FAQ's

Frequently Asked Questions

FAQ #1 - Why India ?

Map of India - With Mumbai circled in Red

In the next few posts I will be dealing with some of the questions people ask about our upcoming adventures: Question #1: Why India ? Many people seem to think that we deliberately went out and decided to go to India. Actually, we really feel like we didn't really pick India - we picked the American School of Bombay. Here's what I mean: We went to the International Schools job fair after deciding to commit to teach overseas. We had determined that we probably did not want to go to South America or Africa, so we were looking mainly at Europe, Asia, and the Middle East. Obviously, we wanted to go to a school where we could both work , so we were looking for a school in the need of an elementary teacher and either a librarian or a technology integration person. When we met with the interview team from ASB, we found they were looking for an elementary teacher who was excited about reading and writing workshop and who had experience with open classrooms, team teaching, and possibly same staff development activities. Those are exactly the qualifications that Nancy brings. They were also looking for a school librarian for a one-to-one technology school: that is, a school with lots of high technology. Having been both a school librarian and a technology director, and believing strongly in the need to integrate technology and libraries, I felt I could be the high tech librarian they were looking for. When we talked about living India, we realized a couple of things: First, if you are not happy at work, you won't be happy at home, and second, that living in a cosmopolitan major city like Mumbai is not the same as living in a small village in rural India. It will be interesting to see how India has changed in the 45 years since I've been there!

FAQ #2: What about your house?

We love our house.  It's a great big brick house with wood floors and a marble fireplace and wonderful front porch and big yard in the historic district of Holland.  So, the second question that we are often asked by people who know our house is this: "What are you going to do about your house?"

Here's the plan.  Nancy's daughter Katie and her fiance Noland will be moving into our house, both to have a nice place to live and also to take care of the house and garden for us whilst we are away.  We think that this will be a nice arrangement for all of us, because we'll have a place to come home to during our vacations from India, and they'll have a nice place to live.  Besides, we really enjoy spending time with them, and our house is a great place for holiday entertaining - Christmas, etc.

FAQ #3: Where will you live?

We're not sure yet - they tell us we'll probably be living in a 3 bedroom apartment.  It is supposed to be furnished with just a few basics (table & chairs, bed, couch) but they will give us a shipping allowance to send some stuff from here and also a "settling-in" allowance to obtain a few things after we get there.  We'll be heading for a visit next week and hope to be able to see the apartment or one like it ;-)

Update -

View of the bathroom showing entrance to laundry room

When we visited we were able to see a model apartment similar to the one we will be living in.
It looked pretty nice - basic, but with plenty of space.  Nancy particularly was intrigued by the laundry room which you enter by going through the bathroom and the shower .  (See picture)

We also had a chance to have dinner at the Superintendant's place and the elementary principal's apartment.  Both we very nicely furnished with many local items and they are giving us a "settling in" allowance and a little time when we first arrive to find some things to make the place homelike.

Nancy is also excited about working with her sister and other trusted decorating friend to pick colors etc. - The school will paint the apartment per our color scheme if we let them know what we want.

Our apartment building will be located near the new elementary building they are constructing in the Kohinoor City development.
Here's a link to the website about that:
http://www.kohinoorgroup.co.in/city/index.html
It really is fictional at this point, as much of it is still under construction, but it will be interesting  to see how it is once we move in.

sample living room

FAQ #4 - Who are you going through? Is it Mission work ?

We often get asked if our going to India is part of some mission program or working through a mission agency etc.  The easy answer is " No, these are our jobs"
We will be working for the American School of Bombay, which is high-end, exclusive private school that caters mainly to embassy and multi-national corporation families.  We will be well paid to teach there (Nancy as a Grade Three Teacher and Tim as Head Librarian).  We are provided housing and travel allowance and good health and insurance benefits. The school has great facilities, supportive parents, and wonderful co-curricular activities for the international students that come from more that 50 countries. Many of our colleagues will be veteran international educators who have chosen this career for the good pay, excellent working environments and a chance to travel and see the world.
It's not at all what most would think of by "Mission Work"