This is my address:
Jill Rivers
Aiolou 2A
Agia Paraskevi
Athens, Greece
15342
no phone yet
Skype name jillrivers55
email: jinglesrivers@yahoo.com
Saturday, August 30, 2008
Non furnished means no appliances either...
OH huge unknown problems was once we arrived here we found out that when they say no furniture that also means no appliances - no fridge, no oven, no microwave, no dishwasher, no AC, no wash machine- AND - the places that were shown be a relator - we need to pay them a whole months rent for their services plus first months rent PLUS 2 months rent for deposit.
I fortunately got my second choice - it is right in the main town of Agia Paraskevi - 10 min. walk from school, a bus ride to the metro, 4th floor (elevator), 2 bedrooms and 2 baths, livingroom with fireplace, eating area, large kitchen and 3 balconies! 1050 sq. feet so tons of room for you all to visit. I signed a two year contract. My main landmark for where I need to turn on my street is an Applebees restaurant - to boot!My classroom is quite small and have large windows facing east again. Hot mornings. Fortunately there is air conditioning. There has been real direction on what I am suppose to do in the classroom or teach. School begins on Sept. 4 and I won't meet my cooperating teacher until Sept. 2 nor will I get my class list. And I used to stress over getting it a week beforehand......
I never need to listen for the weather because it is always the same, sunny, hot, blue sky no clouds! The weather has been between 85-110 degrees since I have been here.
I have successfully mastered "Do you speak English?" in Greek but am learning too.
Apartment Adventures
Life has been non-stop for 8 days in a row. I have left the hotel at 8:30am and not returned until 10-11pm. This week we have been at school getting our rooms ready or at the public hospital getting our x-rays for our workers permit.
We all travelled to IKEA - okay much further out than we thought and we didn't buy the correct metro ticket and 2 of my colleagues got caught and each got a $75 ticket - we all learned our lesson! I am very glad I brought my English IKEA catalog because everything was in Greek. I bought a bed, a eating table that expands from a square to a rectangle table, one chair - they were out of the other ones. And a coffee table and 2 lamps. Thursday we had to go back to IKEA and the appliance store but fortunately ACS rented us a bus. I got my wash machine, oven/stove and fridge and then the couch (which becomes a bed for my visitors...)
Today - Saturday, I went to my apartment to wait for my items to be delivered. Since I don't have a mobile phone I didn't know when it was arriving. So I got there at 9:30 and the appliances arrived at 1:30 and the furniture arrived at 5pm. It was a boring day (although I tried to get work done) but no electricity and I couldn't leave.
The area where my flat is located is like Bethesda. My landlord said it was the second most expensive area in Athens. It is in a fantastic location. Although I do need to take a bus to the metro. It has all the daily stores I need - grocery is 1 min. down the road. There are a lot of pizza places, tavernas, a park and playground, a church, bookstore, butcher, coffee, gelato, etc. I promise to get pictures up soon.
Tomorrow should be less exhausting. Some people are going to an island but I don't have time. I need to work in my classroom, plan and continue to my furniture together. Thankfully my classroom does have AC but it is quite small and I just found out I have 24 students - 24 OMG.
We all travelled to IKEA - okay much further out than we thought and we didn't buy the correct metro ticket and 2 of my colleagues got caught and each got a $75 ticket - we all learned our lesson! I am very glad I brought my English IKEA catalog because everything was in Greek. I bought a bed, a eating table that expands from a square to a rectangle table, one chair - they were out of the other ones. And a coffee table and 2 lamps. Thursday we had to go back to IKEA and the appliance store but fortunately ACS rented us a bus. I got my wash machine, oven/stove and fridge and then the couch (which becomes a bed for my visitors...)
Today - Saturday, I went to my apartment to wait for my items to be delivered. Since I don't have a mobile phone I didn't know when it was arriving. So I got there at 9:30 and the appliances arrived at 1:30 and the furniture arrived at 5pm. It was a boring day (although I tried to get work done) but no electricity and I couldn't leave.
