Oh Jesus, Uggs! Haah! No, I am not going to wear sneakers with a suit. But some of my professional shoes are more comfortable than others.

Got it! Thanks!

Does anyone have a rough idea of which schools are the most desirable/competitive in Germany? Yes, I know it depends on what you teach, but I'm talking about in general. Which schools have the longest lines at the fairs?

This will be my first fair coming up. As Oprah says, there are shoes for standing and shoes for sitting... Is there a lot of time on your feet at these things? Just wondering if I can wear my pretty "sitting" shoes or should I go with my more sensible standing shoes.

Hey. *shrug* One needs to know these things.

There are a few "unconventional" places that we are considering, but sometimes it's a matter of our kids, too. For example, we'd really like to go to Thailand (who doesn't?), and we'd be fine teaching at a lower-tier school like Ruamrudee, but because 80% of the students are locals, we don't want our kids to be alienated; they're still really young. It's not going to stop us from talking to them at the fair (they might convince us that that isn't the case), but that's foremost in our minds.

Another high priority for us is public transportation. One of the main things about our current life that's pushing us to do this is our hellish commute. We want to sell our cars and go carless. Even some of the most desirable places don't have great public transport, so they're less desirable to us.

It's okay. I'm getting better ideas for the fair, so I'm feeling a little bit better. :)

darwin wrote:
> Having spent the past 12 years in Central and Eastern Europe, I would
> consider the International School of Prague as a top tier, 'under the
> radar' school. I have not taught there but traveled for various events.
> Staff seems to have taught at all the top schools around the world (and
> very happy in Prague), a forward thinking school, a beautiful city, cheap
> living, easy travel, decent to solid pay.
>
> My two cents.

I'd give a limb to teach there. I imagine I'd never leave. They're not even going to any fairs though, and no jobs are listed... clearly it's a good place to stay!

Being a total noob who has made a zillion missteps already, I'm going to go out on a shaky limb once again. I'm getting the impression that this is kind of a dark place and I'm getting myself into a world of bitter nastiness teaching abroad. I love teaching and I currently work in a (US) school that's full of happy teachers. I've known a few misanthrope Debbie Downer teachers in my career, but they are the vast minority-- literally just one or two per school.

What confuses me is that I'm having to sell myself to schools that are seemingly full of drunken complainers, some with atrocious grammar. How did THEY get in?

Can any of you tell me about the good stuff? Or am I just in the wrong place?

Excellent advice from all of you (including those of you who sent me helpful PMs). And as I said back in a PM, I naively assumed that just because *I* say nothing negative (I am very careful online and only post things my boss could see-- that said, I'm still open), it doesn't mean there won't be guilt by association.

Thank you! Will do some deleting. :)

PsyGuy wrote:
> In the future it would be strongly advised not to discuss or display
> identifying information such as a school name that you were discussing.
> Know that admin knows you use ISR, and who you are (and your screen name)
> and a significant number of admins truly despise this site and anyone who
> associates themselves with it.

NOW WE'RE TALKING! This is the kind of information I needed. I had no idea. Thanks for filling me in! Hopefully at this point I'm still safe...?? I haven't said a negative word yet. Since ISR is so poisonous I'll probably hop off once I have a job and will look for support elsewhere. Thanks PsyGuy!

See, I still don't understand why that's an issue, unless you talk smack about someone somewhere and burn a bridge.

Thank you Nomads. :)
PS... it's MorTon.

I did. Here's what I sent them:

"I was wondering if you had made any decisions about interviewing candidates yet. We have had a few bites from other schools, but Knightsbridge Montenegro is our very top choice! We want to be sure we leave the door open for you first as we move along through the interview process.

I hope to hear from you soon. Thank you very much!"

I heard back within a few hours. I'm glad I wrote! I really wanted them too, but School B is also a great school, so... onward!

I'd go with #2. That's just me though.

Fate has spoken! School A said no thanks. We don't have enough IB experience. School B has scheduled us an interview for Monday! Woo-hoo!

Now I can tell you that School A was Knightsbridge in Montenegro. I was smitten with the country. Ah well, another time!

No, at this point we're just conversing through e-mails. Pre-interviewing, I guess? But that is going well.