


{"id":1028,"date":"2013-03-04T12:15:39","date_gmt":"2013-03-04T12:15:39","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.teacherhorizons.com\/advice\/?p=331"},"modified":"2023-02-16T15:12:04","modified_gmt":"2023-02-16T15:12:04","slug":"why-i-skipped-the-country-to-teach-overseas","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.teacherhorizons.com\/advice\/why-i-skipped-the-country-to-teach-overseas","title":{"rendered":"Why I skipped the country to teach overseas"},"content":{"rendered":"<h4>So, why did I skip the country and teach overseas?<\/h4>\n<h4>I needed air!&nbsp; I needed a change.&nbsp; I had been in the same area for 17 years and felt suffocated, although I enjoyed my job and felt wanted and appreciated at the same time.<\/h4>\n<p>My first overseas posts were in the Middle East.&nbsp; I went to the United Arab Emirates and I was plunged into a school of 2,000 + pupils from being a kingpin in a school of 250, and I loved it!&nbsp; The kids in my class ranged from 9-13 years old.&nbsp; They were supposed to be 9-10 year olds, but what the heck!&nbsp; That first year felt like being on holiday all of the time.&nbsp; I loved Monday mornings.<\/p>\n<p>Why?&nbsp; Because it was the middle of the week and the weekend began on Thursday!&nbsp; Okay, so we worked Saturday and Sunday, but that was simply novel and not arduous.&nbsp; The facilities in the school were excellent and were there to use &#8211; an Olympic size swimming pool, with only me in it and a vast sports hall for any activity you cared to indulge in!<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_1773\" style=\"width: 650px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><img aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-1773\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"size-full wp-image-1773\" src=\"https:\/\/www.teacherhorizons.com\/advice\/wp-content\/uploads\/articles\/why-i-skipped-the-country-to-teach-overseas\/elaine-crawford-on-a-honda.jpg\" alt=\"Elaine Crawford on a Honda\" width=\"640\" height=\"425\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.teacherhorizons.com\/advice\/wp-content\/uploads\/articles\/why-i-skipped-the-country-to-teach-overseas\/elaine-crawford-on-a-honda.jpg 640w, https:\/\/www.teacherhorizons.com\/advice\/wp-content\/uploads\/articles\/why-i-skipped-the-country-to-teach-overseas\/elaine-crawford-on-a-honda-300x199.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px\" \/><p id=\"caption-attachment-1773\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Elaine Crawford on a Honda<\/p><\/div>\n<p>What do I remember most?&nbsp; I think of the calls to prayer echoing out over the city, the scenery and the food.&nbsp; I love Indian food and there is stacks of it.&nbsp; I love Arabic food and there it is to indulge in.&nbsp; If you want it, of course you can get European food \u2013 just head off to Spinney\u2019s supermarket and you can cook your own!<\/p>\n<p>My second post was in Kuwait.&nbsp; That was straight after the Gulf War of the 1990s and that was a shock.&nbsp; The destruction and devastation were unbelievable.&nbsp; The oil wells were still burning until the Russians found out how to blow out the flames.&nbsp; The school was a delight and the children were just gorgeous.&nbsp; I think that was the best year of my life.<\/p>\n<p>I went to Hong Kong after that.&nbsp; Did I like it?&nbsp; Well, I stayed for 17 years and I wept when I left.&nbsp; Yes, I really did enjoy it so much.&nbsp; It was hard work, long hours, plenty of paper work, parent evenings and reports.&nbsp; Just like everywhere really!<\/p>\n<p>So what matters?&nbsp; What makes a difference?&nbsp; Well, the answer is you.&nbsp; It is your attitude that counts, your application, your acceptance of responsibilities.&nbsp; Work hard and you can also play hard.&nbsp; Take the opportunities as they come.&nbsp; It is a new home, so don\u2019t expect the same \u2013 just enjoy the differences!<\/p>\n<p><strong>Elaine Crawford<\/strong> trained at Bingley Yorkshire, ages ago, and lived in the Yorkshire Dales until she got itchy feet.&nbsp; She&nbsp;always loved the outdoors and sports and went as an assistant leader with the Anglo Austrian Society to Austria whilst at college.&nbsp; This prompted her to take school parties walking the highways and byways and the Three Peaks in Yorkshire.&nbsp; She took groups&nbsp;on Youth Hostelling trips in Britain, Belgium, Holland, Germany and France.&nbsp; Later she branched out and went&nbsp;cycling and camping with parties in Britain, The United Arab Emirates&nbsp;and China.&nbsp; She is currently dividing her time between the UK and Thailand.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>So, why did I skip the country and teach overseas?<\/p>\n<p>I needed air!  I needed a change.  I had been in the same area for 17 years and felt suffocated, although I enjoyed my job and felt wanted and appreciated at the same time.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":45,"featured_media":9505,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"spay_email":""},"categories":[895],"tags":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.teacherhorizons.com\/advice\/wp-content\/uploads\/dallas-reedy-NEJFAS1Okho-unsplash.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p5Krhd-gA","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.teacherhorizons.com\/advice\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1028"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.teacherhorizons.com\/advice\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.teacherhorizons.com\/advice\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.teacherhorizons.com\/advice\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/45"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.teacherhorizons.com\/advice\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1028"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.teacherhorizons.com\/advice\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1028\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":9506,"href":"https:\/\/www.teacherhorizons.com\/advice\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1028\/revisions\/9506"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.teacherhorizons.com\/advice\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/9505"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.teacherhorizons.com\/advice\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1028"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.teacherhorizons.com\/advice\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1028"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.teacherhorizons.com\/advice\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1028"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}