Get ready to learn a lot about international education as we interview three long-term veterans while sharing a few insights ourselves.

David Ross is a retired 58-year-old international educator. He began teaching elementary school in Los Angeles, then moved to Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, with his family to teach at ISKL for six years. He then took a one-year sabbatical with his family to bike across Europe and ended up in Saigon, Vietnam. He taught grade four for nine years at SSIS and coached middle and high school men’s volleyball. He enjoys SCUBA diving, free diving, playing in a band, pickleball, staying fit, and cooking. He has also been a proactive investor and proponent of financial literacy.

Rob Howe is a 56-year-old business professional and international educator. He began his career in the technology industry. After a 1.5-year sabbatical from work, he met his wife, an international teacher, and decided to become one. His first opportunity was in Jakarta, Indonesia, for two years at NJIS. He then returned to the USA, started a new career in sustainability consulting, and adopted two children from India. In 2014, he returned to overseas teaching. Posts included Beirut, Lebanon, Harare, Zimbabwe, and Saigon, Vietnam at SSIS. He participated in the Sustainability Council at each school and is an avid hiker, biker, gardener, and explorer.

Amy Hunt is currently teaching Psychology and Science of Mind at Nueva School in the San Francisco Bay Area. After earning an MAT and spending a year in outdoor education in 1987, Amy left the US at age 25 to teach IB English in Addis Ababa, where she met her husband, Lee Fertig. They moved together to Rio, where Amy also began teaching IB Theory of Knowledge. They moved to the U.S. for awhile and then went back overseas, for more beautiful experiences in Barcelona, São Paulo, and Brussels before returning to the US in 2020. A curious risk-taker and boundary-stretcher, Amy has taught many subjects and recently became a certified yoga therapist. She reads a lot, loves murder shows and pickleball, takes hikes and cold plunges, and tries to coax her three 20-something children to fly the nest.

Our Guiding Question was, “What are some lessons learned from your careers as international educators?”

Here are a few topics covered in this episode:

• Personal and Professional: Big picture highlights and lowlights
• Strategies to make the most of one’s time overseas both personally and professionally
• Raising Children Overseas: Tips to support them in and outside of school
• Living in and outside the school bubble
• Different life and career pathways

The show was recorded on October 16, 2024.

Categories: Parenting | School Life | Transitions | Travel | Finances

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Music: YouTube. (2022). Acoustic Guitar | Folk | No copyright | 2022❤️. YouTube. Retrieved October 11, 2022, from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YOEmg_6i7jA.