The area where my flat is located is like Bethesda. My landlord said it was the second most expensive area in Athens. It is in a fantastic location. Although I do need to take a bus to the metro. It has all the daily stores I need - grocery is 1 min. down the road. There are a lot of pizza places, tavernas, a park and playground, a church, bookstore, butcher, coffee, gelato, etc. I promise to get pictures up soon.
Tomorrow should be less exhausting. Some people are going to an island but I don't have time. I need to work in my classroom, plan and continue to my furniture together. Thankfully my classroom does have AC but it is quite small and I just found out I have 24 students - 24 OMG.
Friday, August 22, 2008
Travel Day
August 21-22, 2008 – Moving Day Last night was a great night having dinner with all my good friends: Chris, Pam, Dave and Shannon, Kirsten and Geoff, and JT. So after all these years JT finally met all my “Maryland” friends and they met JT! This morning I was in the taxi by 8am on my way to Reagan National Airport. Checked in at Delta, paid $150 for my extra piece of luggage – fortunately they didn’t weigh my bags because I think one of them was over the 50lbs. Flight to JFK was quick and easy arrived in NY around noon. Walked to the other terminal and waited for Olympic Airlines to open their check-in counter at 12:30. Was the first in line and the guy asked me how many bags I had to check and I said I had already checked them in DC. He asked for the - receipt for the extra baggage. I had my own receipt which had my baggage claim stickers on them so I didn’t want to give that to him but he said I needed one for them from Delta. So I had to wait until 1pm to talk to them and get my boarding pass.Went through security and walked to Gate 8 – when I arrived I saw two girls sitting together and recognized Kate from Facebook – so introduced myself to her and Lindsay – both from Atlanta. They actually were roommates in NY, found out they lived in the same city and ironically both got jobs in Athens, so they are going to be roommates. Next Dwain called me and we realized we were in the terminal and I set out to find him and his wife Miah. Dwain and I have been conversing since May as we both trudged through the paperwork. Next we all conjugated together introducing everyone and finally Colin and Susan appeared. It was one of those moments I looked hard and smiled and said “Are you Colin?” So the 7 of us gathered around and discussed how we got the job and then waited and waited and waited until we boarded the plane. Our flight was to take off at 4:30pm but at 4:30 we were still waiting at the gate. Finally boarded and then waited on the tarmack until we finally took off at 5:40pm – No discussion of what caused the delay. Now there are 4 other ACS employees on this plane but we have found them yet! So I requested a window seat and there is no window!!! Plus there is this black box under the seat in front of me so I have no leg room and the guy in front of me’s seat seems to come back further than anyone else’s. My TV didn’t work nor did my reading light so I decided to watch the Netflix movie I couldn’t return at JFK because there weren’t any mailboxes so I started to watch it. An hour into the movie my computer died – thought it was best to go to sleep! The plane ride really wasn’t too bad and going through customs fine. Through the exit we met everyone else. Bill the music teacher from Portland, Oregon; Eric and Phaedra high school counselors from Arizona; Flynn – high school English teacher from Winchester, VA; Kate – third grade teacher from Atlanta and Lindsay – ESL teacher for elementary school from Atlanta as well; Colin – elementary school math specialist and his wife Susan from NY city; Dwain and Miah – Dwain high school language teacher and Miah – elementary school art teacher from Kentucky. Terry from Seattle who will be the ES librarian and John (don’t know his job) were not on our plane but were supposedly arriving today. Walked around the hotel’s neighborhood with Eric and Phaedra and had lunch. Then I lay at the pool on top of the hotel – hot (but not humid) and great view! Took a nap – then walked around with Colin and Susan and had dinner (pork gyro with french fries in it). Our itinerary indicates we are getting picked up at 10:20 tomorrow morning – spending a day at the school and begin house shopping tomorrow afternoon. It honestly hasn’t truly hit me yet that I have moved here. As we all met each other, it honestly felt more like a Global Volunteers adventure. As the sun sets and the night lights appear, I am looking out my bedroom window and saying to myself This is where I live now – a little surreal.
