LOL... off track much people? :)

I felt bad for the lack of any useful info, at least relevant to your question (I actually did find the other tidbits interesting), and dug up this blog by a student teacher who was there a couple of months ago. Not a whole lot there but you might get a general feel of the school from it.

BTW, looking through pics of Tanzania and Kilimanjaro really made me want to travel there. It's beautiful...

http://hmmiller.wordpress.com/2012/01/25/

I've been curious about this for a while, especially when I'm hit with a crazy doctor/hospital bill for some seemingly minor issue:

So, what do you think about your school-provided insurance? I would like to get an overall picture of what is offered at Int. Schools compared to here in the US. Sometimes I feel that if it weren't for the doctor bills, we would actually have a chance at saving some money (and then someone gets sick...).

Here are some questions just to get the ball rolling and then my personal situation as a point of comparison.

Is your deductible reasonable? i.e, ours is $2500 per person.

Does it cover 100% of medical costs? After deductible is met, ours will pay 80%

Does the school pay for dependents also? We pay about $380 per month for the kids to have insurance. What's interesting is that it would be the same amount whether we had 1 or 10 kids in the family.

Do you have access to quality medical facilities or English speaking doctors?

Do you have worldwide coverage? Is it included or must you pay extra?

Also, if you care to share any interesting/funny/ horrifying experiences feel free to add to the conversation!

Thanks in advance for any replies.

Have you tried epals?

http://www.epals.com/

I personally haven't used it, but I know of teachers who have set up some very interesting, collaborative projects with classrooms in other countries.

[quote= "fke"]An Americanism that grates is this: calling the States-- America and its people Americans. I didn´t get it for the longest time, but now I agree. It smacks of arrogance in Latin America. There is a good reason for it (American was used, I think, after the civil war to unite the country), but I don´t say it here. But calling the states America is the worst one[/quote]

I agree; this a common "pet peeve" amongst Latin Americans and will very likely provoke the almost knee jerk reaction of "but we are all Americans". If you want to embark on a historical/political /social debate on whether it is correct or not to use the term exclusively to refer to someone from the US, go right ahead and say you're "Americano/a" . If you would rather avoid it, then say "Estadounidense".


Regarding the doctor visits: they've all been friendly and I sincerely doubt they would ever intend to be rude. It's just that I obviously am not picking up on their cues regarding when the appointment is over (how "I'm going to write the prescription" is synonymous to "goodbye" was lost on me for a while). And that was the point of my post. What else might we do that unbeknownst to us might raise eyebrows, or even worse, hurt feelings?

I frequently read about all the cultural idiosyncracies of locals that tend to annoy Americans who are teaching overseas. For example, it almost always seems to be prefaced with the phrase "This is _________" or "Only in __________".

But what about the "american way of doing things" that might get on others' nerves? Which habits tend to provoke confusion, misunderstandings or irritation in other countries? Are they bad enough to hinder interraction with the locals or are they commonly known and tolerated?

For example: I took my kids to a doctor's appointment today (I'm in the US)and something that I thought was just a quirkiness of their pediatrician happened with yet another doctor and has me thinking it might just be a common cultural trait. What I'm talking about is greetings. These doctors seem good enough at saying hello but are not as good at saying goodbye, meaning they just don't do it. I'm never sure if the appointment is over and we are free to leave or if the doctor will pop back in. So I wait, and wait and wait until it's obvious no one is coming and then inevitably feel a bit of a fool.
I think the reason it bothers me so is because I lived for many years in a South American country (my username should clue you in) and it's considered very rude to arrive or leave a place without properly acknowledging everyone present with a hello/goodbye and a kiss to boot. It has become so ingrained that I still am taken aback when people just leave at the end of a meeting or get-together without a proper goodbye.

So, what behaviors/actions do you think are typically american and could potentially create some cultural friction?

[quote= wrldtrvlr123]Wow! Weren't there some more posts after this one? Looks like the censors have been busy.[quote]

You're right....looks like the admins aren't fans of Jersey Shore. (thank goodness ;)

"Curiouser and curiouser..."

This thread has been worrisome, entertaining, and enlightening all at the same time. Just to add my two cents (not that it really needs any more opinions) as well as what I've learned:
1) An anonymous forum is a wonderful exercise in critical thinking and a healthy dose of skepticism is a must.
2)Who needs daytime talk show drama when you have ISR.
3)For all of PsyGuy's faults (real or imagined) he did breathe some life into this sometimes exceedingly quiet forum. Since I've been perusing this forum (about a year), there were times when it seemed just a few helpful and dedicated members (thank you, ichiro, wrldtvlr123, JISAlum etc!!) were regularly around. So, even if just to get people to refute and dismiss his posts, he has managed to encourage increased participation and that's a good thing. I hope this "controversy" eventually settles down but that people continue to post and share their experiences and knowledge.

