From my experience as a physics teacher who has also taught MS science, I have found that physics teachers tend to be harder to hire because there aren't as many of us. That being said, there typically will be more middle school science rather than physics positions available in a given year simply because more people teach middle school science. Physics positions are also rarely only physics - you could very well end up teaching some middle school science, depending on the size of the school.

Austria.

I don't buy the overly qualified argument. I know others who have PhD's and especially in subjects like science and math, this should not be a hindrance. Good HL math teachers are not a dime a dozen and a lot of directors like to advertise that they have teachers with higher level degrees. I agree that the cover letter could be improved, but not just for the English, but also for the content. One thought that I had is that it is mainly a listing of qualifications, which are on the CV anyway, without much to say about teaching philosophy. There is also a lot of focus on what you want out of the job, rather than what you would bring to the job. If I were hiring, I would want to know what sets you apart from other math teachers. And being French doesn't have to be a disadvantage. A lot of schools are looking to show that they are more international and if you've been teaching this long in English, clearly the language isn't a problem, although the language of the letter could use some polishing.

I think it would be possible to get a job, but ultimately, it would be safer to have a teaching credential. Missouri allows people with Ph.D.'s to get one, without what appears to be much extra work. It might be worth looking into: http://dese.mo.gov/eq/cert/routes-to-certification.htm

Psyguy, when I looked into all of this very recently, I was told in no uncertain terms that my application for a clear credential would not be accepted if I was not teaching in a CA school. The link you posted was only for people prepared out-of-state. For people prepared in-state, that is the requirement. The residency requirement is not explicitly listed anywhere, but when I tried to apply to a teacher induction program (one of the requirements) from overseas, this is what I was told and what was confirmed by the CTC. One could, however, get the preliminary application and just move to another state, but then, why bother with CA in the first place. CA has strange rules and the CTC is not very helpful, so I recommend avoiding them. You may have seen it work in the past, but they have changed a lot of their rules.

I have to correct the information on California. California does not use the Praxis exams. Also, it is not possible to get a Clear Credential in California if one is not living in the state. Getting a preliminary teaching credential in California is essentially a dead end.

I already was into the music before I came. And I had always been interested in Africa. I wanted to experience something different and I did.

For me, it was primarily the culture and the music. West Africa is a great place to live if you enjoy live music. And while I did not choose to live there because of this, the cost of living was quite low, so I was able to save quite a bit, even though at first glance, the salary wasn't that high. I also enjoyed the community there - there was an interesting mix of people.

I taught in West Africa for a bit. I really enjoyed it. While it may not be a popular choice for a lot of teachers, at my school, there were a lot of us who had come because we specifically wanted to live in the region. Many of the schools in Africa are quite small. Teachers often end up with many preps, as a result, or multiple levels in classrooms. Internet is often slow. It can be hard to get resources locally. That being said, I thought the experience was fully worth it and would go back. I guess it depends on what you are looking for.

I have used excess baggage on overseas flights. It is worth calling the airline in advance. They do sometimes have limits on how many extra bags one can take, particularly if you will be on a smaller plane for a connecting flight. Sometimes, you can also reserve space for the extra bags. I have always just used regular suitcases/duffel bags for extra luggage. It gives me more luggage options once in country.

From my personal experience, it is not worth bringing much food initially. You don't know what is available yet and frankly, one can make do without special items of food far more easily than one can make do without medicine or clothing (although some people cannot live without coffee). Food is something that can be brought later, when you know what is locally available. But imagine turning up with kilograms of gummy bears, only to discover that they are locally available.

Personally, I would never move without my kitchen knives. You will not have any problems with knives in your luggage as long as you check your bags.

Is there no one at your school that you can contact who would give you suggestions on what to pack? I've always found this very useful.

The new MYP curriculum starts in 2014. It will not be a prescribed curriculum, in the way the DP is. There will be changes to the current format, but content will still be left up to the individual schools.

I worked at a start up school. I didn't particularly enjoy it, however, I don't believe that my director was very competent. The biggest problem was that we didn't have adequate classroom materials. The English teacher had to teach English without any books, for example. The school was also largely staffed by teachers who had never taught overseas before, many of whom were new to teaching. It was like the blind leading the blind. I'd be wary of working at a start up school. With the right person at the head, it could probably be a good experience, but it wasn't for me and I didn't stay long.

This happened to me last year and I teach a hard-to-fill subject. I found a lot of schools completely ignored me until I turned up at the job fair, where I had no problems at all. I later heard from the school that hired me that they had never received the email I sent. I don't know why. I know many other people on this forum have said they have had success applying to schools directly, but it didn't work at all for me and I don't know why. Are you going to a job fair? You might find you have better success there.

Aside from clothes, you might also want to consider things to cook with. The apartments I have moved into have generally come with pots and pans, but these have generally been of pretty bad quality. Bringing a good set of pots and knives just makes life easier.

But really, what you ship also depends, to some degree on where you going and what is available locally.

I think what you're feeling is quite normal. There is a normal adjustment curve. You might want to read up on culture shock to better understand what you're feeling. There is a very predictable pattern of feelings. For me, this is around the time of year that I tend to feel the most homesick. However, I often find that leaving my new home does help, because it helps me realize, when I come back, that I have started thinking about it as home. I think the good news is that you are happy with where you are. You'll get used to being there. It will get better with time and when you get to the end of your two-year contract, you may find that you don't want to go.