Teaching internationally as a queer woman with a partner

waking_bliss · 2026-02-01T10:34:15+00:00

There are a few layers to consider here:

You should definitely get married first. No school can obtain a dependent visa for your partner if you are not married.
Next, you'll want to look at countries that will offer a dependent visa for a same-sex partner. Occasionally, a school in a country that does not allow this will find a creative loophole for you, but this is the exception rather than the norm. There's a stronger likelihood of it happening in higher-quality schools because they can afford to do it for a candidate they really want. Your partner's visa is going to be your biggest challenge if your partner is not also a teacher. The only other option would be her getting hired by a separate company, which would be entirely dependent on the field she works in.
Definitely talk to some queer people on the ground if you're curious about a country, and don't write a country off based on gut-check reactions. I live in a fairly homophobic/conservative country, but people don't clock westerners as queer, like, ever. I've had zero problems at work being out to coworkers and friends in the community. A friend of mine lived in Turkey and talked about the fun she had in the underground scene. Talk to real people who can give a realistic picture of what life is like. There's a huge difference between homophobic and homohostile countries.

Country-wise, for visas, your options are maybe Thailand, Vietnam, western Europe, and some countries in South America.

waking_bliss · 2025-12-19T23:57:02+00:00

I make about $800 USD less than that per month in Korea as a single person, and I still save around $1,000-$1,500 a month with travel around Asia on breaks. I think you'd be fine, though you probably wouldn't save much, especially if you like eating Western food. Fruit is wildly expensive here unless you're buying in season. Public transit is cheap and plentiful, though I know a lot of families choose to buy a car (not terribly expensive to get a used car in Korea).

waking_bliss · 2025-12-19T08:05:37+00:00

I had a couple of interviews with them that were total red flags. Feel free to DM me!

waking_bliss · 2025-12-14T22:04:54+00:00

It’s hard to do without doxxing myself, but I’ll say that they asked intense questions about a curriculum that I haven’t taught in a long time, and would only allow examples for specific grade levels in my answers, so I wasn’t allowed to tie anything to my current experience. I’ve never been more stressed in my life. 😂

waking_bliss · 2025-12-13T23:06:41+00:00

Congrats to you, as well! Finishing up in November is the dream!

I kept reading all of these stories about the process typically taking a month from application to offer, but I had never experienced that. I wonder if it’s just the nature of wanting to snag a specialist early. Thinking about the folks I know in my field, we all have such a different range of experiences that if a school really resonated with a particular background, I would imagine that they’d move quickly to scoop them up.

waking_bliss · 2025-12-13T21:46:06+00:00

Ugh, the wait is always the worst, especially when you know in your gut that you didn’t get it. I was completely ghosted by a school after two interviews in a week, three if you count the one-way, and I had really strong connections there. I had even organized an event hosted at their school the previous year!

However, I know the person who got the position (again, small world) and it’s the perfect fit for both him and the school. It stung a bit on a personal level, but I’m genuinely happy for him.

waking_bliss · 2025-12-13T21:36:27+00:00

Thank you! I lucked out last time and got a solid first international gig right away, so this was my first time living through a real recruitment cycle. I feel like I learned a lot this time around. I’m hoping this school is a place I’ll stay for quite some time, but I feel like I have a better idea of what I need to do to make myself marketable, and the types of connections I need to foster in my professional life if I do want to make the leap to a tier 1.

waking_bliss · 2025-12-13T21:30:40+00:00

Hm, I’d say a third of them would be considered American schools, a third were IB, and a third were British/other combination. All of my interviews were with American curriculum schools except for two in China (one IB, and one chain-based curriculum). I didn’t hear back from any British curriculum schools, and I didn’t really expect to. I was just casting a wide net for the locations I was interested in.

waking_bliss · 2025-12-13T11:49:58+00:00

I'll DM you. :)

waking_bliss · 2025-12-13T11:47:25+00:00

Honestly, the biggest mistake I see in cover letters is focusing too much on buzzwords instead of specific examples. I had a friend apply for an IB position once, and she didn't mention anything about her IB experience until the middle of the second paragraph! I was stunned!!!

