Tag Archives: Switzerland
Local Overseas Schools? Series Part #2 , Your child’s education and what you should do about it? , Local schools for expats and is it right for you? … While in an overseas expat context? Is it worth it? This blog will explore some of these ideas … By CPO, from the far side of the planet! :)
Local Overseas Schools? … By CPO, from the far side of the planet!
One of the choices international expat families choose for their children is local schools. These schools usually come in 2 or 3 different flavours – pure local schools, local schools that cater to foreign expatriate families and variations of the above in the private school sector but are not international schools with a foreign curriculum.
Advantages
The advantages to such local schools is many fold, but namely they boil down to flexibility, culture, languages and saving money.
Flexibility
So why do you say flexibility? The reasons are perhaps obvious and not so obvious. First of all is location, location, location. When it comes to local schools they are everywhere and usually in close proximity to your home. Near our home are a zillion kindergartens, Primary Schools, Middle Schools and High Schools. So if you add local schools to your mix of choices, your options multiply exceedingly. Depending on where you live there will usually be a large range of school options near to your doorstep.
What About The Cultural Bubble World?
Yo ho, ho! A CPO Diplomat’s life for me? Life as a diplomat ….? By CPO, From the Far Side of the Planet
A CPO Diplomat’s life for me? Life as a diplomat ….?
Yo ho, ho – and a bottle of orange juice? …. Oops I mean, a CPO Diplomat’s life for me? Hmmm maybe or maybe not? But there are different options… but before we go exploring plan B options let’s also look at how difficult it is to get into the diplomatic core.
I remember my first awakening to this world. We were at a university bible study meeting for the Navigators and a fellow named Scott started chatting with me … I come from a fairly small town along the beaches of the Great Lakes … which I mentioned to him and he said, “Oh I will be swimming in the Indian Ocean for Christmas.” I said what? In confusion … looking out at the snow ( … and dreaming of tropical beaches far away) … seeing my small town mind had never come against such a being …. India???? I said??? Ocean??? I said. And he said, “Yes my parents work for the embassy as diplomats and we have lived all over the world” … He said matter of factly, “We were in Russia on our last posting!” Well it was a world I didn’t even know existed except distantly as the background of some adventure movie.
My story – A little
I work as an international school teacher … so I am able to live, work and stay anywhere in the world that I can get a job. I am F.I. (Financially Independent), but not R.E. (Retired Early). In fact I have become a multi-millionaire by living and investing overseas. So I am free to do outreach work as an international expat until I die.
I live in Asia and travel around the world or locally or back to North America as I get 3 months holidays each year. In the past 3 years we have been to Hong Kong, Korea, Japan, Switzerland, Austria, Germany, France, Italy, and China and the like. My homebase is here in Asia and so I have a green card too.
Thus I am kind of like a dual citizen. I don’t need a Visa …
Where are my colleagues and classmates now or have worked?
International schools are cool! Heck living overseas as an international expat is cool! Who wouldn’t want to travel the world and get paid to do it.