No need for self-improvement . . . and bon voyage!

By the looks of things, few of you out there reading the Chronicle have any real desire to improve in 2008. I'm sure that some out there didn't feel the need to take the survey because it would remind them of failed resolutions past, but I would hope that I have more than 6 readers. If not, then you 6 people really have a lot of time on your hands for multiple visits.

The last couple days have been quite inspiring since some of my colleagues have returned from the international teacher job fair in Bangkok. After your first overseas gig, you are fortunate enough to possess the experience that the "next level" of schools is looking for. These are the dream jobs where you can send some serious amounts of currency home for a rainy day, and get to lie on the beach or hike around lush tropical jungles in your spare time. Not only that, but instead of going to the frozen tundra in Waterloo, you can take a trip to sunny Thailand where you get to decide your next few years over the course of a couple days, and in some cases, a few hours. Job fairs are a roller coaster of emotion.

It really piques the curiosity to hear how in-demand teachers are outside of the U.S. One of my colleagues was courted by 9 different schools before settling on his next posting in Tokyo. The benefits package he showed me was quite sweet, not to mention the added bonus of being paid in yen, as the dollar has taken a Titanic drop in the last year. Plus, the administrative team celebrated like they had just won the lottery when he decided to sign with their school. Heady stuff and quite an ego trip.

Others leaving AS-dub will be working in India, Thailand, Indonesia, and Syria next year. Yes, Syria. After you wade through all of the CNN propaganda, you will find that Damascus has an amazing upside to it. The school there has actually been in existence for over 50 years. That's another unique thing about job fairs . . . you can talk yourself into working in a country that wasn't even remotely on your radar screen if the school and surroundings sound right. Next thing you know, you're riding a camel across the desert.

While I still have at least a couple more years left here in Warsaw, which really has been a "dream job" in its own right, thinking about the astonishing number and scope of possibilities out there certainly helps me get through these January blahs. That, and the weather has been unseasonably warm and sunny the last few days . . . maybe we are having an early spring.