Job Discussion Forums

[jm21]

Thought I would share my experiences thus far in China and at my work. I teach at a University in Qingdao on what appears to be a pretty standard contract. I get 5,000 rmb/month plus a bonus at the end of my contract. I think that's a little low for a University but Qingdao seems to pay less for the most part.

Sorry if this is a bit long and disorganized but I think I covered all the major points. Feel free to ask any questions.

Biggest tips for newcomers

1. FIGURE OUT HOW TO ORDER OFF TAOBAO! Or get a student to set you up. It is hard to find some things at normal stores, is annoying to have to deal with some Chinese trying to rip you off at the local markets, and Taobao is just freaking awesome in any case. You can get almost anything you want and it's usually dirt cheap. You'll have to figure out how to get deliveries too but that wasn't too bad...they send you a text with the time to pick up the package and eventually you will find someone who can read the text. Taobao also gives you something to do while you're bored...so much shit you could buy.

2. Be bold. Hand gestures can get you a long ways so don't be afraid to get out and do shit. It is really pretty easy to get around, especially if you have a decent smartphone. Google maps and translator stop working now and then but if you get a VPN on your phone or just use bing or something it's fine. The hardest thing is ordering at a restaurant. Aside from that it's really pretty easy.

Teaching in China

They started me out teaching a public relations class as well as a crapload of oral English classes. The oral English classes were teaching 50 or so students per class, who were not English majors, basically to practice a few examples from their textbook. Most didn't really have an interest in learning English and it showed. The way the school worked it was so that they took some classes in reading and writing with the Chinese teachers and then a class with me to practice some phrases more or less. With that many unmotivated students it's hard to teach much, but hey, it's a job. I figured it was kind of shit duty for the new teacher until they could figure out how good you are. The classes were so big and I only met them every other week so I doubt I had much of an impact on their education. That was a little frustrating.

Teaching public relations was a bit frustrating in a different way because everything is different. Most students don't know that many American companies and a huge amount of websites are blocked here. Whenever my VPN was running slow it would be a real pain to pull clips off youtube. Towards the end of the semester I was deciding on a new phone and was really impressed by the marketing campaign of a Chinese phone company called oneplus but none of the students seemed to know about it. I struggled a bit at first especially with the language barrier, but I got it sort of figured out towards the end. Lots of powerpoints because they can read a lot better than they can listen. Videos, especially cool ones, are a plus, but movies seemed to be a bit too long (watched one movie and it was a good one...but they just wanted to use their phones).

So....yes, there are some frustrating aspects of working here. On the whole though it's not that bad. The students, though not really motivated, are fun for the most part. In the PR classes I could see some real progress with some students and was surprised by the quality of their answers on their essay exam.

Is it the perfect job? No...but compared to anything else I would be doing back in the states it's pretty darn good.

This term I'm teaching public speaking and public relations. I'm a bit excited about the public speaking class...should be a bit more interesting than the standard oral English.

Compensation

The pay is not very good but the vacation time and work hours are pretty amazing. Being so close to some really interesting places with a ton of vacation time is just fine by me. A little annoying that it's so expensive to fly to Japan but what can you do.

I had an offer to teach at some kindergarten here but didn't feel like it at the time. Still a little bit unsure of whether I should do some outside teaching or not as they seem more strict about that sort of thing in Qingdao.

The salary here is enough to survive very easily and save a bit of money, but if you like to use your vacation time for vacationing you can blow a lot of money there. Just got back from a really nice month in Thailand but it was expensive. Maybe 20,000rmb? This winter we're going to Vietnam but might trying renting a house there for a month and staying put for most of the vacation. That seems awfully boring though.

I'm thinking to try doing some outside work this semester and see how it goes, but if that isn't working well then maybe try for Korea next year if my girlfriend can get a job there. Or maybe a bigger city like Shanghai and teach high school or something. 5k/month is ok but not enough to save for retirement or anything like that. an extra 5k rmb/month or more would make a huge difference.

Cost of living

In Qingdao, excluding housing, utilities, and car ownership, the costs are about half of living in the US I would say. That is without modifying my diet that much. I did eat quite a bit of Asian food before, especially Chinese, so maybe my eating habits are easier to satisfy here.

