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Rough Cost of Living Question
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Prof.Gringo

Joined: 07 Nov 2006
Posts: 2236
Location: Dang Cong San Viet Nam Quang Vinh Muon Nam!

Posted: Thu Mar 07, 2013 12:22 pm Post subject: Re: Rough Cost of Living Question

BenE wrote:

Prof.Gringo wrote:

kurtz wrote:

I find it disturbing that you had to edit your post 3 times, too. I think I'll skip your posts from now on. Have a nice day.

You can go ahead and check my over 1,680 posts and counting from the last six and a half years on Dave's ESL Cafe Forums. Very, very few have been edited. Why have I done so here, on this thread? Well, for clarity and also, to make sure everybody stays happy in a family friendly sorta way...

Hope you have a wonderful day, kurtz Very Happy

So well done Prof. Gringo you are obviously a more intelligent/better person than most of us. Can I ask though why you bother to post on this forum if you are sitting quite happy in the U S of A making so much?

Some of us are here for reasons beyond the higher pay we could 'potentially' get back in our home countries. I know for one thing my home country will be nice enough to me (sales job or translation etc.) but my Eastern European wife who has a good position here will subsequently treated like she's dirt due to increasing nationalism in the UK

Why hello Dear BenE!

Thanks so much for your kind comments and support, they have real value for me Laughing

Re-read my posts, and check out my "Location", and you'll find I'm enjoying life right here in wonderful Vietnam. Razz

Yes, I am shining a light through the darkness, to lead others down the path of enlightement which leads to Nirvana, Very Happy

Again, the "haters" come out with their attacks and barbs, unprovoked except for jealously and envy. Some folks just hate the fact that the best lot they have found in life is unstable EFL work in a country/culture that will never really accept them and without a retirement plan, pension, savings, or even a solid plan forward to have any of those things. While at the same time, they insist that there can't be another way, another path, which leads to stability and personal financial freedom. And they can't stand it when somebody else has all those things.

I teach EFL cause it's fun. I make a few bucks (or Dong or Pesos or whatever) and it keeps me from getting too bored. I could volunteer, but I won't do that except at an actual charity that is worthy of having a volunteer teacher. Just because I make a solid salary from work outside of EFL, doesn't mean I am going to sell myself short and work for free. And if I did work for free, as a "volunteer" I would just undercut the salaries of foreign teachers while lining the pockets of some Vietnamese school director.

Thanks for your kind comments and support, again, BenE, they are much appreciated! Wink

TRH

Joined: 27 Oct 2011
Posts: 340
Location: Hawaii

Posted: Thu Mar 07, 2013 12:31 pm Post subject: Re: Apples and Oranges

Prof.Gringo wrote:

All of the K-12 teachers I've known in the USA enjoy union protection, excellent benefits, about 3 months of PAID vacation per year and YES, a pension as well. No prob taking long vacations during the summer break and nice stable, steady work.

kurtz wrote:

I have certified teacher friends back home doing rather nicely.....I doubt most people don't even think about what you wrote in your last sentence which should be firmly on their minds if they are in Vietnam for the long term.

Rather than being anecdotal here are some links that give statistics:

http://nces.ed.gov/fastfacts/display.asp?id=28

"The average salary for full-time public school teachers in 2010�11 was $56,069"

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/jack-jennings/teacher-pay-us-ranks-22nd_b_940814.html

"For each participating nation, OECD calculated the ratio of the average salaries of teachers with 15 years' experience to the average earnings of full-time workers with a college degree. The U.S. ranked 22nd out of 27 countries on this measure. In the U.S., teachers earned less than 60% of the average pay for full-time college-educated workers. In many other countries, teachers earn between 80% and 100% of the college-educated average."

"Money is never the reason why people enter teaching, but it is the reason why some people do not enter teaching, or leave as they start to think about beginning a family or buying a home. Today, too often the heart-breaking reality is that a good teacher with a decade of classroom experience is hard-pressed to raise a family on a teacher's salary."-U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan

Also people here certainly should be the last to fall into the "not a full time job" rubric. Maybe in language mills one can just teach the book, but any K-12 teacher has plenty of prep time and most teachers I have known used summers for continuing education or for jobs to help their families survive. I really doubt that any teacher living in a major US city or its suburbs is saving $12,000 a year from a pretax salary of $56,000. If they live in a rural area they make a lot less.

This is not to say that the financial situation here is better, just that it may not be as bad as it seems. However I think one thing I think we all can agree on is that the pension is the kicker. If you are 30-50 years old and not saving $1000 a month here you may be falling behind.

Prof.Gringo

Joined: 07 Nov 2006
Posts: 2236
Location: Dang Cong San Viet Nam Quang Vinh Muon Nam!

Posted: Thu Mar 07, 2013 12:41 pm Post subject: Re: Rough Cost of Living Question

BenE wrote:

Prof.Gringo wrote:

kurtz wrote:

I find it disturbing that you had to edit your post 3 times, too. I think I'll skip your posts from now on. Have a nice day.

