Introduction: Why and How

I wanted to make a blog as a journal but also to help others. While preparing to go overseas I found there were hardly any blogs about moving to China. I hope that this blog will assist others and also let people know how I am doing. Enjoy!

For a few years now I have wanted to go overseas and help people. I would say I've wanted to do that since high school. The reason is that being from a small town in Nebraska, I knew there was a big world out there and I had hardly experienced it. I was also raised with the belief that helping others is why we are put on this earth. Why not do that overseas? So I went to the US government website and found a company called Search Associates which offered some pretty great benefits.

Search Associates asks that the schools provide insurance, an apartment, and pay. That sounds pretty good to me! If you want to apply you WILL need a degree in teaching. They do have a few positions for janitors and things, but don't think that out of high school  or if you have a degree without a teaching certificate you will get hired right away.
If you want to apply you will need a resume (also called CV), a mini biography on yourself, a background check (withing six months), five reference letters, college transcript, and sign SA's contract. From there you will have an interview and be accepted by the company. Search Associates kind of looks like Facebook where you can search schools and schools can search you. I had to apply as an intern as I did not have two years of teaching experience. What helped me land a job was that I knew classroom management well and tutored English Language Learners (ELL). Not to mention my awesome reference letters (be good to your professors and they will be good to you).

I actually didn't apply for a school, the school found me. A school started in 2015 in Jiaxing, China contacted me and after two interviews I was hired in February of 2017.

The next step was to prepare for teaching and the culture!