OFF TO THE STEPPES (JUNE 14TH, 2013)
Hey, how's it going?
We'll fill you in with all the details when we speak on the phone, but we have accepted positions in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia!!
BY SHIP
I have a black and brown leather jacket at home, a long black trench coat, thick winter socks, and a pair of winter boots. If I am not mistaken, these are the following locations of the items:
Boots, socks and trench coat: at Neil's
Black leather jacket at Jim /Mom's
Brown leather jacket at Jim/Sharon's
We'll pay for the SHIPing, if someone can organize all the items (only brown or black leather jackets; we won't need both) and please send them to us. The address will either be Taiwan or in Mongolia; we'll get back to you on which address it will be: most likely Mongolia, so we don't need to bring them with us on the plane at the end of August.
MICHAEL LESSER
40 WEN XIAN ROAD
TAINAN CITY, 70300
TAIWAN
OR
Orchlon Secondary School
C/O: MICHAEL LESSER
Zaluuchuud Avenue -11
Sukhbaatar district
Ulaanbaatar – 13, P.O.Box 797, MONGOLIA
As for the jobs and why Mongolia? Well, they offered us both jobs, they use the Cambridge University International Exams, which is amongst the best (and most popular) international school curriculums, so it's a great opportunity for both of us to have training and experience in the curriculum. We both had a good feeling about the people who interviewed us and their willingness to meet our needs, such as renegotiating the contract, etc... I was offered Middle and High School English, while Carol will be a kindergarten and grade two English teacher, a first for her, but she is looking forward to the challenge of teaching English, instead of being the kindergarten homeroom teacher. The package is average, but pretty good compared to my job now (no job). We'll get a sizable housing allowance, airfares once a year, local/international health insurance, free lunch at school, Mongolian tax and social security is paid by the school, 4+ months vacation paid, and a gratuity end of contract bonus. Singapore, while they've got a great infrastructure, is culturally void. We are looking forward to meeting with Mongolians, who by reputation, are amongst the friendliest people on Earth, as well as other foreigners, who only total 5000 expats in the whole city. The entire country is virtually one big gigantic national park, so there won't be any shortage of things to do in our freetime and on weekends. The capital itself is up and coming, with 3 CHEAP cinemas, international restaurants, cheap taxis, a hiking trail, a ski resort, river riding... Travel to and from Taiwan will allow us to see Beijing, Shanghai Seoul, Macau, and Hong Kong on the way there and/or back. Travel to and from Montreal proves to be even more interesting; Mongolia-Kyrgyzstan-Turkey-JFK (NYC). All of China, Russia and the Stan countries lay not far away, awaiting Carol and Moby. The school can offer us a discounted membership to the pool and gym across the street, as well. It's a local school with an international dept., so 100% of our students will be Mongolian, as will our co-workers, outside of 5 or 6 other Expatriate teachers. The school was voted as the best private school in the country a few times since it opened in 2001. Yes, Mongolia will be cold, but hey, so is Canada, and like Mom said, it will be a gradual cooling, since we'll arrive at the end of August, as opposed to the sudden shock we normally put ourselves through when we leave South East Asia and insert ourselves into North America at Xmas time. Moreover, here in Singers, we sweat sitting on the sofa, going to the corner store, or burn during recess at school, so we are looking forward to the lack of humidity in Mongolia.
This weekend, as a going away shindig, we are going to the Singapore Zoo's River Safari with 3 friends, followed by Korean BBQ.
Carol is done here June 21st and we'll visit a couple we are friends with in Cambodia for a week (June 24th to July 1st). Then from July 2nd to the end of August, we'll be in Taiwan.
Let's talk this weekend.
Love Mike and Carol
YURT OR GER гэр
MAP OF MONGOLIA
GER DISTRICT HOMES IN ULAANBAATAR
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