-Over and out-

So, I've tried repeatedly to post this on the ISR blog but haven't been able to (who knows what the deal is, grrr). If anybody wants to copy and paste it there, feel free; I'm done.
Anyways, I just wanted to share some potentially helpful blogs and since I took the time to type it all up (not a favorite thing for me,) I wasn't going to give up all that easily and am sharing here instead.


Bangladesh:
http://edepoy.blogspot.com/

Brazil:
http://americanteacherabroad.blogspot.com/
http://anotherawfullybigadventure.blogspot.com/
http://brazilbreakdown.blogspot.com/
http://indiake.blogspot.com/ (previously India)

Bolivia:
http://rufmita.blogspot.com/ (now Dominican Republic)

China:
http://theaccidentalnomad.blogspot.com/


Colombia:
http://coffeecalculationsandcolombia.blogspot.com/

Ecuador:
http://esteecuador.blogspot.com/

Egypt:
http://e-m-k-a-y.blogspot.com/

Germany:
http://scienceteachertravels.blogspot.com/

Greece:
http://itsallgreektojill.blogspot.com/ (now Singapore)

Jakarta:
http://brendawright.blogspot.com/
http://fromthepulau.blogspot.com/ (currently in Argentina)
http://www.stutzfamily.com/stutzblog/ (previously India)

India:
http://blondieinbombay.blogspot.com/
http://gregandtwyla.blogspot.com/
http://thewixsonsinindia.blogspot.com/
http://travelingtexanteacher.blogspot.com/

Lebanon:
http://thepresentperfect.wordpress.com/

Morocco:
http://jodeejunge.blogspot.com/
http://tiffanysoule.com/

Oman:
http://travellingred.edublogs.org/

Paraguay:
http://paraguayanponderings.blogspot.com/

South Korea:
http://loveinternationalliving.wordpress.com/

Thailand:
http://expatteacherinthailand.blogspot.com/
http://haberview.blogspot.com/ (now Slovakia)

Turkey:
http://erintheturkeytrotter.blogspot.com/

Uzbekistan:
http://gdn-ouradventures.blogspot.com/ (now Malaysia)

Here are a couple of blogs of teachers in Macau:

http://kiatsinmacau.blogspot.com/
http://cheryl-setchell.blogspot.com/
http://10monthsinmacau.blogspot.com/

A family in Macau
http://www.wanderingmacau.com/

Kinda, sorta relevant: These are a couple of blogs from teachers that used to be in Shekou, China (QSI school). You'll need to go to the beginning of the blogs.

http://therundells.blogspot.com/
http://ericandjamiebrown.blogspot.com/

@ astarte:
I subscribe to several blogs by international teachers through my RSS feed and I can say that many have proved to be very informative. I have learned a lot regarding the city/country's general living conditions and sometimes also about the school. I can't recommend it enough. As an added bonus some blogs are quite entertaining as well as useful.
If you don't mind posting more specifically where you are headed in Asia I might have some country specific ones for you.

@nikkor:
I stopped by the blog you posted and the photos are just breathtaking. Please send my congratulations to your friend and thanks for sharing.

Regarding Chadwick: you can check out this blog by a teacher currently working there. Maybe if you post a comment on it you might get some feedback.
http://loveinternationalliving.wordpress.com/

Sorry, that's all I've got...

Got it!

Thanks for the explanation. :)

[quote="PsyGuy"]Newbies means those new to international teaching and too a little lessor extent new to international teaching. [/quote]

???
Now I'm really confused...

I apologize if I'm being daft and asking something obvious but, when referring to the "newbies" that flooded the fairs this year, are you referring to candidates that are new to teaching in International schools or new to teaching, period.

@Psyguy: Thanks for the info; it's much appreciated!

So it has come up twice on this forum that specialist degrees are not recognized outside of the US. Is this right?

My husband was considering getting his Ed. S. (in administration) instead of a doctorate mainly because it would be 20 grand less and yet it would hopefully make him more competitive in our search for jobs overseas. However, if they're not really recognized then it seems it'd be kind of pointless.
What do you say, should he splurge on the doctorate or is a specialist OK?

Thanks for any input!