Well I was ready to hit the hay when some new friends knocked on my door and was wondering what was up and what they should do. I suggested and they whole heartily agreed to go upstairs to the pool/penthouse level to enjoy the wine my parents had purchased which was sitting in my hotel room with a basket of fruit. So there were 6 of us - Dwain, Miah, Lindsay, Kate, Flynn and I on the top terrace - beautiful night enjoying music and wine. A photo will be posted soon.
Tomorrow we go to the school for the day and then go apartment shopping.
Well I was ready to hit the hay when some new friends knocked on my door and was wondering what was up and what they should do. I suggested and they whole heartily agreed to go upstairs to the pool/penthouse level to enjoy the wine my parents had purchased which was sitting in my hotel room with a basket of fruit. So there were 6 of us - Dwain, Miah, Lindsay, Kate, Flynn and I on the top terrace - beautiful night enjoying music and wine. A photo will be posted soon.
Tomorrow we go to the school for the day and then go apartment shopping.
August 21-22, 2008 – Moving Day
Last night was a great night having dinner with all my good friends: Chris, Pam, Dave and Shannon, Kirsten and Geoff, and JT. So after all these years JT finally met all my “Maryland” friends and they met JT!
This morning I was in the taxi by 8am on my way to Reagan National Airport. Checked in at Delta, paid $150 for my extra piece of luggage – fortunately they didn’t weigh my bags because I think one of them was over the 50lbs.
Flight to JFK was quick and easy arrived in NY around noon. Walked to the other terminal and waited for Olympic Airlines to open their check-in counter at 12:30. Was the first in line and the guy asked me how many bags I had to check and I said I had already checked them in DC. He asked for the - receipt for the extra baggage. I had my own receipt which had my baggage claim stickers on them so I didn’t want to give that to him but he said I needed one for them from Delta. So I had to wait until 1pm to talk to them and get my boarding pass.
Went through security and walked to Gate 8 – when I arrived I saw two girls sitting together and recognized Kate from Facebook – so introduced myself to her and Lindsay – both from Atlanta. They actually were roommates in NY, found out they lived in the same city and ironically both got jobs in Athens, so they are going to be roommates.
Next Dwain called me and we realized we were in the terminal and I set out to find him and his wife Miah. Dwain and I have been conversing since May as we both trudged through the paperwork. Next we all conjugated together introducing everyone and finally Colin and Susan appeared. It was one of those moments I looked hard and smiled and said “Are you Colin?” So the 7 of us gathered around and discussed how we got the job and then waited and waited and waited until we boarded the plane.
Our flight was to take off at 4:30pm but at 4:30 we were still waiting at the gate. Finally boarded and then waited on the tarmack until we finally took off at 5:40pm – No discussion of what caused the delay.
Now there are 4 other ACS employees on this plane but we have found them yet!
So I requested a window seat and there is no window!!! Plus there is this black box under the seat in front of me so I have no leg room and the guy in front of me’s seat seems to come back further than anyone else’s. My TV didn’t work nor did my reading light so I decided to watch the Netflix movie I couldn’t return at JFK because there weren’t any mailboxes so I started to watch it. An hour into the movie my computer died – thought it was best to go to sleep!
The plane ride really wasn’t too bad and going through customs fine. Through the exit we met everyone else. Bill the music teacher from Portland, Oregon; Eric and Phaedra high school counselors from Arizona; Flynn – high school English teacher from Winchester, VA; Kate – third grade teacher from Atlanta and Lindsay – ESL teacher for elementary school from Atlanta as well; Colin – elementary school math specialist and his wife Susan from NY city; Dwain and Miah – Dwain high school language teacher and Miah – elementary school art teacher from Kentucky. Terry from Seattle who will be the ES librarian and John (don’t know his job) were not on our plane but were supposedly arriving today.
