When you make the decision to teach abroad, the next question you must ask yourself is ‘what country do you want to teach in?’. The world is your oyster. When you complete your TEFL course you will quickly realise that you can book a one way ticket to Costa Rica, Vietnam, Tunisia, China or Thailand and easily find a job.
When we decided to teach abroad we narrowed our search down to Asia due to our love of Asian countries, food and culture.
Initially we were set on the idea of teaching in Vietnam, however we researched our other options before committing. We also considered China (due to Covid-19 that was quickly ruled out) before coming across a position in Chiang Mai.
We actually had never considered Thailand as an option. After researching the cost of living in Chiang Mai we were intrigued and decided to get in touch with some schools.
Realising the money we could earn working in Chiang Mai versus the cost of living, our minds were starting to sway. Then after reading up on Chiang Mai (we had never been before) we discovered Chiang Mai is surrounded by stunning mountains.
Low cost of living, the ability to save a huge portion of our income, easy access to mountains and the country side for weekend hikes. We had our answer! We would be moving to Chiang Mai Thailand.
We began sending emails and our CV’s to nearly every school in the city. With so many replies we were pleasantly surprised to realise how much work this city had available.
We spoke to a few schools via Skype interviews prior to our arrival and made arrangements to have a face to face meeting once we got to Chiang Mai. The process of searching for a job in Chiang Mai was easier then we could have ever imagined.
All we had to do was email our CV’s along with a cover letter to schools we found online. No recruitment agencies or third parties needed!!
All of that planning and decision making happened in January and February of 2020. Now a few month on (May) we are coming up to our one month teaching mark. As you are aware with the current Covid-19 situation, our first month of teaching has not been the typical teaching abroad experience.
Teaching from our laptops via Zoom we are still waiting to get into the classroom to truly experience hands on teaching.
We are excited for the year ahead. Hopefully, everything going according to plan we should be in the classroom by the new academic year in August. Fingers crossed!
Stay tuned for more blogs on teaching in Chiang Mai. We will also be posting a blog of our monthly expenses in Chiang Mai for you to get an idea of how affordable life here really is. If that is something you would be interested in enter your email below to receive email notifying you of when we post a new blog (Saturdays and Wednesdays).
Also make sure to check out our Instagram page for daily updates on life in Thailand.
- 7 Reasons Why You Should Visit Thailand
- Exploring Chiang Mai – The Monks Trail Doi Suthep
- 7 Reasons Why You Should Teach English Abroad
- Koh Samui, Koh Tao, Koh Phangan Two Week Itinerary- Quick Travel Guide
- Amari Hotel Koh Samui Review
Shame it has been an odd start to teaching. What an amazing opportunity though. Hopefully you’ll be back in the classroom soon and can enjoy Chiang Mai too.
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looking forward to hearing about how it all goes!
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I want to teach abroad someday. I would love to hear more about your teaching experience once everything goes back to normal.
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We will be sharing lots of blogs about our teaching abroad experience. 😊
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