Author Archives: milesmac

Social media is a great resource in preparing for our year-long teaching exchange in Australia. We have connected with our exchange partners creating many opportunities to zip messages back and forth, to see pictures of the people and places in each others’ lives. We also made a group to connect with work colleagues beforehand. He and … Continue reading »

For definitive information, please contact your local exchange coordinator. This post just gives a sense of the kinds of documents you will need. Some of them can’t be tended to until others are done. The Exchange Application You need pictures and floor plans for your accommodations, your teaching timetable, and professional, personal, and community profiles … Continue reading »

My exchange partner and I aren’t the only ones participating in the exchange. Of course our significant others are coming, and our families are preparing to pick-up and welcome our counterparts. Our school colleagues are making connections and the students are anticipating the arrival of the exchange teacher. Our neighbours and friends in the community … Continue reading »

“You must just be counting down the days until you go to Australia,” a colleague said in passing. Would that it were just a matter of passing the time until departure date. We have spent considerable time in the summer break purging and cleaning and doing all those little repair jobs around the house and … Continue reading »

We made contact with an Australian teacher who was also not matched in the official process. After a few e-mails and a Skype, we determined that our teaching load, accommodations, and location were acceptable enough to proceed with an exchange. Neither of our locations was anything either of us had considered, but he commented in … Continue reading »