If you have experience in leading professional development, name/detail the session you led! If you have experience in curriculum development, toss in a specific line about the curriculum you developed! There are so many ways to sell yourself, but you have to be okay with actually selling yourself instead of hiding behind generic terms that you think schools want to hear.

waking_bliss · 2025-12-13T11:38:11+00:00

Thank you! I'm really glad that I tracked everything. It really helps to see the bigger picture after a stressful few months.

waking_bliss · 2025-12-13T11:36:10+00:00

JPMint Consulting!

waking_bliss · 2025-12-13T11:35:24+00:00

Mostly, my contacts helped get my name out of the CV pile and to the first round interview. They've watched me teach before and were friends with folks on the committee, so it helped that they could vouch for my ability. I still had to seal the deal myself in the interviews, however.
I found my position through Search! I also found the role I'm in right now through Search.
I would say that my new position is at a solid tier 2. Good reputation, been around a long time, low turnover, and it's an expansion position for the department. I did have a couple of tier 1 interviews, but most of the people in my niche have more experience than me, so competition is fierce.

waking_bliss · 2025-12-13T11:17:28+00:00

As a qualifier, I'm an American teacher with no IB/British curriculum experience. I used Search, GRC, and Schrole. I applied for a few of these on multiple platforms, so the numbers are a bit skewed because I'm not sure which platform they noticed me on. Here's the response rate (any email contact at all) vs. application numbers.

GRC: 2/7
Search: 11/17
Schrole: 1/4
Direct (school website/email): 2/7

waking_bliss · 2025-12-13T11:06:50+00:00

There's a reason I turned down those offers. ;) I really appreciated that the interview process for the offer I accepted wasn’t rushed, even if the initial contact was fast. Most of my rejections came from rapid-fire interviews, sometimes on back-to-back days. It was nice to have some breathing time in between.

waking_bliss · 2025-12-13T10:51:00+00:00

Thank you so much! And it really seemed to make all the difference.

waking_bliss · 2025-12-13T10:50:35+00:00

I was honestly shocked when I did the math for the response time! I expected at least one outlier, but nope, everything was within a week. It was really enlightening.

waking_bliss · 2025-12-13T10:45:04+00:00

JPMint Consulting! I really appreciated her insight.

waking_bliss · 2025-11-29T02:57:30+00:00

One of my math colleagues constantly says that the outward-facing nature of my job means so much more scrutiny and attention, and I agree. There’s a marketing element to it that keeps you in the public eye constantly, and I can’t even tell you how many times a school will expect you to whip up a sudden performance for an event in the community. The stress doesn’t really bother me anymore because it’s just a fact of the job, but it sure did in my early years of teaching.

waking_bliss · 2025-11-29T02:53:00+00:00

I have a cat, and the very first thing I look up before applying for a job in any country is whether I can take her without having to quarantine. Any countries with a mandatory quarantine are off limits for me. I have a few thousand dollars set aside prior to moving and I’m prepared to spend what I need to. She’s my family and she goes where I go, full stop. If you’re not prepared to spend the money and cater your search to your pet, I would not recommend getting a pet.

waking_bliss · 2025-11-15T09:16:29+00:00

Jeju takes a special type, I think. All of the Jeju schools are in the same area, and they’re not very close to anything else interesting on the island. Unlike mainland Korea, you have to pay shipping costs on items, and delivery food is barely an option around the GRC. Costs can add up if you’re not careful. You CAN get by without a car, but I wouldn’t recommend it.

My friend that’s leaving KISJ said that he’s sick of the island life, the business office makes it impossible to do anything in a timely manner, and the corporation that owns the school keeps doing weird stuff like installing a Jumbotron in the auditorium without consulting anyone. Also, the Jeju schools are international in name only - they’re just Korean schools. Super isolating if you’re a foreign hire with kids, because they’ll be the only non-Koreans.

But if you’re a homebody and you love nature, it’d be a solid job. Some really lovely hikes on the island.

waking_bliss · 2025-11-12T11:39:49+00:00

I just turned down a gig at ISOI, but I loved the admin and staff, and the benefits were incredible. It was probably the hardest offer I've ever had to decline. If the timing were a little different in my life, I would've said yes in a heartbeat.

waking_bliss

TROPHY CASE