Australian Teacher Moving in... (Seattle, Tacoma: rental market, home, employment)

[Feybie]

Hi all,

My husband and I are Australian and we're moving to the USA at the end of this year. My husband has accepted a job with an IT company and he'll be working from home when he's not traveling to client sites. Because of this, we can live pretty much anywhere we want to.

At the moment, we've been organizing our plans around moving to Portland in Oregon, but I'm very worried about my prospects of finding work in Oregon, as I hear they are having huge issues.

I have a Journalism degree, a Masters in English Lit and at the end of this year I'll be a qualified English and Media/Journalism secondary school teacher. I'm very very keen to work as a teacher, and wont really consider too many other professions. I posted in the Oregon thread and got some pretty negative responses about my job prospects.

I'm not very keen to live in Seattle, because its too big/expensive etc, but my husband needs to be about an hours drive from an airport because, as I previously said, he'll be traveling a lot for work.

I'm wondering if anyone knows anything about Olympia and areas like that (smaller, not too far from seattle) and the prospects that I'd get work as a teacher in those areas.

Any insight you could provide would be most appreciated!

[Feybie]

No one, huh?

[moonshadow]

Well I did read it Feybie, but I'm an Aussie so probably couldn't answer a lot of your questions with regard living in the US.

I will say that I've been to Seattle and found it smaller and much more manageable than Melbourne. BUT if you're thinking that's too big I believe Tacoma is smaller than Seattle and obviously still close to the airport.

I really loved both cities and I'm not really a city girl (even though I live in one) and found both comparable to Melbourne.

[Feybie]

I live in Melbourne at the moment and I'm finding the big city-ness a little daunting lately. The main reason we don't want to live in Seattle, though, is money. It's a very expensive place to live (or so my research shows me).

The main concern I have, though, is whether I'm likely to get work teaching in WA?

[moonshadow]

Originally Posted by Feybie

I live in Melbourne at the moment and I'm finding the big city-ness a little daunting lately. The main reason we don't want to live in Seattle, though, is money. It's a very expensive place to live (or so my research shows me).

The main concern I have, though, is whether I'm likely to get work teaching in WA?

Well my experience with Seattle is miniscule in the general scheme of things so I should probably point that out right off the bat BUT I have to say in terms of groceries, eating out, buying things at the market (Pike's Place) and just general expenses it was cheaper than Melbourne is these days. BUT I can't really help you in terms of the rental market or in terms of employment, sorry.

I do find Melbourne is becoming a MONSTER city these days and really loved the vibe of Seattle and actually returned home thinking if I had to move somewhere in the States I would really love living in Seattle in terms of lifestyle which would be similar in many ways to living in Melbourne but more like the Melbourne I grew up in and not the Melbourne I find myself in now.

I've got a couple of friends who live in Washington state I'll see if I can get any info out of them regarding employment and the housing market and get back to you.

[Feybie]

Hey Moonshadow, that would be awesome. I've also put my feelers out and it now just comes down to waiting.

I had the waiting. I hate the not knows! I'm packing up my life and its a bit scary.

[moonshadow]

Yeah, it would be! Very scary! BUT people do it all the time and seem to survive it. Right now it probably feels very up in the air and unknown but will probably turn out to be a really great experience for you.

I say this knowing that I'm about to embark on a 3 month "living in America" experiment myself and every now and then I get a little nervous about it too!

All that SNOW!!! Brrrrrrr!!!!

I'll get on and ask my peeps and see what they say and get back to you.

[Feybie]

Where are you moving to? Seattle? I understand that it doesn't really snow there, right?

[moonshadow]

Originally Posted by Feybie

Where are you moving to? Seattle? I understand that it doesn't really snow there, right?

I'll be staying for most of the trip in Massachusetts but stopping in LA at the start and end of the trip. Probably won't make it to Washington this time BUT I do hope to get back there at some point in the future.

I think it does snow there but is more known for rain.

Although I was there last September and it was HOT! Not what I was expecting at all.

Massachusetts on the other hand is going to have SNOW when I'm there as I'll be there over Christmas and into the New Year. I have NO IDEA what that's going to be like as I've never had a white Christmas and my only experience with snow would probably total 10 days all up in my whole life! I had to race into Target last week and buy Thermals while there was still winter stock available and I've been trawling Katmandu for weeks trying to understand the whole "layering" thing.

[Feybie]

I'm jealous. I'd love to live somewhere it snowed like that. Initially, though, we want to stay on the West Coast because its easier to get home.