Our school gives a salary bump for a M.A. or M.Ed regardless of what subject it's in. If your GF wants to pursue admin, the M.Ed in Educational Leadership seems to be the way to go. The financial bump at our school for a Master's degree is not huge, but it's there.

Anybody know anything about life in the Falkland Islands for teachers? Some friends of ours are looking to apply for IS jobs there.

We lived the compound life when our kids were younger. It was how I imagined suburban life must have been like in the 50's: kids running back and forth between homes, riding their bikes around the neighborhood, a sense of freedom, ironically, that we don't have in our home country. It seems idyllic, but with a caveat: with compound life comes a built in social life. If that's your thing, you will very much enjoy it. Our compound was one of the smaller ones, so maybe this is not the case across the board.

We use both the 18 gallon and 31 gallon sizes.
Happy relocating!

Our older son remarked that he felt like he had the ability to "talk to anyone about anything" when he settled into college after graduating from our international school, because of his overseas experiences. We make sure to fly him to wherever we are for the Christmas holidays, which I think has helped his transition. He had the choice to go to a uni near family and friends or one farther away, and chose the away one. We watched his confidence grow during his time at our IS's, and he seems to have made a smooth transition to life back in our home country and away from us, so far.

We are big fans of the Rubbermaid Rough Totes. They are manageable without being too cumbersome, and sturdy yet flexible enough to withstand enthusiastic baggage handlers. We wrap them with duct tape; bring packing tape/duct tape with you to the airport to rewrap them, as you may be asked to cut the tape and open them for inspection when you check in for your flight.

kleikm,

Our oldest graduated from our int'l school last year and is attending university in a state 3,000 miles from our home state. We are all able to rationalize not seeing each other frequently with the fact that we wouldn't be seeing him all that much anyway during the school year, even if we were still teaching in the US, due to the distance. We Skype at least once a week. He is happy and settled; he credits the skills he cultivated living as a TCK to his easy transition. He will be spending the holidays with his grandparents and other family members in our home state. As far as insurance, the provider through our school provides continuing insurance to dependents of teachers, as long as said dependents are enrolled in college. If this isn't an option for you, many universities offer inexpensive health care insurance plans for students.

Our experience: My husband and I are from California, also, and we had signed up for the SF fair and were going through ISS (not big fans of ISS, but I digress...). Before the fair, we had 3 Skype interviews from schools we had pursued on our own, and were offered jobs at 2 of the three. We accepted one, are thrilled with our overseas teaching experience so far, and never went to the fair. Just so you know, ISS does not refund, so we ate the cost (it's their policy, and it is what it is) but it seemed silly to miss school when we had already been hired for one of our top choices. Being new to international teaching, you might want to see if you can set up Skype interviews with schools that express interest, and if you don't get any nibbles, or if you have a decent offer in your pocket via that route, attend the fair anyway, especially if you've already paid for the fair.

ANYway...ready2go, QSI pays on a 10 month scale.

I can echo sevarem's recent post, with the exception of family size: we have two children, not one, and QSI set us up in a modern and large three bedroom apartment. Other than that, everything rings true of our situation with QSI. I do believe that the quality of teachers varies at the different QSI schools (as it does in American schools). Our QSI school happens to be excellent, as well. After speaking to some fellow teachers who have transferred here from other QSI locations, the feedback is similar to what sevarem is saying: some enjoyed their time in Kazakhstan (especially in the larger cities where they taught at QSI schools, Almaty and Astana), and some couldn't wait to put in their time and get out of Kazakhstan. They didn't so much dislike the school as the location.

That's good...one of the keys to getting your foot in the door to international teaching is flexibility. We applied directly through the QSI website, yes. Not having admin experience, I can't comment on your qualifications, but we both have MA degrees in our fields and had each been teaching for 10 years in the US. The MA degrees didn't seem to be a big factor, but the fact that I also have AP experience helped me get the position I did. QSI likes hiring married teaching couples.

lderickson: My husband and I are currently teaching at a QSI school in Central Asia. We have two children. QSI pays for 100% of their tuition at our school, and has excellent health insurance, as well. We have found QSI to be professional, trustworthy, organized, and efficient. The city and country we are in seems to be somewhat of a hidden gem, and the school is wonderful; it is a truly international community with students from the many embassies in the city, as well as local students. Is the pay spectacular? Not by any means. But we are living comfortably, housed (paid for by QSI) in a spacious apartment in a city where public transportation is easy and cost of living is remarkably low. The savings potential is solid, for sure. If you can be open to teaching somewhere you never even considered to be on your dream location list, you may be pleasantly surprised.

The school at which my husband and I will be teaching this coming year covers all dependents up to age 26. It's part of their package. Make sure you get everything in writing.

Thanks for the insight...very helpful. We are considering offers from a QSI school in Eastern Europe, and an IS in Eastern Europe, as well.
With our family of four, it comes down to quality of life and cost of living.

mrspepper, we registered with ISS initially, but are not attending any fairs this year. My husband and I sent out joint applications/CVs/letters to many, many prospective schools and have had three interviews so far. ISS was helpful in the constant posting of available positions, but one could find those positions almost as easily with diligent research. I[m not sure if I had to do it over again that I'd pay the costs associated with ISS.

Interesting about the Tier 2 /QSI. That seems reasonable, having researched their schools/sites. Some folks have posted that QSI's packages are inadequate, when I am finding just the opposite. Perhaps I am missing something? We would each be starting at $41,900, housing and insurance completely covered, flights home each year for us and our dependents, shipping/relocation allowance, cost of living is low in the cities in which we would consider teaching. It makes me wonder what is inadequate about all that. Enlighten me, please!