So well done Prof. Gringo you are obviously a more intelligent/better person than most of us. .........but my Eastern European wife who has a good position here will subsequently treated like she's dirt due to increasing nationalism in the UK

My 6+1 magic reasons to STAY in VN:
1. Very LOW Cost of Living (COL).
2. Beautiful, friendly women (no prob having girlfriends, and NOT bar girls either, "good girls" only for me, BTW)
3. The Govt never bothers me. No visa issues, no visa runs.
4. The police don't harass me (like the corrupt cops in Mexico)
5. Mostly safe here...Mostly
6.Not bored with VN yet. I can go to Pagoda in the morning and Mass in the afternoon. Guess I am a bit of a Cao Dai myself.
7. When I become bored with VN, I'll move on

As for your comment in regards to your spouse and nationalism in your home country, that stuff is everywhere... Oh wait, in the USA we elected a mixed-race black man with an African father and with the middle name of Hussein... and he just got re-elected in another landslide, by a white majority population... So I guess we ARE light years ahead of Europe Laughing

Mattingly

Joined: 03 Jul 2008
Posts: 249

Posted: Thu Mar 07, 2013 5:38 pm Post subject:

Prof. Gringo, It's fine what income you make. It's fine that you tell us. But please note, that this forum is an EFL forum. You claim to be a merchant marine or whatever living in VN when you are not working. We are not merchant marines on this forum. This forum is called "Dave's EFL Cafe." No offense to you, but you have no authority on telling potential EFL transplants or teachers working and living here about: cost of living employment spending It's because you are in a different financial situation and a different work situation. I have friends in the oil industry who do the same as you.

Tigerstyleone

Joined: 26 Mar 2010
Posts: 181

Posted: Fri Mar 08, 2013 6:14 am Post subject:

Its a lot like trolling.

TRH

Joined: 27 Oct 2011
Posts: 340
Location: Hawaii

Posted: Fri Mar 08, 2013 10:56 am Post subject:

Tigerstyleone wrote:

Its a lot like trolling.

I thought you and the Prof. were BFF's. Wink

Prof.Gringo

Joined: 07 Nov 2006
Posts: 2236
Location: Dang Cong San Viet Nam Quang Vinh Muon Nam!

Posted: Fri Mar 08, 2013 1:23 pm Post subject:

Mattingly wrote:

Prof. Gringo,

It's fine what income you make. It's fine that you tell us.

But please note, that this forum is an EFL forum.

No offense to you, but you have no authority on telling potential EFL transplants or teachers working and living here about:

cost of living
employment
spending

It's because you are in a different financial situation and a different work situation.

You are dead wrong. Mad

I have taught EFL since 2005. I got my mighty TEFL cert and plenty of real world EFL exp. behind it. And, I've taught here in VN, at a govt uni, several language schools and private tutoring. Idea

I know exactly what it costs to live in VN and what the wages are like here. Twisted Evil

So many "haters" on here, just can't accept the fact that somebody has an ALTERNATIVE to being a SLAVE to crap-o-la schools and wages. Shocked

Now, it IS true, I don't WORRY if I will be able to retire someday, As I make sure I work, earn my pension and SS credits each and every year in the USA. Cool

SO, that much is true and I can quit a job anytime, with no worries. Razz

WHY do I teach EFL if I don't have to? Because I actually like it, sometimes. And I just LOVE to meet NEW people. And it's so FUN to put PROFESSOR on my RESUME Laughing

Mattingly

Joined: 03 Jul 2008
Posts: 249

Posted: Fri Mar 08, 2013 1:56 pm Post subject:

[quote="Prof.Gringo"]

Mattingly wrote:

Quote:

You are dead wrong. Mad

You said you work so little but make SO MUCH $$$ !

Quote:

I have taught EFL since 2005.

I think you should write: I USED to teach. Or, perhaps a past simple, I TAUGHT back in 2005.

Quote:

I got my mighty TEFL cert and plenty of real world EFL exp. behind it. And, I've taught here in VN, at a govt uni, several language schools and private tutoring. Idea

But you have posted here, and PMed me, and PMed others about how much money you make working as a merchant marine.

Quote:

I know exactly what it costs to live in VN and what the wages are like here. Twisted Evil

I respect you, but you know the costs as a merchant marine and not a teacher.

Quote:

So many "haters" on here,

I have not seen/read any haters here. Not at all.

Quote:

ust can't accept the fact that somebody has an ALTERNATIVE to being a SLAVE to crap-o-la schools and wages. Shocked

It is NOT about an alternative. I am happy for you. I encourage everyone to choose/do an alternative to EFL. What you are doing is great.

It is NOT about acceptance, it is about you telling people that are arriving here to teach about YOUR situation - which is making BIG $$$ working on ships.

Quote:

Now, it IS true, I don't WORRY if I will be able to retire someday

I've never heard about that discussion here. I too, have worried. I started investing at 19 and still invest today. I have 40 years to go.

There are some investment forums if you want me to PM you them.

Quote:

As I make sure I work, earn my pension and SS credits each and every year in the USA. Cool

I am vested in SS. Most people are. It takes 40 quarters. Remember that most posters you are talking to are doing EFL for the short term.

Trying to rub it in that you have SS and we do not.

BTW, SS paid out more than it took in last year - 27 years ahead of schedule.

You will pay the 6.2% and what will you get? When? You born after 1970?

Quote:

SO, that much is true and I can quit a job anytime, with no worries. Razz

Please quit and tell us how it is in 6 months. Laugh.

Quote:

WHY do I teach EFL if I don't have to? Because I actually like it, sometimes. And I just LOVE to meet NEW people. And it's so FUN to put PROFESSOR on my RESUME Laughing

You teach EFL and put "professor" on a resume?

You are....a fraud.

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