Job Discussion Forums

[Jbhughes]

Personally, I am not having a good time of it at the moment, but I'm here at least for the time being. I have my reasons - not least my other half and various assets that would need selling (read: losing a lot compared to what I paid for them )

You! you! You! you! YOU! you! you! WHA A BOW YOU?

Specifically, I'm interested in the motivation to stay, after the time of which everything is new and you once have a vague grip on what life is like for you here not the reason why you came in the first place.

If 'other' - please detail.

[LettersAthruZ]

Honestly??

Back when I first arrived here, I really felt no affection for the place at all....NOT disdain or contempt....just didn't care for it.

I still really don't....

BUT, at that time, there really was nowhere else in the world in which the ratio of amount-of-actual-work-performed-vs.-amount-of-dollars-received-as-salary was tilted this heavily in the teacher's favour....

NOW??

Well, it's not really that way anymore....and it's actually NOW beginning to turn towards the opposite direction with new floods of the Great Unwashed T�y washing up on these shores and driving down salaries and fees by the basic economic principle of supply and demand, over the last twelve months, I have constantly been second-guessing my decision to continue to reside here.....

...we'll see!

[Mattingly]

A thoughtful poll, jbhughes.

I think for me as well as many people it is not one single thing but several things both in Vietnam and back in our home-country.

For me:

I enjoy the job AND I can save a little. Not much, but a little.

Simpler lifestyle than the west.

Back in my home-country things are slow economically, although I came here well before the burst of the bubble. Back home you work lots of hours and are not treated well and at the end of the year you not only have not saved anything, but you are in debt.

It does not matter what your skills or level of education is in the USA anymore.

It's the NINJA generation.

[inhanoi]

I don't know what the time frame is, but it's interesting that the only two responses as I write this are a really positive investment in Vietnam... or "other."

I hope anyone who chooses "other" will come on here and explain.

[sigmoid]

I chose 'other' "because I'm already gone..."

[1st Sgt Welsh]

Interesting topic for a poll Jbhughes.

Although LettersAthruz will say that it's not as good as it used to be [and I don't doubt that is probably the case] I still think the work/life balance for a TEFLer in Vietnam is a very good one. Simply put, even with an entry-level job, you don't have to work that many hours and you can still enjoy a very comfortable lifestyle, travel and you can even save.

If you are going to TEFL, Vietnam, IMHO, is certainly one of the better options out there. Geez, I know teachers who have taught in Thailand, Mexico, Turkey, Czech, Spain, Argentina etc, etc and, although all those countries appeal to me more than Vietnam, the lifestyle of a typical TEFLer there, by the sound of it, sure as hell doesn't! Indeed, it's interesting that all the teachers I've spoken to who have worked in those locales love the respective countries they worked in, but, after a while, they couldn't afford to stay there. Indeed, some of them are saving money in Vietnam so they can afford to go back to their former countries and work.

On the whole, even on my worst days, my feelings on Vietnam is that while I don't love it, I don't mind it either and the good things about being here outweigh the bad.

[Dekadan]

I chose "other" for a variety of reasons. While I'm not living there right now, it is my intent to return (no, I'm not crazy). I'm living back in the west right now and it's difficult to get ahead as an ESL teacher here. You have to either have an incredible connection to get a full-time gig or be really lucky to get one right away. Otherwise, you have to pay your dues for years before that opportunity opens up.

In Viet Nam, you can save more and have more opportunities for full-time work. While things may be slowing down, I don't think it's as bad as the western countries.

Oh... and something about the pursuit of the fairer sex too.