Suggestions for good blogs, resources for moving overseas?

psychris · Post by **psychris** » Tue Feb 21, 2012 8:12 pm

Thanks!

lonesomeocean · Post by **lonesomeocean** » Thu Feb 23, 2012 4:12 am

[quote="psychris"]Alright, my blog is up and running:

----://chrischowfun.wordpress.com/

It's more about me than anything else, but I try really, really hard to make it a worthwhile read.[/quote]

I reall loved reading your blog, psychris. Very funny and well written. I hope you'll keep writing when you get to Beijing!

wrldtrvlr123 · Post by **wrldtrvlr123** » Thu Feb 23, 2012 6:57 am

[quote="psychris"]Alright, my blog is up and running:

----://chrischowfun.wordpress.com/

It's more about me than anything else, but I try really, really hard to make it a worthwhile read.[/quote]

Liked the blog. You may want to consider making it a little more anonymous. Either that, or you should be very careful what you post on it. The int'l community is large but feels pretty small over here.

psychris · Post by **psychris** » Thu Feb 23, 2012 10:26 am

@lonesomeocean - thank you! I really appreciate the kind words.

@wrldtrvlr123 - thanks for the suggestion. I was hesitant to include my resume on my last post, but I figured I already had so many pictures of myself up already that anyone could probably figure out who was writing it anyway, do I just covered up my contact info with my picture.

I am gonna try to "clean up" my social media presence in the next few months.

vettievette · Post by **vettievette** » Thu Feb 23, 2012 1:40 pm

I have to use an IP blocker to view psychris blog due to wordpress being blocked here...gotta love post-Soviet countries. Well done, Chris! I like the layout, etc. Here is mine: [url]http://uzbekvette.tumblr.com[/url] The title outs my location, but I've got nothing to hide. Backtrack to March 2011 to get a scope of my job finding process, move, etc. I also keep a counselor's blog for school.

psychris · Post by **psychris** » Thu Feb 23, 2012 1:54 pm

I don't have anything to hide, but I have the tendency to swear a lot in my casual prose. I'm trying to keep my blog as PG as possible.

vettievette · Post by **vettievette** » Thu Feb 23, 2012 2:01 pm

[quote="psychris"]I don't have anything to hide, but I have the tendency to swear a lot in my casual prose. I'm trying to keep my blog as PG as possible.[/quote]
Well I think in my case, as long as others who live in the 'Stan countries, I have to be careful in what I post about living here due to the 'watchers' of the web. Fortunately, not really much to critique, I really do enjoy Tashkent and all its quirks. And to be quite honest - I think the flavor of the reviews of the school/city on this site are going to change - from me and most of the crew they recruited for this school year.

psychris · Post by **psychris** » Thu Feb 23, 2012 4:47 pm

@vettievette - I just got a chance to check out your blog. Nice work! I really enjoyed the posts regarding your first days in Tashkent and your first day of school.

WiseTeach · Post by **WiseTeach** » Thu Feb 23, 2012 6:13 pm

Psychris just checked out the blog. Funny, entertaining & useful (also a great picture.) Good luck in your new international career.

vettievette · Post by **vettievette** » Thu Feb 23, 2012 11:01 pm

[quote="psychris"]@vettievette - I just got a chance to check out your blog. Nice work! I really enjoyed the posts regarding your first days in Tashkent and your first day of school.[/quote]

Thanks for checking it out! I have yours saved in my blog list on google reader. Looking forward to keeping up w/ your posts. A friend of mine here used to teach at your school and loved it. I need to catch up on posting for mine....

rumour5182 · Post by **rumour5182** » Sat Feb 25, 2012 9:40 am

[/quote] Thanks for checking it out! I have yours saved in my blog list on google reader. Looking forward to keeping up w/ your posts. A friend of mine here used to teach at your school and loved it. I need to catch up on posting for mine....[/quote]

@vettievette: I loved looking through your blog! Tashkent sounds like a really neat place, and your school sounds great. Just curious -- what kind of access to American items do you have? I'm thinking film, music, books ... And how's your internet access? I saw your earlier post referenced an IP blocker to read psychris's blog -- do you need to use that for all your internet access?

How are you liking Tashkent? Your posts from when you first got settled are great, and they make it sound like you're loving it. Is that still the case? Are you able to do much travelling to other countries in Asia? I would think flights would be prohibitively expensive.

Thanks in advance!

vettievette · Post by **vettievette** » Sun Feb 26, 2012 9:06 am

[quote="rumour5182"][/quote]
@vettievette: I loved looking through your blog! Tashkent sounds like a really neat place, and your school sounds great. Just curious -- what kind of access to American items do you have? I'm thinking film, music, books ... And how's your internet access? I saw your earlier post referenced an IP blocker to read psychris's blog -- do you need to use that for all your internet access?

How are you liking Tashkent? Your posts from when you first got settled are great, and they make it sound like you're loving it. Is that still the case? Are you able to do much travelling to other countries in Asia? I would think flights would be prohibitively expensive.

Thanks in advance![/quote]

Glad you liked the blog. Access to American items: if it's really important to you, bring it with you. I love to cook/bake and I found that the cookware here isn't up to par or really expensive so I bring back what I can from trips to places that have it. Clothing is also another one. Electronics can be pricey as well and u have to make sure the US items you bring in can handle 220 voltage. In terms of food, I've had fairly good luck w/ basic groceries. US ex-pats have access to the Embassy commissary so we can get the "must-have" American food items from there. I like my supply of pace picante and tostito chips. ;)

Internet access is ok, but pricey by Western standards. Certain sites are blocked periodically like bbc, etc. but it's not a major inconvenience. Obviously, you have to be careful n how you frame a negative opinion about certain leaders here. I still get BBC and al-jazeera international on tv satellite which is better than any news access Ive had in the states. There are no English-language cinemas or bookstores so our school's Secondary Library stocks all the latest magazines/books and most of us have Kindles. As for movies/TV we all have external hard drives for sharing and there is a local place for bootlegs. You can also download if u keep an eye on the gigabytes u get per month in your Internet acct. I've kept up w/ Glee season 3 with no issues. ;)

I still love Tashkent. It's a quiet, clean city and fairly safe. It's not easy to live here if an expat nightlife (pubs, restaurants, etc) is what you're looking for. But we do the best we can and I found adjusting from New York City to here not that difficult at all. I also came with no expectations and that helped a lot. Also, I like quirky places and this definitely is one. A good sense of humour in dealing with all the bureaucracy is a must. Getting in/out of here IS adventurous, the airport leaves much to be desired - but that's with any Stan country or the developing world. The train and Uzbek air make it easy to see the historical places. Flts to Asia/Europe/Middle east are available w/ connections via Uzbek/Turkish/Asiana/korean. But like I said - it can be adventurous and often times flights leave late. Also, flights aren't too expensive if you time it right..the connections can be laborious though.

The key is to do your research..places like this aren't for everybody, but it can be a real gem if you give it a chance.

BocaJrs · Post by **BocaJrs** » Sun Feb 26, 2012 2:44 pm

nikkor · Post by **nikkor** » Mon Mar 05, 2012 12:40 am

Nice list BocaJrs. I'll have some reading to do.

I also wanted to add this blog post on international schools and leadership. I think it would be great if a bunch of us responded to it.

[url]http://learnedleadership.org/2012/01/24 ... t-leaders/[/url]

Suggestions for good blogs, resources for moving overseas?

blogs for teachers