The Practicalities of Working and Living Abroad

Travelling has made working abroad much easier through gaining knowledge of countries, people and their cultures. Without this knowledge it’s hard to imagine how we can begin to understand people from other countries. The experience I have gained over the past eight years has become a valuable resource for employment and has helped me maintain an interesting life away from my home country. Been away from home for many years does have an effect on your relationship with family and friends in some ways and must be approached carefully in the hope not to become to detached to the people you respect most. I have concentrated on various changes within my life over the years, something working abroad has assisted me with. I have been a home owner in the United Kingdom and also rented houses so I’ve been down the property avenue of life. Living abroad is different in the way that I won’t own a property or have a long term lease. Some countries such as Thailand allow long term leases but don’t allow foreigners to own land although the materials the home is built with are owned by the buyer, in many cases foreigners. I considered living in Thailand for many years but due to the visa regulations and new laws this was made almost impossible.

It’s important to have friends when working abroad, people you can talk with and trust to help you out with various situations that might arise. I once made the mistake of been lonely for a long time when working in Thailand mostly my own fault. I guess sometimes we become detached from people without realising and spend too much time alone. The situation grew worse for me as time went by and I soon realised I must venture out more, do some site seeing, holidays and nights out with new friends. As a teacher there are various ways you can meet people especially when teaching in South East Asia. There are hundreds of teachers in the same situation looking for new friends on internet forums and on local websites. There are lots of teaching forums in South East Asia that have membership for posters. There are organised nights out for expatriates on a regular basis that might interest expatriates. I’ve recently returned from Singapore where there is a large expatriate community all looking for people to hook with on a weekend. The internet can be a safe place when used correctly. The things I look for before meeting people from the internet when travelling and working is the amount of posts they have in the forums and their status as a member. The best thing about the Singapore Expatriate community is that people tend to meet in groups so you are never alone with one person. The groups have leaders and their names are well known in the community. These are just a few points that should make meeting people a safer more rewarding experience.

Learning a language is the easiest route to success abroad where communication improves enough to be placed above most of your competitors when attending a walk in interview. Been able to communicate in the country you live in will allow you to meet more people, become a member of more clubs, help you make new friends and most of all save you money when purchasing expensive items. I’ve learnt enough to be able to communicate a little. I’m living and teaching in Bangladesh, a new adventure for a couple of years where I must learn some local phrases and terms to improve my life here. Bangladesh’s seem to enjoy communicating with foreigners that can speak their language. At most they are quite well educated, many returning from America, United Kingdom, Australia and Canada where they have been studying for many years. Of course there is the poor side of Bangladesh, a serious problem that the new government promise to improve. I guess like most big cities the amount of people living in a small area just doesn’t improve matters.

Living and working abroad requires a lot of paperwork such as visas, work permits, health documents, tax numbers, in some countries regular three month consulate visits to check addresses, for teachers some countries require a culture course for licence to teach, a TEFL certificate for teachers, the BA degree for teaching in most countries, vaccinations and passport. Thailand now has a criminal record check up for travellers and expatriates wishing to work there. I remember thinking to myself when I started teaching in Thailand if the incident with the police when arrested for been a little loud and intoxicated after a nightclub would block my employment plans but nothing was checked. It’s ridiculous to imagine these small issues can effect employment but apparently in some cases they do. South East Asia seems to attract the more serious criminals for some reason. Thailand’s problem with serious sex offenders still seems to headline the newspapers from time to time. It’s not an attempt to make you paranoid it’s just a warning if you wish to work overseas to be aware of your past criminal record and the possibilities of been refused.

Working and Living in Asia

On my return from an 18 month travel holiday trip through Australia, Thailand and Vietnam I had decided Asia suited my lifestyle and contacted several training centres in Thailand to take my TEFL certificate and become an English Teacher in Thailand. I eventually returned from Asia to the United Kingdom and found employment for around five months, enough to save for the TEFL course I had chosen with Text and Talk academy, Thailand. The course was something I needed to gain confidence to teach.

The teacher trainer for our particular course was called Carmeta, from Canada who became a good friend with a great attitude to training new teachers. I remember the first few days of training when she taught us Japanese in order for her to help us understand how easy learning a language can be. She had chosen Japanese after working in Japan for several years. Carmeta’s method worked and we soon began to understand how to learn again after so many years out of college, University and school. It was now time to illicit information from students in order for them to learn English. The whole experience was exciting and secured all teachers on the TEFL course employment after the course.

After the course I secured several teaching positions within the school teaching on Saturdays and soon became familiar with the needs of Asian students in an English teaching environment. I eventually secured several more positions teaching business English in Bangkok, something I really enjoyed. Teaching business in and around Bangkok was rewarding and looks great on a resume. I worked for a television production company, a graphic design, re-touching advertising company and a travel software company. The management always took care of my lunch and often invited me out for dinner and social gatherings. I became very familiar with the requirements and problems businesses were facing and later went on the teaching business letter writing and application form completion. I remember on one occasion I was asked to retrieve exhibition fees from a French company with success. Teaching in Asia is rewarding and your student’s often become friends especially when teaching business English. It was at that time still working for an Agency and found it difficult to finance the travel in between each job and eventually decided I needed something more secure with less travel. I sometimes wonder where I’d be today if I had continued teaching Business English but even though I loved it, I couldn’t afford to continue. Maybe I should have taught private business English.

I was soon offered a full-time position at Saint Francis Xavier, a Catholic school in Thailand’s second largest city, Nontanburi. I moved near the school into a condominium that overlooked a huge lake. My condominium, a one bedroom with separate kitchen, bathroom and living room only cost around seven thousand baht. With Internet installed, electric, water and council funds, the whole package cost around thirteen thousand baht. Living and teaching in Thailand can be financially rewarding if you can live and eat where the Thai’s do. I was paid around fifty five thousand baht at Saint Francis Xavier and was able to live a good life for the four years I was employed there. It all sounds a little lonely at this point doesn’t it? To be honest during my first few months teaching in Thailand I was very busy and had no time to socialise but later that year I began dating a Thai girl who I stayed with for three years until it was time for me to depart. Sometimes overseas relationships work, sometimes they don’t like any I guess, mine didn’t but I was happy to see her grow into something really special after working for the USA embassy and later moving overseas, something she had always wished to do. At the time of leaving Thailand I had spent almost five years in the country and decided to leave during holiday time when I was able to obtain my holiday pay of one month plus the end of the month salary.

Most importantly I must mention that Thailand is a none confrontational country and I have never witnessed assaults or crime of any nature. The local paper, The Bangkok post covers stories of crime but if you remain calm and become familiar with Thai culture you’ll soon understand where to go, what to say and how to keep out of trouble.