seekingmygreaterperhaps

Oi! I am dusting off this ol’ blog of mine as I start on a very exciting new chapter in my life. I am now an INTERNATIONAL school counselor! This has been a dream of mine for quite some time, and I am proud that I made it here.

To start, I love traveling. This blog was started when I went on my 99 day backpacking trip and the travel bug just keeps on biting. While in graduate school getting my counseling degree, I learned that there are international schools in every country where people get to go and work. At the time, I sent cold emails and applied to 70+ jobs, and didn’t hear back from a single one. For counselors especially, they didn’t want someone without experience. The job I did get was a huge blessing. I worked at Hylton, outside of D.C., as the ESOL (English for Speakers of Other Languages) counselor at the International Studies and Languages school. This was as close as I could be to international students without leaving the states. 5 years (and being vested in my retirement) later, I have the experience that these fancy schmancy international schools were looking for!

The hustle began in October, when I signed up for Search Associates, and ISS (International School Search). Both of these sites cost money, and at first I was like- meh I can do this myself. NOPE. The money is worth it. Search Associates ended up being far superior for me, and in the future I will stick with them. I was given a search (wait for it) associate who looked over my resume, answered all my newbie questions, helped me navigate through a virtual job fair, and eventually helped me compare and contrast job offers.

Interviewing was very fun, because I fell in love with my role as a school counselor in the past 5 years, so I had actual stories and passion behind my answers. The questions schools asked were very eye-opening to the culture at the school. For example, “How do you deal with parents who are very angry?” vs. “What do you do for yourself after a stressful day?” (Spoiler alert- I ended up taking the job from the school who asked the second question). The time zones are wacky across the world, and I had some interviews at 9pm, and others early in the morning. I thoroughly enjoyed stalking all of the schools and finding out their programming, whether they called us guidance or school counselors, and different clubs they offered their kiddos.

I received 2 job offers, and decided to make it a surprise for my family to unveil when I went home for Christmas. I made “poppers” with paper the color of the flag for the country I was choosing, and they got to pop and see where I was moving! It was a… medium success.

Secret’s out! I’m moving to Brazil!

Next up, I downloaded DuoLingo to start learning Portuguese (and quickly upgraded to premium, because your girl here was making more than 5 mistakes a day…).

There is a sh*t ton of paperwork involved with moving and working in another country. I had to get all of my documents “apostilled” which is a fancy and un-prounceable way of saying authorized. These documents included: (3) diplomas, (2) transcripts, my birth certificate, my counseling license, and a background check. Plus, I had renew my passport, which was a story in and of itself. The past 6 months, the most stressful part was waiting for paperwork to be delivered or mailed, or somewhere in between. God pulled through in every part of the process for me, which I am really thankful for.

I sold my car at a *hot* time in the used car market. I did my KBB research, and it said the value was between 7-9k. I went online to CarMax and Carvana and got quotes. Carvana said they would give me 8k, and come to my house and pick it up. It was the easiest car selling experience- it only took about 20 minutes.

Embarrassingly, the hardest part of this process was getting rid of my stuff. I read Marie Kondo, and listened to the Minimalists podcasts, and tried to soak in that America is all about capitalism, and capitalism is a scam, and stuff doesn’t really matter. But- I am still American, and it was still really hard. Plus moving (especially abroad) is expensive. In January, I put a bunch of my “nicer” clothes on Poshmark, and made a good amount of profit over the months leading up to my move. I also used FB marketplace for furniture and other items. The last full weekend before I moved, my mom came and was my yard sale angel. We sold about half of my stuff, and I made enough profit to cover my luggage fees and Kya’s international pet health certificate.

Speaking of Kya- she is my best friend and the best dog in the whole world. This was a non-negotiable for me when picking where I would work. Kya has to come. To get her here it was actually pretty simple, just expensive. I got a letter from my doctor that I needed her as an emotional support upon arrival (another great benefit of therapy people). I paid $400 for her USDA APHIS pet health certificate, and made sure all of her shots were up to date. She is a 50 lb dog, and she would not fit under my feet on the plane, and it was going to cost thousandS of dollars to ship her cargo internationally, which is where the emotional support animal comes into play. Kya was able to be with me on the flight. For Copa airlines, you just call once you book the ticket and let them know you have an ESA, and that’s it. BONUS- I upgraded my ticket to business class (my bid got accepted), and Kya and I both had plenty of space.

Copa Airlines has a baggage limit of 5 suitcases per passenger… so I moved from a 3 bedroom townhouse by myself to 5 suitcases. The struggle was real in the airport in Brasilia from baggage claim through customs, but on the other side, Dival and Sabrina from HR were waiting to help me.

Other things that were on my to-do list before moving (in no particular order):

• Port phone number to Google voice (and cancel phone plan)
• Cancel utilities
• Forward mail address
• Close local credit union bank account
• Drop off food in to a food pantry (on specific days only?!)
• Donate Kya’s dog toys to the dog park- she got to keep her favorites, but she had 2 full laundry baskets worth
• plus more mundane things I am bored with, so I don’t want to type them.

Bonus- Below is a picture of my best friend Chelsea, her boyfriend Walter, Kya, and I with all my luggage waiting to check in my bags on my last day in the USA. Chelsea is not only the best in general, but I don’t think I could have moved without her.

I’m sure I missed some key pieces of information here, but this post is getting lengthy as it is. This post is a little disjointed, because that’s how the moving process was for me. If you have questions, feel free to ask them below!

Now… the fun travel posts begin again!