Things that I am looking Forward too

So with the last post ending on a bit of sad note I am going to pick things up by talking about things I am looking forward too when arriving in Africa.

-The excitement that comes with bartering
-Conversing in French (meaning my speaking skills would have to improve)
-Learning how to drive a Moto
-Finding postcards to send home to family and friends
-The warm weather (average 32 degress Celsius)
-Living near the ocean
-Eating lobster and crab on a regular basis
-Getting to teach in a classroom
-Eating ripened papayas right off the tree
-Getting to teach music
-Exploring a different place every few weekends or during the holidays
-Meeting new people & making new friends
-The long growing season which will enable us to get into gardening
-The slower pace of life
-Getting to go to a village (or 10) again
-Kids being everywhere
-Spending time with D (here because of work it seems we have very different schedules quite often)
-The smell (some people can't stand it but there is something familiar about it)
-Learning how to play the drums better
-Getting to wear bright coloured clothing all the time (I know I could do that here but its not quite the same)
-The potential for traveling
-Having a 3 bedroom villa to call home
-Getting care packages in the mail :)
-Seeing all the amazing projects D will get to be a part of
-Wearing my new clothes that have been packed away in my suitcase until I get to Togo

Those are just a few I can think of right now. I will add more as time goes on.

Things that will be Missed

D started making a photo album on facebook called 'Reminders.' The album is full of a series of pictures that remind us of what we are going to miss from here in Canada. I won't attach the pictures here but will just list off a few of the big ones:

-Meeting up with friends
-Long chat with Opa
-Visiting various coffee shops the small town ones and the bigger names too
-Certain fruit/veggies- cherries, plums, blueberries, strawberries, blackberries, raspberries, nectarines, peaches, apricots, apples, asparagus
-Being a pretty close drive away from family
-Cheeseburgers
-Small group meetings on Thursday
-Sub sandwiches
-German Potlucks at church
-Symphony concerts
-Libraries full of English books
-Tea with the omas
-Family birthday parties
-Teacher resource stores or the 50% off Scholastic days
-The beautiful beaches with water that is swim-able
-Red licorice
-Tobey the dog
-Tommy the cat
-The little black Honda
-My Chevy cavalier
-Purdy's cream eggs (only available during Easter)
-Ice cream sundaes from DQ
-Fast & steady internet connections
-The times spent at the cabin on the lake
-2nd hand stores
-Weekend getaways with the brothers and sisters
-Snowshoeing
-Drinking water straight from a tap or water fountain
-Garage sales
-Birthday dinners at Kelly O's

Lists

Right now on our fridge sits a large poster paper detailing all the things that need to be done before we leave. The list grows longer by the day and a part of me worries about finding time to get everything done.

I came across a website online that broke down week to week of what should happen if you are planning an international move. Right now looks something like this:

• Organize, sort, sell, pack or throw out items that you will not be taking overseas.

We had a garage sale last weekend to sell most of our furniture and items we were not using or going to be needing for much longer. The house looks like a hurricane went through it a now we are sorting everything from inside out. It is a long arduous process. We need to have everything organized by June 10 as we have a Goodbye/Grad Party here on the 12.

• Give the house a good thorough cleaning so that when D moves out it isn't as tedious a chore.
  

• Take care of all the necessary paperwork (passports, banking, billing, cellphones, cars, etc.)
  

• Spend as much time with family and friends as possible before leaving. Get those family projects done and clean out room at the parents house.

• Purchase items needed for time away. Get packing materials together.
  

• Observe various teacher teaching to get ideas to bring to Togo.
  

This is a sample of the list. It looks quite short as all of it appears quite vague in reality it is taking up an entire poster board and then some. I love checking things off and will admit that if I do something for Togo that is not on the list I will add it to the list just so I can see another check mark and feel slightly more at ease.

