Lonely Planet Vienna

Where is the best place to teach abroad? It is difficult to decide where to go when you look at the scope of exciting and unique experiences that are available in different regions of the world. This article is designed to give you information on how your decision about where to teach overseas can affect your lifestyle while you are teaching abroad.

Leisure Activities
Choose the best place to teach overseas may be locked in the kind of things you enjoy doing outside work. You can continue many of your favorite activities while you teach overseas, or make new ones. Many international teachers into areas that allow them to have fun that way.

If you ski, then Europe and Korea are the options you can consider. You can teach in Vienna for example, and take a train to the slopes for the weekend.

Others tend to look for international schools in Thailand or the Philippines. Thailand currently has many more international schools than the Philippines, then you are more likely to find a teaching job there.

Like most international schools are located in urban or suburban areas, there are usually lots of activities you can participate in. While in Bangkok, I attended Indian musical evenings organized by the Embassy of India, attended numerous balls, learned to ride a horse and take dance lessons in many many different styles. My colleagues are more adventurous than me, they run in marathons, triathlons in competition, golf, mountain biking, diving play, and the list goes on.

To determine whether you will be able to continue your hobbies in different countries, you can search the Internet or read the "business" of the relevant Lonely Planet Guide.

Making friends
At home, you probably have many friends outside of work, it can be difficult to achieve when we work in an international school, especially if you frequently move in different schools.

An essential ingredient for making friends with local people may be how much effort you're willing to put in overcoming the language barrier. Learning the local language will also help to ease your life in your host country.

To avoid this problem, you can choose to work in an international school in a country where the majority of the population speaks English! In many countries in Western Europe, for example, a large proportion of the population speaks English fluently, so the language barrier is practically nonexistent.

To make friends who are expatriates, but not teachers you can join groups like the Hash House Harriers (who organize group runs) and groups like the National Society of New Zealand.

Domestic Help
Teachers with children who seek to teach in a country with low cost of living at home will find that the lower cost of living is also through the cost of child care as well, particularly in child care at home.

When you teach abroad, you can choose to live and work in a country where you are able to pay a nanny. Many international teachers with children employ nannies, particularly in South Asia where the cost of living is very low and, consequently, local wages are also low.

Even teachers without children can enjoy the benefits of domestic help in countries where domestic helpers are relatively cheap to use. Almost all of my colleagues have maids or cleaning that come and take care of everything from cleaning the apartment for food shopping and collecting dry cleaning.

Finally
There are many different factors to consider when deciding where the best place to teach overseas is for you. But the main thing to keep in mind is that if you can.