a job offer. However, the interviews were close to identical, and we answered the questions in basically the same way. Again, I think it was hitting the right administrator at the right time.


amerikumar: "Do you have kids? My husband and I haven't heard anything in terms of scheduling interviews."

We do not have kids, and I'm assuming that was at least a minor plus. The Skype interview I mentioned that didn't go anywhere also had a, "Well, maybe we'll see you in Cambridge," ending.

For you and Orange both, I would just keep emailing schools. Email places that are not on top of your list. Email places with openings not especially amazing (I applied for several middle school positions when I am mostly a high school teacher). At this point, I would carpet bomb any school with openings as long as they don't have absolutely awful reviews! :)

[quote="flyingrob31"]More hope for the frustrated. I got no action in November and December. Then January rolls around and I am getting more emails than I can handle. Most of the school that emailed never responded. Because I have no international experience I did not even bother to email the "top schools". Now those "top schools" are emailing me and I am fairly confident an offer will come from some of them. I almost gave up in December (thinking that no IB experience was killing me), so don't give up! It seems you never know who will take notice and initiate contact....[/quote]

I took PsyGuy's advice from another thread and cast my net wide. We applied in China, Japan, Korea, India, Thailand, Scotland, Poland, and Saudia Arabia. In many of those countries we had multiple applications... 4 in Korea, 6 or so in China at least.

Keep sending those emails!

While I'm here, my wife and I have a question:

What do you all do about car insurance while overseas? We plan on selling our current car and living without an automobile overseas (go go public transportation!), but we've heard horror stories about people coming back state-side and having to pay HUGE premiums after letting their insurance lapse. So, what do you experiences folks suggest?

My wife and I are new international teachers, and we've spent the better part of a year getting prepared -- Search Associates accounts, ISR account, organizing paperwork, clearing old debt, avoiding new debt, researching schools, and, of course, booking plane tickets and a hotel for the Cambridge fair.

Well, I guess we'll have to cancel those plans, since we were offered positions in a nice location based on Skype interviews. After months of sending emails based on positions listed in the Search database and getting next to no responses (a few auto-responses and one Skype interview that led to nothing), I was starting to get a little discouraged going into the fair.

If you were in the same boat as us, don't lose heart! Maybe your job is just around the corner, too.

Now the logistics of moving overseas for the first time... :shock: