Love is a prominent presence on the JIS campus. While our minds usually think of students, the most endearing love stories go unnoticed—the ones of married teacher-couples. Here are the heartwarming stories of four teacher-couples at our school:

Mr. & Mrs. Thos

HS French Department

Mr. and Mrs. Thos’ story began when they were studying at different universities in Strasbourg, France. They first met in a nightclub called The Salamander, decided to attend a series of dance classes together, and eventually—vowed to be each other’s dance partners for the rest of their lives.

“We do everything together,” Mr. Thos expressed.

Now in their 25th year of marriage, the Thos’ have an abundance of shared memories. From initially leaving France to live overseas in Moscow to raising their kids in Manila to teaching the same subject at JIS in adjacent classrooms, their life together has been filled with countless remarkable experiences.

“I often compare [our dynamic] to ‘the baker and his wife,” Mr. Thos said. “I think [they are] a bit like us.”

He refers to the concept that although they have different tasks, they are still harmoniously working together. After 20 years of working in the same department, Mrs. Thos confidently shared that, for them, “[there are] no major challenges, only delights.”

However, now approaching their final months at JIS, the Thos’ share a bittersweet feeling as the opportunity to work together once they leave is still uncertain.

“[I think] we work and complement each other well,” Mrs. Thos expressed.

As they prepare for their next journey, the two unanimously agree on their biggest hope for the future: “that this working relationship continues.”

Mr. Fox & Mrs. Carlson

HS Social Studies Department/School-wide Counselor

Mr. Fox and Mrs. Carlson met during the Japan Exchange and Teaching (JET) Programme in Kobe, Japan. Since it was a very tight-knit community, they ended up spending a lot of time together—and are now 24 years married.

“There are so many [significant memories],” Mrs. Carlson said, recalling their wedding, the birth of their children, and their time spent overseas. “[There is] also a lot of day-to-day stuff that can actually be significant even though they don’t seem [so],” Mr. Fox said.

This is their 12th year at JIS and 23rd year of being co-workers. Prior to JIS, they spent 11 years in Taipei, where they had their kids, teaching at the Taipei American School.

Having spent majority of their marriage working together, the couple have come to understand the many perks and pitfalls that come with this.

“We’ve kind of gotten the best of both worlds,” Mrs. Carlson expressed. “[We are] not too close that we see each other too much and have nothing to talk about, [but] we [can bond] over being in the same work environment.”

With no plans to leave the JIS community anytime soon, Mr. Fox and Mrs. Carlson consistently hope to find joy and fulfillment in all their endeavors.

Mr. Thiessen & Mrs. Kemsley

HS Math Department/High School English Department

“We’ve been married for 22 years…Right?”

“Yeah, 22?”

“Yes: 22 years.”

“That’s a long time…”

Mr. Thiessen and Mrs. Kemsley chuckled to themselves as they retraced the years they spent together. They first met in Warsaw, Poland, where they were both teaching English as a second language.

“It was my first time overseas…and I thought, ‘I’ll have an adventure!’ And we ended up meeting there, at the school, working together,” Mrs. Kemsley shared.

Both adventurous people at heart, Mr. Thiessen and Mrs. Kemsley quickly realized that they now had a partner to go on new explorations with.

“Our whole marriage has been really international, hasn’t it?” Mrs. Kemsley remarked.

Mr. Thiessen enthusiastically agreed: “Yeah, it’s exciting!”

The teachers got married in Singapore, then decided to move and have their son in Taipei. They then moved to Shanghai and Dubai before coming to JIS in August 2019. Having had years of experience being co-workers, Mr. Thiessen and Mrs. Kemsley find comfort in having a shared work environment.

With classrooms only a few doors away from each other, they describe the experience as having a good friend to rely on whom they know they can go to talk to whenever they are having a bad day.

“[Mr. Thiessen] understands what I do and is always very generous with compliments…so having that emotional support is really nice,” Mrs. Kemsley said. “He also always has snacks!”

Now in their fifth year at JIS—the sixth overseas school they’ve taught at—Mr. Thiessen and Mrs. Kemsley have many memories to reminisce on.

“We’re a little older than we were, ” Mrs. Kemsley chuckled. “And I’m really excited about going home [to the U.K.].”

“We’ve stayed everywhere for somewhere between four and eight years, and it [was] nice to have that international adventure,” Mr. Thiessen said. “And I think we might be ready for [our next] one soon.”

Mr. & Mrs. Slaughter

HS Social Studies Department/PIE Technology and Learning Innovation Coach

Mr. Slaughter and Mrs. Slaughter—who prefers to be called Mrs. Mindy—met in Spanish class during their freshman year of high school. They formed a close friendship that lasted all throughout high school, and at the very end of their senior year, decided to give a romantic relationship a shot.

“I can remember when he was fourteen years old, way shorter [with] his long hair, and used to wear black Led Zeppelin shirts all the time,” Mrs. Mindy recalled with a chuckle.

After 22 years of marriage, the couple have several stories to share and look back on, with one in particular standing out.

Mr. Slaughter was attending university in their hometown of Eugene, Oregon, while Mrs. Mindy attended one eight hours away. Shortly after Mrs. Mindy moved away, she received a call from her mother delivering bad news that her dad was diagnosed with a terminal cancer.

“I was thinking, oh gosh, I just left my family for the first time in my life; what am I going to do? Do I need to move back?”

But her spiraling worries were calmed by a call from Mr. Slaughter, telling her, “Don’t leave, stay there. I’ll take care of your family. Don’t worry.”

And Mr. Slaughter stayed true to his promise, taking Mrs. Mindy’s little brother to soccer practices, cooking her mom dinner, and doing everything he could to ease her mind by ensuring that her family was well.

“That was a really big deal to me,” Mrs. Mindy said. “It was two things: One, he’s taking care of my family; two, [he was] making sure that I was able to do what I need.”

So what was her conclusion?

“This guy, [he’s] a keeper.”

The following year, Mr. Slaughter moved to a school farther away from their hometown to be closer to Mrs. Mindy.

“He follows me,” Mrs. Mindy remarked.

“Yes,” Mr. Slaughter replied. “I think I do.”

After getting married and having children, the Slaughters started a new chapter overseas around Europe and Asia before finally arriving at JIS. Throughout their relationship, the couple has constantly been each other’s pillars of comfort and care, for which they are immensely grateful.

Mrs. Mindy always told people that she wouldn’t have chosen to meet her husband so young with still a whole life ahead of her, but that was before she realized that “these things can’t really be chosen.”

“There’s no one right way,” she encapsulated, glancing over to Mr. Slaughter. “It’s just meeting the right person.”

These teaching couples inspire us as educators in their classrooms and as role models of happy marriages. Whether they met in the halls of high school, under the dazzling lights of a nightclub, or during an overseas program in a foreign land, these couples are testament that love, actually, is all around.