Walked around the hotel’s neighborhood with Eric and Phaedra and had lunch. Then I lay at the pool on top of the hotel – hot (but not humid) and great view! Took a nap – then walked around with Colin and Susan and had dinner (pork gyro with french fries in it). Our itinerary indicates we are getting picked up at 10:20 tomorrow morning – spending a day at the school and begin house shopping tomorrow afternoon.
It honestly hasn’t truly hit me yet that I have moved here. As we all met each other, it honestly felt more like a Global Volunteers adventure. As the sun sets and the night lights appear, I am looking out my bedroom window and saying to myself This is where I live now – a little surreal.
Last night was a great night having dinner with all my good friends: Chris, Pam, Dave and Shannon, Kirsten and Geoff, and JT. So after all these years JT finally met all my “Maryland” friends and they met JT!
This morning I was in the taxi by 8am on my way to Reagan National Airport. Checked in at Delta, paid $150 for my extra piece of luggage – fortunately they didn’t weigh my bags because I think one of them was over the 50lbs.
Flight to JFK was quick and easy arrived in NY around noon. Walked to the other terminal and waited for Olympic Airlines to open their check-in counter at 12:30. Was the first in line and the guy asked me how many bags I had to check and I said I had already checked them in DC. He asked for the - receipt for the extra baggage. I had my own receipt which had my baggage claim stickers on them so I didn’t want to give that to him but he said I needed one for them from Delta. So I had to wait until 1pm to talk to them and get my boarding pass.
Went through security and walked to Gate 8 – when I arrived I saw two girls sitting together and recognized Kate from Facebook – so introduced myself to her and Lindsay – both from Atlanta. They actually were roommates in NY, found out they lived in the same city and ironically both got jobs in Athens, so they are going to be roommates.
Next Dwain called me and we realized we were in the terminal and I set out to find him and his wife Miah. Dwain and I have been conversing since May as we both trudged through the paperwork. Next we all conjugated together introducing everyone and finally Colin and Susan appeared. It was one of those moments I looked hard and smiled and said “Are you Colin?” So the 7 of us gathered around and discussed how we got the job and then waited and waited and waited until we boarded the plane.
Our flight was to take off at 4:30pm but at 4:30 we were still waiting at the gate. Finally boarded and then waited on the tarmack until we finally took off at 5:40pm – No discussion of what caused the delay.
Now there are 4 other ACS employees on this plane but we have found them yet!
So I requested a window seat and there is no window!!! Plus there is this black box under the seat in front of me so I have no leg room and the guy in front of me’s seat seems to come back further than anyone else’s. My TV didn’t work nor did my reading light so I decided to watch the Netflix movie I couldn’t return at JFK because there weren’t any mailboxes so I started to watch it. An hour into the movie my computer died – thought it was best to go to sleep!
The plane ride really wasn’t too bad and going through customs fine. Through the exit we met everyone else. Bill the music teacher from Portland, Oregon; Eric and Phaedra high school counselors from Arizona; Flynn – high school English teacher from Winchester, VA; Kate – third grade teacher from Atlanta and Lindsay – ESL teacher for elementary school from Atlanta as well; Colin – elementary school math specialist and his wife Susan from NY city; Dwain and Miah – Dwain high school language teacher and Miah – elementary school art teacher from Kentucky. Terry from Seattle who will be the ES librarian and John (don’t know his job) were not on our plane but were supposedly arriving today.
Walked around the hotel’s neighborhood with Eric and Phaedra and had lunch. Then I lay at the pool on top of the hotel – hot (but not humid) and great view! Took a nap – then walked around with Colin and Susan and had dinner (pork gyro with french fries in it). Our itinerary indicates we are getting picked up at 10:20 tomorrow morning – spending a day at the school and begin house shopping tomorrow afternoon.
It honestly hasn’t truly hit me yet that I have moved here. As we all met each other, it honestly felt more like a Global Volunteers adventure. As the sun sets and the night lights appear, I am looking out my bedroom window and saying to myself This is where I live now – a little surreal.
Well I was ready to hit the hay when some new friends knocked on my door and was wondering what was up and what they should do. I suggested and they whole heartily agreed to go upstairs to the pool/penthouse level to enjoy the wine my parents had purchased which was sitting in my hotel room with a basket of fruit. So there were 6 of us - Dwain, Miah, Lindsay, Kate, Flynn and I
Movers
So how does one get their belongings over to Greece? Good question. ACS provided three different companies and after emailing each and having two different people come and assess my belongings and give me a quote – I decided on Eagle Van Lines. We decided that Thursday, July 17 was moving day. I had this never ending pile of belongings that I kept adding to in my living room. I had the bins of teacher supply items, clothes, more clothes, shoes, my photographs which were on my “gallery” wall, books. When the movers came they also boxed up my dishes, pots and pans, silverware – more clothes, my folding up chair, my desk, my comfy foam mattress topper, and I am sure more of other things. I think it was 18 boxes and an hour and a half later the three guys carted my stuff out.
This has left me with one large suitcase, 2 duffel bags, a small carry on suitcase, my computer bag and other pieces of furniture I needed to find homes for. Thankfully for Craigslist.org – as this is the site I used to sell most of my possessions. My IKEA chair and ottoman, my TV, printer, kitchen table and chairs, bookshelves, Magic Bullet, bedside tables, etc.
Pavlos my mover contact man had informed me when I began looking into moving my belongings that the Athens port has been on strike for the past 4 months which means that the goods going into there needed to be split onto different boats and taken to different ports. So I needed to take this into account – thus the July 17 moving day!
As of August 11, my goods were just getting into a container and onto a boat in Baltimore. Estimated day of arrival in Athens is September 20….but I will keep you posted!
This has left me with one large suitcase, 2 duffel bags, a small carry on suitcase, my computer bag and other pieces of furniture I needed to find homes for. Thankfully for Craigslist.org – as this is the site I used to sell most of my possessions. My IKEA chair and ottoman, my TV, printer, kitchen table and chairs, bookshelves, Magic Bullet, bedside tables, etc.
Pavlos my mover contact man had informed me when I began looking into moving my belongings that the Athens port has been on strike for the past 4 months which means that the goods going into there needed to be split onto different boats and taken to different ports. So I needed to take this into account – thus the July 17 moving day!
As of August 11, my goods were just getting into a container and onto a boat in Baltimore. Estimated day of arrival in Athens is September 20….but I will keep you posted!
Friday, August 8, 2008
Do you know what an Apostille is?
Someone could write a pretty funny sitcom about my daily roadblocks of obtaining the proper papers for Greece. All the papers needed to be translated into Greek and notarized by the Greek Embassy. (Translation - $25 for each sheet and $10 per copies (I need 3 copies of each document) Notarization from embassy $32.10 for each packet - I had 3)) Most of us wouldn't think this was too awful but it gets worse. If I had to work and get this completed I might have chosen death!
I needed two letters from my doctor (stating I had no contagious diseases and was HIV-negative), my teacher's certificate, my college diploma, my birth certificate and my FBI clearance all translated. I found a wonderful translator (Maria and her helpful husband Nikos) and scanned and sent most of my papers to her. Once she got going she indicated that I needed my legal documents to have an apostille. What is an apostille? Good question!
Some countries in 1961 signed a contract at The Hague Convention stating if people had their papers with an Apostille it was a true legalization - it kind of trumps a notary. For more information http://www.greekembassy.org/embassy/content/en/Article.aspx?office=11&folder=917&article=20641 Greece and the US signed this contract! But ACS never said we needed anything with an apostille so it was really confusing to know whether we needed one or not. They are not so easy to obtain either.