Blogs and Books

Just finished reading a book called Letters from Togo even though it was written back in 1983-1984 reading it brought me back to Africa. I enjoyed the descriptions of life in Lome from the perspectives of an expat university professor from North America. The whole book can be found at this link below. I didn't find out if the author ever returned to Togo after 1991 as she passed away last year.
Letters from Togo

I have been reading quite a bit these days trying to glean as much information as I can on Lome and the rest of Togo. I have also been following a number of bloggers all around Togo. Some are working with missions organizations, others are working for NGO's, a few from the peace corp and several international teachers. I was talking with D about having a blog party once we get to Togo. The party would sort of be a thank you for those people out there who blog about daily life and living that I can read up on before I get there.

Lome, Togo

Here are two maps to help answer the questions where on earth is Togo and what city are you moving to again?

The purple rectangle outline where Togo is located on the African continent. The red star shows you what city we will be residing in during out time in Togo.

And the answer is...

Yes!

We accepted the position in Lome, Togo. I just signed the paperwork on Thursday. Did you know that there is only 104 days before I need to be on the ground in Lome, Togo? That is very soon. Just over 3 months to completely pack up life, get paperwork in order, visit with people, observe other teachers teach, have a garage sale, say goodbye etc. Crazy!

What I don't get done D will be able to finish as he will be staying until the beginning of October to wrap up things with work.

Togo here we come!

How to Apply for International Schools

The past few days quite a few people have asked how I applied for teaching positions overseas. Was there an agency involved? Did I go to a hiring fair? Did I know people who were in international schools that were able to tip me off on potential jobs? The answers to all those questions are no, well sort of no. Let me explain.

I did not involve an agency due to the fees associated with signing up with one. That and the countless horror stories I heard in signing on with an agency being placed in an awful school and having to suck it up or break contract only to be blackballed from many other schools. I did however use quite a few agencies websites for the list of schools they worked with. With those lists of schools in hand, I began looking up each potential school's website. Some of the schools directly post vacancies on their websites in a specific section. If that section didn't exist I would send in an inquiry email to find out where they posted their information. Sometimes these emails were answered and other times they were not. This method was often time consuming as I had to to check the websites on a regular basis (at least 1x a week) just in case they posted any openings.

Another method I used was coming across second party websites that updated themselves daily with new teaching positions. Some of these websites only posted about specific regions or specific types of schools while others just posted a variety of jobs that needed to be filtered through to find the teaching jobs. It was through one of these websites that I managed to apply for my teaching position in Togo.

Though I do not currently have many contacts overseas right now in teaching positions I made sure I tracked down people who had taught overseas. Though some of the profs of my university I was able to meet some very knowledgeable teachers or administrators who had taught in a variety of different places all around the world. Since I also had quite a few connections through friends/neighbours who had gone overseas to work in a variety of different positions I was able to gather valuable information about working and living in a different country/continent.

Though I had intended to go to a hiring fair due to school this year it was not a possibilty. I have heard that fairs can be a very great place to find a position.

Next time I will talk about a few things to do once you have been offered a position. The advice I am giving comes from a number of different poeple as this will be my first teaching post internationally. I will also make sure I write a bit on travelling and moving overseas as the time draws closer.

Sooo...

I had my interview with the one school today. We had to rearrange this interview numerous times due to terrible internet connection, no internet, no phone and then a broken mic. The buildup leading to this school was quite intense.

Overall the interview went pretty good. I was asked similar questions to other interview like 'Tell me about yourself' 'Tell me about your music background' etc.

At the end of the hour long interview I was offered the job. I was taken a back as usually there is a bit more wait time involved but the offer came anyways. We have until May 1st to answer. Right now I am still in a daze. Africa really could be a reality this upcoming year. It would be in West Africa which would mean I would need to improve my french. A music/ primary teacher position would be an ideal choice wouldn't it? Being as music is something I love and being in a classroom part time would be fantastic as well.

Decisions, Decisions. Now begins the research. Well not quite right now as I still have to finish my final presentation for university in the next few days...