If you’d asked me about my summer travel plans last year, I’d have told you about my itinerary for a Thailand dive-trip followed by a brief detour to see the folks back home. But…that was last summer. This summer, in the shadow of COVID-19, there’s so much more to consider than just how much traveling I can afford.
On the bright side, borders have been reopening. This should be encouraging except…a growing refusal to wear masks and an obvious failure to social distance is causing a serious COVID resurgence. With borders sure to reclose, I’m concerned about being banned from entering my host country if I leave for the summer, thereby putting my job at risk. The EU just blocked entry to US citizens due to the virtually unbridled spread of the virus in America. Other countries seem likely to follow suit.
Watching TV news I was disappointed to see airlines failing to enforce social distancing or the wearing of masks. I don’t want to unknowingly become an asymptomatic COVID carrier, infecting friends, family and everyone else around me, let alone becoming ill myself. I’m thinking that my best plans for the summer may be no travel at all.
As much as I’d love to take full advantage of the remaining summer months, a nagging little voice inside my head is telling me differently. I’m sure International Educators around the world are facing the same dilemma. It would be much appreciated if ISR could provide a place for us to share thoughts about making plans for the remaining summer months, and the reasoning that led to their final decision.
Sincerely,
Travel Bug blues
Hello ISR, I’m an American expat who has been living and teaching in Sweden for the past 6 years. I find many aspects of life here much like how I previously viewed my own country: Open, liberal, and in many respects, progressive.
More than just a few things bother me about my current school. But the one that irks me most is that the housing allowance covers only 9 months. This leaves teachers with 2 choices: 1). Give up your apartment when summer rolls around & find another one when you return. Or, 2). Take what amounts to a month’s salary & hand it over to your landlord to cover June, July & August. I opted to move.
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This timely letter from an ISR Member first appeared during winter break, December 2011. We’re reintroducing it today for the benefit of ISR Members who find themselves in this same troubling predicament following the long summer break:
When I first moved overseas to teach in an International School, I returned home to my family and friends every winter vacation. Homecomings were a much needed reunion. But as the years passed and 3 turned into 6, then 11, I made the homeward holiday-trek less and less, opting instead to travel or just stay put. I love and miss family and friends, but holiday visits began to leave me feeling like an outsider.
With the current academic year underway, many international schools will soon be asking teachers to declare if they intend to stay for the upcoming 2014-15 school year, or plan to move on.
With the school year coming to a conclusion, some of us are anticipating moving home for more than just the summer recess. This transition can be both exciting and most certainly, daunting. There’s so much to consider and so many tasks to accomplish. It’s just like staring over! Fortunately, advice and comradery is not far away.
For me, the absolute greatest part of teaching and living overseas is the travel opportunities. From my current school it’s a quick, inexpensive, flight to just about anyplace in Europe.
If you’re returning to your current school after summer break, a score of tasks are on the horizon. As if final exams and report cards were not enough, there’s a zillion things that need to be done prior to departure. Between completing tedious classroom inventories, equipment/materials return and preparing your room for potential maintenance crews, the last days of the school year can be pandemonium, a struggle even for the most organized of us all!
Our flight, fortunately, is not until a bit more than a week after school ends and I’m glad we thought of that to give us time to unwind and finish up details of exiting the country and school/jobs. Our girls will have some play dates to fully say goodbye to their friends, too. I’ll be at home packing (while having a beer or two or…).
Another thing which is really helping is that I’ve hired trusted locals to come and help me clean our apartment, pack, sort, and dispose of unwanted items. This way they get a chance to make some extra money, while taking away some items themselves which can be sold or used in their own homes. They are also helping with languages difficulties when getting our deposits back from landlords, for example. These are people who have worked alongside us at school as aides and maintenance staff, so we’re also able to enjoy some more time with these helpers, our friends.
And finally, we were able to sell our car to a worker at our school, a good deal for him and an easy transaction for us. And, we get a ride to the airport with hugs and pleasant goodbyes!
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