I have links to teaching jobs overseas. I have nine of them. Time to be shocked

[AZLD4Candidate]

Guess which three countries have the highest amount of foreign teaching openings outside the Middle East? And understand I'm not talking about oral English "teaching" jobs. I mean real teaching in real schools and universities.

If you guessed China, India, and Russia, you'd be right.

Imagine:

China - making it nearly impossible for people to go there to work and they have about 14% of all openings I've seen
India - Modi has turned the country into a cesspool. They account for about 17% of all the openings
Russia - Ummmm. . .yeah. They account for about 22% of the openings.

Remember, I'm not counting UAE, Bahrain, Qatar, or Oman. Nothing in the Middle East counts in this because there are over 1,000 openings in those countries.

But the rest. . .

And why do you ask? Well, what do all three have in common? Authoritarian leaders.

[TreasonousBastard]

1. I knew a guy years ago who took a job in Saudi Arabia...

Huge money to teach computer science to the locals.

Turns out rhey were local relatives and he couldn't teach them anything because they were princes, and he wasn't.

Somewhere along the line his huge salary got spent on rent, because he was an honored guest, and only the best for him. Same for the houseboy he was required to have.

He wasn't required to become a Sunni, but had to live by Sunni rules. Weekend escapes to France had to be first class on the local airline.

One of those weekends, he just said fuck it and flew back to the US. The Saudis put out a warrant on him for breaking the contract, but they can't touch him here.

I heard all this because I was reading an ad for something I seemed qualified for. I put the paper down.

[SWBTATTReg]

2. I did not know this. I've known friends that worked in SA, but they never said anything like this.

I also had friends in SA who were here in the US for school. I don't know if they were princes but it wouldn't surprise me (as many of them that were around). To be honest, they were all nice (I was going to college too at the time, a lot of them came from the Chicago area (the School was in Joplin MO, go figure).

So in short, yeah the money is good, tax free even if I'm right, but the things you give up.

[AZLD4Candidate]

3. I got a recruiter asking me if I'd be in interested in teaching in Riyadh

This recruiter bothers me a little so I replied: If I wanted to live in the 13th century where my wife will be treated like second class, I would have been born in the 13th century where my wife could be treated like second class."

He responded by laughing in the email and said he understood and sympathized.

[Hekate]

4. I remember when my husband read an ad for computer programmers in SA. Really high salary.

It looked fabulous. The Saudi Royals were building a new state of the art hospital, and they were hiring from the US.

We were not married at the time, but were living together and had bought a house together. I gave him the beady eye and said, “They stone women like me. No.”

Then he had a conversation with an American involved in the hiring. Hubby’s passport showed a trip to Israel, and he’s Jewish. The American said, “Look, I’m not supposed to tell you this (because of US laws regarding hiring people) but they will not hire you. Don’t even bother.”

So he decided to tell a friend of ours to see if she was interested in this high salary opportunity. Excellent programmer. Originally from Japan, married to a by-that-time retired American. She checked it out, interviewed, and came back saying no way in hell. If the Saudis were willing to hire a woman at all, they couldn’t do it directly. An imaginary job for her husband would have to be invented, she would have to come to the country as his dependent, and then, each day at her real job she would have to dress like a Saudi woman, with only her face and hands showing. No amount of money was worth that.

We’ve been married 35 years now. Why do I think not much has changed in the kingdom of Saudi Arabia….

[BlackSkimmer]

5. So, stay out of those countries.

[Karma13612]

6. Back in the late 70's, when I graduated

From Pharmacy school, I started looking around for work. I heard about job offers in Saudi Arabia. I wasn’t at all versed in what went on over there, the human rights abuses, etc. But, I was told that, as a woman, I would be living in a special compound. I wasn’t sure if that was to protect me from locals, or keep me under some sort of control.

Obviously, I know the answer now. I am so glad I never looked any further into the job. Shudder to think about it.

And about 10 years later, I also gave up pharmacy because I found out I was miserable in the career.


Seems like forever ago.

[XanaDUer2]

7. What did you do after leaving the field?

My friend works at a pharmacy college and says a student threw up from stress over a test.

My pharmacists get half hour lunch and everyone is rushed constantly. Seems stressful

[Karma13612]

8. Make a cup of your favorite beverage, and then

Read your DU mail!



At 68, there was a lot to tell!!

[XanaDUer2]

9. Lol!