I do have to laugh (although I am completely frustrated) because there isn't anything more I can do to expedite this process. My ooh so positive response to all these people I am chatting with on the phone is "Of course it takes 3-4 weeks or 12-14 weeks....) Let me just say that my renewed teacher's certificate wasn't available until July 1, so then I had to drive to Annapolis to get the apostille ($5). My college diploma is from the state of NH (I live in MD) - which I needed the college to notarize my diploma then send it back to me so I can send it to the Secretary of State of NH to get the apostille ($10). Then my birth certificate is from Ontario, Canada and I have the short-form version of the birth certificate. The Canadian Embassy could give me the apostille IF it was the long form. So I had to apply for the long version - $30 CDN + $35 CDN to expedite it but they couldn't send it to me in the US - so they sent it to my friend's house in Toronto and she FEDEX it to me ($40). Then I took it to the Canadian Embassy in Washington and obtained the $50 apostille - later to find out that Canada didn't even sign The Hague Contract! And no one told me this because???????
I sure hope I have all the appropriate papers since I had to sacrifice my original documents to get the apostille, to complain a little more it cost me $99 to courier the papers to Greece!
One last thing - I am hoping that this experience is like child-birth (note - never have experienced it just using it as an analogy) It was painful at the time, but what it produces is so great that I forget about the pain.
I needed two letters from my doctor (stating I had no contagious diseases and was HIV-negative), my teacher's certificate, my college diploma, my birth certificate and my FBI clearance all translated. I found a wonderful translator (Maria and her helpful husband Nikos) and scanned and sent most of my papers to her. Once she got going she indicated that I needed my legal documents to have an apostille. What is an apostille? Good question!
Some countries in 1961 signed a contract at The Hague Convention stating if people had their papers with an Apostille it was a true legalization - it kind of trumps a notary. For more information http://www.greekembassy.org/embassy/content/en/Article.aspx?office=11&folder=917&article=20641 Greece and the US signed this contract! But ACS never said we needed anything with an apostille so it was really confusing to know whether we needed one or not. They are not so easy to obtain either.
I do have to laugh (although I am completely frustrated) because there isn't anything more I can do to expedite this process. My ooh so positive response to all these people I am chatting with on the phone is "Of course it takes 3-4 weeks or 12-14 weeks....) Let me just say that my renewed teacher's certificate wasn't available until July 1, so then I had to drive to Annapolis to get the apostille ($5). My college diploma is from the state of NH (I live in MD) - which I needed the college to notarize my diploma then send it back to me so I can send it to the Secretary of State of NH to get the apostille ($10). Then my birth certificate is from Ontario, Canada and I have the short-form version of the birth certificate. The Canadian Embassy could give me the apostille IF it was the long form. So I had to apply for the long version - $30 CDN + $35 CDN to expedite it but they couldn't send it to me in the US - so they sent it to my friend's house in Toronto and she FEDEX it to me ($40). Then I took it to the Canadian Embassy in Washington and obtained the $50 apostille - later to find out that Canada didn't even sign The Hague Contract! And no one told me this because???????
I sure hope I have all the appropriate papers since I had to sacrifice my original documents to get the apostille, to complain a little more it cost me $99 to courier the papers to Greece!
One last thing - I am hoping that this experience is like child-birth (note - never have experienced it just using it as an analogy) It was painful at the time, but what it produces is so great that I forget about the pain.
How Did I Get Here?
Many of you have asked me how did I ever get this job in Athens, Greece? Good question. I was ready for a change last spring but I was too late in the international job world to get a job that was right for me. I had taught preschool at St. Francis for 4 years and elementary grades at Stone Ridge for 9 years. I put my love of travel together with my vocational calling, I looked into teaching abroad.
A family Toronto friend Struan who lives in Bangkok, Thailand with his wife and three children suggested I do a lot of research in order to find a school which fits me - looking at the size of the school, curriculum, location of the school, safety of the city it is located, etc.
So last summer in Maine I researched, made notes, "favorited" school sites, etc. In the fall, I sent in my credentials and my friends and colleagues sent in my recommendations to a company called International School Services www.iss.edu . ISS develops and manages schools around the world. Once I was in the database, schools around the world were able to access my files and I was able to see what schools had what job vacancies.
