reisgio wrote:
> It's pretty horrible in China, but honestly, I would not take children to
> many cities in Asia or Europe too because of air pollution. Also a no go -
> Santiago, Chile.

Thanks for the tip. I had heard good things about Chile and was looking at schools there, so that really is helpful to know.

Thanks for the replies. I guess I was hoping to hear that it's not so very bad in Chengdu, but I have to face reality! I wish it wasn't so.

Thank you to you both for your replies. To answer your question, psyguy, we aren't sure whether we want the position. The location is a mixed bag and just may not work for our kids (I have another thread about it). I did originally ignore the requirement for the scan when I first sent them our application documents but then they emailed requesting that we send it as well (same email that said they wanted an interview).

What's especially appealing about them is that we'd be doing IB (first time for both of us and we want to gain that experience. The package seems pretty typical compared to others I've seen.

I'm trying to get a sense for whether it would be a bad idea to take my kids (age 5 and under) to Chengdu, because of the pollution. I don't see having them wear masks, which, from what Google tells me, seems to be a fairly common aspect of living there. Is Google exaggerating? Am I going to doom my kids to developing respiratory problems if I take them there?

From what I've read Chengdu's pollution is consistently bad (vs. Beijing where there are good days and bad days) though rarely "hazardous." I don't really understand what that means, particularly with regards to small kids. My kids' health is one of my top priorities and I can't see taking a position in a location that's going to compromise that.

Any advice is appreciated.

reisgio wrote:
> I find that most schools that follow the Jan-Dec calendar are in fact
> national/local schools. If you find an international school that follows
> that calendar, it's probably a domestic school culturally. That is not good
> or bad in my opinion, but if you want a school that is
> "international" in character, the one you are referring to
> probably isn't it.

That does make sense. I think you're probably right.

This is a school we applied to, which has asked to schedule an interview with us. So no job offer or anything like that yet.

Is that normal? I keep seeing warnings here and there about scams and since no other school so far has asked for anything to do with our passports, thought I'd check here.

Thanks!

mamava wrote:
> Most international school in the southern hemisphere follow the same
> schedule at northern hemisphere schools--from July/August through June. I
> work in Brazil and all the international schools here follow that schedule
> as did our school in Tanzania. Friend who work in South Africa also follow
> that schedule.

Thank you! I didn't realize that. The school I was looking at in Chile must be an exception.

b12r wrote:
> I have yet to meet ANYone who is concerned over a war. I mean if you are
> getting your news from CNN or MSNBC then maybe they say it.

Are you in China? Did anyone talk about his telephoning Tsai?

I understand that I may be way off-base. That's why I'm asking, to get a more realistic sense. The people I talk politics with are very concerned about his recent gaffes, but I know it may be something they are inflating. I'm hoping this forum can act as a sounding board.

b12r wrote:
> Curious what you think would happen being an American in China with Trump
> as president

I'm wondering whether people are concerned about a war. There are people here in the US who are. I'm wondering whether people in China are seeing similar concerns.

I'm wondering how people dealt with starting a new position in a different hemisphere. As in, you were teaching somewhere in the northern hemisphere, and then got a job in the southern hemisphere. I was looking at Chile, for instance, but I don't know how I would make it work since their positions start in January, not August.

...due to the issues with USA's new president elect?

Like him or hate him, Trump is coming out of the gate behaving offensively towards the Chinese government.

I was pretty enthusiastic about finding a good situation for my family and working at a good school in China, but now I don't know. Just wondering how realistic my concerns are.

Well, that does sound unsafe. What a shame. Thank you for the replies!

Thanks again, everyone.

I was thinking I'd probably end up teaching drama or English, maybe even French (I am credentialed for all of them, have 3 years experience with English, 9 with drama, and none with French), while my husband would have a social studies position. It also help that sometimes schools will have a psychology and a history position open, or geography and another social studies. I wish either of us felt more confident teaching economics, tbh. There seem to be a lot of those positions open, but despite being credentialed in it (and having scored highest in it when I took my CSET) neither I nor my husband feel like we would be comfortable teaching it.

You all have given me some things to think about and I'm going to talk to my husband about SA and UNI.

I was browsing some reviews and saw that often, the "safety" rating is a 3 for schools in Guatemala. Why is that? Some of the schools I looked at would otherwise seem to be a good fit, but I have little kids and I can't see taking them to a location that most consider unsafe.

Hi and thank you for the replies!

No, we are not in Europe. I just meant we aren't deluding ourselves into thinking we can just waltz into a European position (which is something I've seen a lot of people without international teaching experience think is is easy to do).

It's frustrating to hear that we are already too late for Search, but not all that surprising.

Is it too late for UNI? I don't know if we could swing a trip to Iowa. Do they do recruitment outside of their fair? Are they the ones who serve South America, primarily?

We are on TIE, so I'll continue to use their service.

I'm a little worried that the schools on TIE seem to usually be schools that aren't even reviewed here on ISR. Is that a function of their newness?