I feel like lantana wrote exactly what I would have, other than the fact that we ARE living in Shanghai. The fact that we're excited when the aqi is below 200 is insane. It is scary, when you really think about it...to be excited about a level that would be an absolute crisis in another city. Sure, there are days with blue skies, but they are not as common as grey, overcast, smoggy days.

Even with air purifiers in the house, and children staying indoors for days on end during recesses at school, there comes a point when it's just not okay anymore and it's not worth the money you get by working here. When it hit over 500 on the aqi index this year, and the hallways in the school were smoggy and filled with greyness; when you realize that the, "It's not that big of a deal, calm down, you're overreacting," comments you keep hearing don't make sense anymore; when you have never had breathing problems before and you're feeling tightness in your chest and your eyes are smarting from the air, it's time to go. You're not overreacting. Really. And it's not something any of us should get used to, either.

Great schools exist here. You'll make lots of money, too, which I feel is your compensation for the pollution. You'll have access to everything from tahini to Doritos to bagels. At some point, though, that isn't enough to stay.

Same as above.

Hilarious, Dawson! If I had those items, I'd consider wearing them for our International Days! John Deere...my grandpa worked for them in the 50's and 60's.

In the summer, I hit the sales after July 4th for some Americana stuff I'd never wear any other time unless paid. Claire's Boutique has gaudy earrings, red/white/blue hair "extensions," necklaces, etc. I find that, along with any solid red, white, or blue shirt and some jeans pretty much decks you out as an American.

I think if you go the jersey route, an "American" themed team like the Patriots or the Yankees or a U.S. national soccer team jersey make more sense than the Packers.

I thought about this, too, but I wonder how international schools will look at this. There's a balance between being proactive and annoying/wasting time of schools when the recruiting season is so, so busy for schools. I know our school gets 1,500-2,000 applications each year, in addition to the school actively seeking out candidates on Search.

I had one very nice director this year who personalized his e-mail reply to my inquiry for a position, as my colleague had put us in touch. He let me know that his small school was currently receiving over 100 applications a day and for their 9 open positions the year before, they had more than 1,500 applications. I can't imagine how schools would handle the sheer volume of calls if we all started calling schools on top of sending resumes.

I guess I feel that if you've sent your resume and the school feels you might be a good fit, they will contact you. If you haven't heard back, then you're probably not what the school is looking for.

I'd be interested to hear what admin think about this practice.

I accepted a contract and later that day was offered a SKYPE interview with a school I was also VERY interested in. I replied to the director that I was excited to hear from him, definitely interested, but just today accepted a contract. If he'd like to get to know me better for the future, I'd be glad to talk with him, but I also understood that time is of the essence during recruiting season. He responded by wishing me the best in my new position.

Part of me was disappointed, but I made the best decision with what was offered at the time (multiple contracts on the table), and I do believe that my word is my bond. I will be happy at my new school and look forward to working there!

I'm with Dedee on this one.

Teaching couple here. Just signed last week and cancelled our Search placements in Bangkok. Had Skype interviews with 7+ schools, multiple recontact and 2 contract offers.

Search is very strict about this. Also, I do not think that schools would consider it good form. To not be invited to the fair and to show up anyway is disrespectful and inappropriate. Schools will not find your name listed for the conference, you will not have a file, appropriate name tags, etc. What does it say about your character? That you're a rule breaker? That you don't respect authority?

As a teacher, I would not want to work at a school that considered applicants who crash job fairs. Reputation, both of candidates and schools, are very important.

I'm sure someone will come along and say that it shows motivation and eagerness for a job, but I see it speaking quite loudly of poor character.

[b]However[/b], what wrldtrvlr123 said was reasonable. "When you are contacting schools who will be at X fair that have openings you may be a match for, simply throw in a line that states although you will not be attending X fair, you will be in that region during that time frame and could make yourself available for an interview should your candidacy be given serious consideration. "

I think you could always say that inquiry can be part of many schools' philosophies. But if you're a PYP teacher and move to a non inquiry-based school, prepare to have a little piece of your teaching soul die...

I really wanted to write something about the dick tape, but I figure it'd be more helpful to write about the rubbermaid containers. ha ha

I had a friend buy them (walmart kind) and they were beat up SO bad when she arrived in Korea. They weren't really in good shape anymore--huge dents, etc.

I looked at the storage lockers on the container store (someone else on ISR recommended them) and those look durable. I'd shoot for those, if you have the funds for them.

I love reading. I boxed up 2 boxes of books for my first posting and found that the school's library had over 30,000 books and spent over $20,000 a year for new books. There were plenty of things to read, but I love having books at my home, and it's comforting to have my favorites plus ones to lend to other teachers. My second school isn't quite as good with the book selection, but there are still 20-30,000 books in their library.

I suggest e-readers, too. Check out your local library and see if they have an e-lending program. I was going to do amazon.com to get the free check-outs, but they only let you borrow for free if you have a kindle, which I do not.

Also, ask your new school if they have a book club. Many do, and you can join a group of like-minded book lovers.

I know people who have worked at these schools and they both seemed very happy. Here's the skivvy from what I've heard:

If you teach at Ciputra, you are basically an English teacher, which means you are like the Spanish or French teacher at a State-side school. Ciputra is probably 95% Indonesian. It is a national plus school, not an international school. It is also IB, but I have heard that they have a very hard time keeping their certification because of the difficulty in students being able to speak/use English properly. Ciputra did have nice housing offered to oversea hires and the salary was very similar to SIS's offerings.

SIS is a true international school with 28+ different nationalities. It has much better facilities. (Ciputra and SIS ONLY share the soccer field). SIS has a huge turnover this year. More than 85% of the teachers left at the end of this year, including the Head of School. Could be a good thing--you never know! Housing is reasonable, but not an independent house like Ciputra offers...however, if you live in teacher housing, you score being hooked up to the generator, which is great for the MANY power outages you will experience. You also are hooked up to the school's Internet, which is much, much faster than the rest of the plebes in Citraland.

Yes, you would be naive to think that. It may be better than the air quality outside, but it will still be bad. Get the air purifiers. Better to cough up the money than your lungs. :D

I agree with Sid. Whatever you signed to is what is reasonable.

I've worked at a school that gave 10 weeks paid leave, and only allowed after your 3rd year of working there.

I've worked at a school that gave 10 weeks paid, inclusive of holidays, so if your baby is born in June, you actually get NO leave, because your weeks are during the summer.

I haven't heard of more than 12 weeks, paid. I have heard of schools willing to renegotiate the contract if you take off more than the leave allowance.

In the U.S. you can have 12 weeks of leave, but unless you're in California, it's unpaid leave.

So there are a few comparisons for you.

We bought ours at Lowe's or Home Depot in the States. I haven't looked on Taobao...looking now....

I see a couple on Taobao, but to be honest, I'd get them at home. They're listed at over $50 USD for two replacement filters, and they're more like $20 in the U.S.

Worth the space in the suitcase!

Emily, I'd suggest more than one. We have one in each room. There are units that purify different sized rooms. We have our large-space air purifier in the living room, and smaller ones in each bedroom.