February 2008 I went to New York City to the International Job Fair. It was the most intense, exciting, stressful 48 hours I have ever had. My emotions were on a roller coaster. Within in the first day and a half I had 15 interviews from 15 different countries! Some of the countries were Egypt, Philippines, China, Singapore, Qatar, Spain, Italy, the Netherlands, Germany, Belgium and of course Greece.
I had my interviews in the recruiters hotel rooms because there were so many people. I felt sorry for the people who were also staying at the Grand Hyatt at Grand Central and were not a part of this job fair. We tied a lot of the elevators up!
It was a domino game for both the candidates and the recruiters. Once the recruiter offered a teaching position, they could not ask someone else until they had a verbal response from the initial candidate. But the candidates were wondering and waiting to see what other offers they were going to have and therefore didn't want to answer too quickly before knowing what was on the "menu."
LONG story short, I accepted a teaching position in Athens, Greece for 2 years! I have to say, I think ACS (American Community Schools of Athens) was at an advantage because I had had a phone interview with the head of the lower school 2 weeks prior to the job fair. So I was able to take my time and ask questions specifically tailored to the lower school position. The head of the lower school then gave her top 4 candidates to the head of the school as he was the only one that would be at the job fair. Great strategy for them - and it helped me make my decision.
ACS had both a third and fourth grade position open. I will be teaching the fourth grade. ACS is a co-ed school from JK-12 grades. It has about 750 students from all over the world. We teach in English. Similar themes and skills of those children in North America. So children of parents who work for multinational companies, World Bank, diplomats, mostly ex-pats kids but there will be some Greek children in the classes too. Check out the school at www.acs.gr .
A family Toronto friend Struan who lives in Bangkok, Thailand with his wife and three children suggested I do a lot of research in order to find a school which fits me - looking at the size of the school, curriculum, location of the school, safety of the city it is located, etc.
So last summer in Maine I researched, made notes, "favorited" school sites, etc. In the fall, I sent in my credentials and my friends and colleagues sent in my recommendations to a company called International School Services www.iss.edu . ISS develops and manages schools around the world. Once I was in the database, schools around the world were able to access my files and I was able to see what schools had what job vacancies.
February 2008 I went to New York City to the International Job Fair. It was the most intense, exciting, stressful 48 hours I have ever had. My emotions were on a roller coaster. Within in the first day and a half I had 15 interviews from 15 different countries! Some of the countries were Egypt, Philippines, China, Singapore, Qatar, Spain, Italy, the Netherlands, Germany, Belgium and of course Greece.
I had my interviews in the recruiters hotel rooms because there were so many people. I felt sorry for the people who were also staying at the Grand Hyatt at Grand Central and were not a part of this job fair. We tied a lot of the elevators up!
It was a domino game for both the candidates and the recruiters. Once the recruiter offered a teaching position, they could not ask someone else until they had a verbal response from the initial candidate. But the candidates were wondering and waiting to see what other offers they were going to have and therefore didn't want to answer too quickly before knowing what was on the "menu."
LONG story short, I accepted a teaching position in Athens, Greece for 2 years! I have to say, I think ACS (American Community Schools of Athens) was at an advantage because I had had a phone interview with the head of the lower school 2 weeks prior to the job fair. So I was able to take my time and ask questions specifically tailored to the lower school position. The head of the lower school then gave her top 4 candidates to the head of the school as he was the only one that would be at the job fair. Great strategy for them - and it helped me make my decision.
ACS had both a third and fourth grade position open. I will be teaching the fourth grade. ACS is a co-ed school from JK-12 grades. It has about 750 students from all over the world. We teach in English. Similar themes and skills of those children in North America. So children of parents who work for multinational companies, World Bank, diplomats, mostly ex-pats kids but there will be some Greek children in the classes too. Check out the school at www.acs.gr .
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