ITP - 016: Teaching in India as a Couple

Greg: This is Greg, the single guy, and Matt is on vacation. Joining me is Kent Arumera as my co-host as we interview a teaching couple by the name of Aaron and Tabitha, elementary teachers who found their way to India for several years of teaching.

Greg: Welcome to the International Teacher Podcast with your host Greg, the single guy, and Matt, the family guy. We’re recording episodes from around the globe to tell you about the best-kept secret in education. That’s right, it’s teaching overseas. We’re glad to have you.

Greg: All right, welcome to ITP, the International Teacher Podcast. I have a few guests with me, and before I introduce them, we do have another change. It is Kent with me once more. Hi, Kent.

Kent: Hey, it’s great to be back here. Thanks for having me back. I’m here in the desert, and Matt must be out playing golf or something. I think he’s taking a course right now.

Greg: Thank you for stepping in as my co-host.

Kent: Love to be here. I can’t wait to introduce these two.

Greg: This is a teaching couple that were teaching in the States, then went to India. I think also China—was it China?

Aaron: No, we’ve just done LA. We taught in Dallas.

Greg: Okay, and then you went out to India and also the Middle East at some point. I really want to hear about India, but LA—oh my gosh. So let me introduce you. A teaching couple, both elementary teachers right now. This is Aaron and Tabitha, and they’re joining us today.

Greg: So we have a great show coming up for you. Welcome to our show, both of you.

Tabitha: Looking forward to it.

Aaron: Good to be here.

Greg: It’s like a real radio show, isn’t it?

Kent: Yeah.

Greg: So Kent and I love talking to other teachers overseas. You guys have been teaching for a long time—like I have, about 20 years, 21 for you. You both taught in inner-city Los Angeles. What were you teaching there?

Aaron: I taught a couple years and then fourth grade.

Greg: What about your first week?

Aaron: My first week of teaching—I don’t really remember it. I had a kidney stone, so I was given a lot of medicine. It’s a blur to me, but I was afraid to call in sick for my first job. I didn’t want to set a bad tone with my principal.

Greg: You’re a trooper.

Kent: That’s dedication.

Greg: And you guys were at different schools, right?

Aaron: We were at what they called sister schools. They were about a quarter mile apart, both huge schools—over 2,000 students, K–5.

Aaron: Because of that, we had a track system. There was an ABC track. When A and B were on, C would be off, and then you’d rotate. Three teachers shared two classrooms, and you would move classrooms throughout the year depending on your track.

Greg: One classroom gets done on a Friday and you start on a Monday—no time to set up.

Greg: And then you guys went to Dallas, right? I don’t want to focus too much on the States, but this sets up your transition into international teaching.

Aaron: After Dallas, we went back to Los Angeles and got positions in a private school. That’s when we started traveling more. We went overseas for a summer to China.

Aaron: While we were there, our tour guide suggested teaching English in China. When we got back, that’s when we started researching.

Tabitha: We also saw a show—House Hunters International—and there were teachers moving overseas. One to Abu Dhabi, one to Rome. That really opened our eyes.

Tabitha: If you can move to Rome as a teacher, that makes you start questioning what’s possible.

Greg: So did you go through a recruiting agency?

Aaron: Yeah. I did a lot of research. We signed up with a recruiting agency and planned to go to the San Francisco fair.

Aaron: Beforehand, I researched the schools that would be there and picked about ten we were interested in. I found out who the principals or directors were and emailed our resumes ahead of time.

Tabitha: Aaron is definitely the researcher in our family. He does all the background work and then shows me the final options.

Greg: He does all the work and you make the decision.

Tabitha: That describes it perfectly.

Greg: So before we continue, I bet our listeners can tell that, Tabitha, you’re probably not originally from California. Where were you born and raised?

Tabitha: I’m originally from Arkansas. I lived there for 19 years, then moved to Texas for graduate school, and from there we went to LA.

Aaron: I was born in Memphis, Tennessee, on the day of Elvis’s funeral. My grandparents couldn’t get to the hospital because of traffic. I lived in Memphis for three days and then my parents moved. I’ve lived in different places, but mostly in California.

Greg: Did you interview together as a teaching couple or separately?

Aaron: We contacted schools ahead of time and set up interviews. We had already interviewed online, then met them face-to-face the day before the fair at a coffee shop.

