For reasons, Alicia and I are creating this immersion experience from scratch, and a big part of that included finding ways to afford it.
Option #1: Find temporary employment.
I created my first international CV (which included information that I would never share in the United States on a resume...date of birth? Nationality? Marital status? Eh. When in Rome.) with the focus of teaching English or putting my library experience to good use. (Although, the idea of learning to farm or working in a restaurant appealed to me, farming can be isolating, and working in a restaurant would either a) put us in contact with English-speaking patrons and coworkers, or b) would have a lot of Spanish coming at us really quickly).
Forums (expats, teachers, reddit), the Internet, and chats with loose acquaintances made it sound like there were teaching jobs to be had, we just had to be there as teaching companies in Chile wouldn't consider hiring anyone until they are in the country. We planned to arrive in mid- to late-February (school year starts in March) to deliver our CVs to schools and companies, and scour the internet and the local papers for opportunities. Going into something with a decent-sized unknown (not knowing whether these jobs were available to anyone with native English or native English speakers with language teaching experience/licenses) meant creating a back-up plans if we couldn't find employment.
I created my first international CV (which included information that I would never share in the United States on a resume...date of birth? Nationality? Marital status? Eh. When in Rome.) with the focus of teaching English or putting my library experience to good use. (Although, the idea of learning to farm or working in a restaurant appealed to me, farming can be isolating, and working in a restaurant would either a) put us in contact with English-speaking patrons and coworkers, or b) would have a lot of Spanish coming at us really quickly).
Forums (expats, teachers, reddit), the Internet, and chats with loose acquaintances made it sound like there were teaching jobs to be had, we just had to be there as teaching companies in Chile wouldn't consider hiring anyone until they are in the country. We planned to arrive in mid- to late-February (school year starts in March) to deliver our CVs to schools and companies, and scour the internet and the local papers for opportunities. Going into something with a decent-sized unknown (not knowing whether these jobs were available to anyone with native English or native English speakers with language teaching experience/licenses) meant creating a back-up plans if we couldn't find employment.
Backup Option #1: Volunteer my way through the country in exchange for food and shelter. Sites such as Help Exchange and World Wide Opportunities on Organic Farms match volunteers with hosts throughout South America (and the world).
Backup Option #2: [still blank. come home? stay anyway? live on a beach somewhere?]
Toward the end of December, I responded to an ad we had seen on learn4good.com (Alicia had written in November), and in early January, we realized we had discovered positions that matched ideals of having Chilean coworkers, being situated in Viña del Mar, paying enough to make ends meet, and requiring skills that I have. And that was the equivalent of what full-time means in the US (40 hours per week) as opposed to full-time in Chile (approx 48 hours per week).
No comments:
Post a Comment