I probably spend 2-3k rmb per month. That's eating at home most meals. I focus on food a bit because with housing paid for it's your main cost. You can get a good breakfast for almost nothing here but harder to eat lunch and dinner out on the cheap. You can do it but I wouldn't want to do it every day. Street food you're looking at maybe 6-20 rmb for a meal depending on what you get. You can eat at a super cheap hot pot restaurant or something for maybe 10 or so with a drink but don't expect real meat. 15-30 or so at a cheap restaurant, which can be very good but won't have a ton of meat. Usually my girlfriend and I will find some deal online for a meal for 2 (which is more like a meal for 3) and it will cost around 50-70 rmb at a very tasty restaurant. Add in another 10 or 12 for a pitcher of beer and it's a nice meal out.

Transportation is very cheap by bus and train. I bought an electric motorbike and really don't use it that much. Kind of a pain to charge and after being ehre a month I didn't really have as many new places to explore. I should have gotten a smaller one with a removable battery that would be easier to charge, or just gone with a gas one and tried to sort out the license. If I took a job paying 10+k/month or did some privates I could eventually afford a car but not really sure why. They're more of a status symbol here...not really necessary and it's a total PITA to find parking. Every time I think it would be nice to have a car I watch the Chinese guys trying to park near a supermarket on Sunday.

There seem to be a lot of heavy drinkers in the foreign teacher crowd...so to let you know alcohol is dirt cheap here. I buy a knock off qingdao beer for about 30yuan per case and a 2.5l bottle of strong but drinkable liquor is about the same.

Overall

Please bear in mind that I am a relatively young American guy. Now is not a good time to be a young American person because finding decent employment is damn hard. I was the only one I knew who had a good income and it was at a job I absolutely hated.

So, being in China, it's nice. My job is fun for the most part and I don't work very many hours. I get huge amounts of paid vacation and it's a pretty easy place to live.

Next year I might be looking for something closer to full time employment to get some more cash, or teaching some privates or at a language school in my free time....that will make things less enjoyable but the extra money will be nice enough to off-set that I think. Would be nice to put some extra into retirement or pay off my house early or something like that....maybe buy a boat in thailand or something...who knows...but an extra 5k a month or so would give me a pretty big cushion. If I could get paid 150-200 per hour at a training center I could make about 10k/month + year-end bonus and only be working about half time which would be nice...but that would probably mean working in the evenings or on the weekends which I don't really like...see what happens.

Hopefully this was informative to someone.

[litterascriptor]

Those nights at Eden's in bangkok really add up don't they?

[jm21]

I went there with my girlfriend so no exotic nightlife for me....but shit adds up. Maybe 20,000 yuan for a month-long really nice vacation? Staying at decent hotels, traveling all over, eating out every meal, biek rentals, taxies, plane tickets, tours, etc., etc...all adds up after a while. Next time we go to Thailand we might just rent a house for a month at Prachuap Khiri Khan or Chiang Mai and just chill.

Was thinking it might be nice to teach in Chiang Mai or something but the pay there is less, no housing, and I think China is cheaper in most ways. Maybe some food seems a little cheaper in Thailand, like eating out, but the serving sizes are a lot smaller. I usually can't finish a meal out in China but I could eat 2-3 in Thailand. Here it's 30yuan for a case of decent beer there it's 12yuan for a bottle of piss. Tropical fruit and thai food are a lot cheaper than Qingdao I guess, but that's sort of a no brainer. I dunno, it's gotta be pretty tight money-wise to teach there...

[Non Sequitur]

My Qingdao school never intervened in my private lessons work.
I kept it to weekends and like much in China life you can get away with a lot if you don't rub their noses in it.
I didn't even tell my fellow FTs.

[Sarpedon]

How many contact hours per week? How many working hours per week?

[Capt Lugwash]

Five thousand dollars a month is a pretty decent salary. I wish I could find one like that.

[astrotrain]

$5000 US a month = just over 30000 rmb/mth

Never saw a University in PRC pay that amount unless at professor level and teaching a subject.

The most I saw was 24000 rmb/mth for an elite boarding school in Qingdao teaching a subject.

[buravirgil]

[jm21]

Yes, 5k rmb....changed that.

In my contract the contact hours are 16 maximum....last term I had about 16 50 minute periods. This term I only have 8 one week and 10 the other. Have Fridays off except for some sort of class I'm supposed to teach week 9 and 10 of the semester which I don't really understand yet....they just told me about it today.

The housing is newer 2bdrm apartment and all utilities are paid so I think the overall deal is fine. Would be nice to have AC this time of year but it's not the end of the world...was gone for most of the summ