Tabitha: They had already spoken with us and said we could still interview with other schools, but they wanted to make us an offer.

Aaron: It was one of our top choices, so we accepted early and didn’t go through the full fair.

Greg: That’s wild.

Aaron: We even went to take our names out of the candidate pool and they didn’t believe us at first.

Greg: When you interviewed as a couple, did you ever feel like a school preferred one of you?

Aaron: She’s always the top pick.

Tabitha: He does all the work, and I get hired.

Greg: Sounds about right.

Greg: Do you think meeting face-to-face still matters after online interviews?

Aaron: Absolutely. You can read people better in person.

Tabitha: They also connected us with another teaching couple at the school before we met, which helped us understand the environment.

Greg: Looking back, did the school match what they promised?

Tabitha: Very much so. From the moment we arrived, they took great care of us. Strong leadership, very supportive environment.

Aaron: They picked us up, showed us around, helped us settle in. Our refrigerator was stocked when we arrived. Those onboarding details mattered.

Greg: Did they provide housing?

Aaron: Yes, and that was a big reason we chose them.

Greg: That makes a huge difference.

Tabitha: It really does. It removes a lot of stress.

Greg: That’s something people should pay attention to—housing, stipends, support.

Aaron: It also depends on the country. In some places, finding your own place can be fine, but in others, you definitely want that support.

Greg: Fair point.

Greg: So let’s talk about the transition into India. What was it like when you first landed and started teaching there?

Tabitha: Because we had come from LA, the number of people wasn’t a shock. We were used to large populations and busy environments. But the school itself was incredible. It was a beautiful campus, and the class sizes were much smaller.

Tabitha: I had a class of 38 students in LA one year, so going to about 22 students felt amazing. It gave us more time to actually work with students.

Greg: That’s a huge difference.

Tabitha: It really is. And the school was very forward-thinking. If you had an idea for your classroom, they would support it—furniture, layout, technology. They tried to make it happen.

Aaron: We were teaching side by side, both fourth grade. It was nice having that setup.

Greg: What was the student population like?

Aaron: Very diverse. It’s an embassy-style school, so while there were American students, there were also students from many other countries.

Aaron: You had families from different embassies, multinational companies, and organizations. In one classroom, you could have a dozen or more nationalities.

Greg: That’s one of the best parts of international teaching.

Tabitha: It really was. And the school loved celebrating culture. We had things like India Week, where the entire week focused on local culture—food, music, crafts, dance.

Tabitha: They would bring in local artisans, cook traditional food, and the students would rotate through activities. It was an incredible experience.

Greg: That sounds like a dream setup.

Greg: But let’s not pretend it’s all perfect. What were some of the harder parts of living in India?

Aaron: A few things. One is food—just adjusting to what’s available. Another is pollution. Delhi has a lot of air and noise pollution.

Aaron: And then there’s poverty. It’s on a level that’s hard to process if you haven’t experienced it before. You see it every day, and that can be tough.

Greg: That’s something a lot of teachers aren’t prepared for.

Tabitha: It is. But it also creates opportunities to help. The school had outreach programs, and we were involved in service activities.

Greg: That’s a big part of international teaching too—being part of the community.

Aaron: Exactly.

Greg: Before we wrap, I want to circle back to one more piece—driving in India.

Aaron: Driving there is a completely different experience. Lanes exist, but they don’t always matter. You might have three lanes marked, but six lanes of traffic moving. You’re dealing with cars, buses, motorcycles, bikes, and even animals in the road.

Greg: Sounds like organized chaos.

Aaron: That’s exactly what it is. It works, but you have to adjust your mindset.

Tabitha: I didn’t drive there. Aaron handled all of that.

Greg: Smart decision.

Aaron: You get used to it over time.

Greg: So for someone listening who’s thinking about going overseas, what would you tell them?

Aaron: Go in with an open mind. What you expect and what you experience can be very different.

Tabitha: Be ready for both the challenges and the rewards. There’s a lot to gain from putting yourself in a completely new environment.

Greg: All right, we’re going to wrap this one up. Aaron, Tabitha, thank you for coming on and sharing your story.

Tabitha: Thanks for having us.

Aaron: We appreciate it.

Kent: This is Kent, signing off.

Greg: And Greg, the single guy, signing off. We’ll see you next episode.