Job Discussion Forums

[Aramas]

What aspects of potential teaching destinations do you find most important?

Personally I consider climate, culture, food, affordability, visa issues and of course, girls!


My personal rankings by:

Climate: SE Asia and Tropical Latin America are clear winners, then everywhere else. Anywhere where it snows is beyond the pale.

Culture: Latin America then SE Asia, with last place a tie between Eastern Europe and the Middle East.

Food: SE Asia in clear first place then Latin America second. Eastern Europe easily takes last place, and everywhere else in between.

Affordability (Wages vs Living costs): Not sure about that one, since everywhere sucks with regard to that particular aspect. I suspect that Eastern Europe is easily the worst, with many countries paying less than it costs to rent a tiny, dank one room flat. Probably the usual suspects (Taiwan, Japan, Korea, Middle East) come out on top, but only if you have no life and don't spend anything. SE Asia and China pay badly, but costs are low so you can earn enough to live a good life. Latin America varies quite a lot, but in most cases costs are unreasonably high in light of incomes.

Visas: That would obviously have to be rated country by country, with Brazil probably coming in at last place since it's virtually impossible to get a work visa and you can only stay 6 months of any year. Fortunately we're not considering developed countries in which indefinite incarceration in concentration camps is the norm for 'illegal aliens'. First place would be the countries where you can just buy a one year multiple entry work visa over the counter, such as Cambodia, Vietnam and...um....are there any others? Second stringers are those in which work visas are either not required or not enforced, and usually require a visa run from time to time. Second last are those in which employers arrange the whole thing - that puts too much power in the employer's hands, imo. I particularly loathe employers that control every aspect of their employees' lives, including visas, accommodation and (alleged) health cover. Just give me the cash and I'll do it myself. If the employer tries to screw me I'll laugh and walk away. There are plenty more sharks in the sea.

Girls: First place goes to eastern Europe, second is Latin America, Asia last (unless you're a whoremonger, which I'm not) and everywhere else somewhere between.

Note: These are just my personal views, and they of course only apply to myself. I'm sure that other people have different priorities.

Somehow out of that lot I would choose SE Asia first with Latin America a close second - although the positions would probably be reversed if I lived in Europe or North America, or if I had gobs of cash in the bank. SE Asia is certainly the easiest option, with the lowest living expenses and cheap travel to and from Australia. I could live in a beach bungalow for a year in SE Asia for the cost of a return ticket to Latin America.

[ls650]

Aramas, what countries have you actually taught English in?

[Cdaniels]

Is there a serious lack of contact between the sexes in the Middle East? I have to agree with Aramas that the presence of females is an important consideration for me. (maybe we should say women instead of girls?) Even without any romantic considerations, I dislike testosterone fuelled atmospheres. Everything becomes some sort of contest or show of masculinity. Yuk.
Climate is tricky. A stable constant climate is less important to me than overall sunshine. Denver, for example, turns out to be one of the sunniest cities in America. It gets frigid and snowy at night, but most days are nice and comfortable. Las Vegas also is very sunny. Extreme heat isn't bad, when AC is commonplace!
I really loved the Scandinavian countries in the summertime. If it was more affordable and had a demand for TEFL I'd go back in a minute.

[Justin Trullinger]

I agree with Cdaniels- I prefer women to girls...

Interesting post, and maybe I'll go into more detail later when I have more time.

I was interested, Aramas, in that you put Latin America second for food. Where the hell have you been?! I want to go there. I have a pretty thorough experience of South America's andean countries, and while I love it here, I would have ranked it dead last for food. Behind anything. As bad as Iowa. Yuck.

I speak Spanish well, love latino culture, and don't even dance too badly. But the food...not a positive point.

My favourites for food are- Italy, India, and, strangely, London. (True British food is vile, but London is SO cosmopolitan that it scarecely matters. You can get ANYTHING there.)

Justin

[Cdaniels]

I would think that Mexico skews the whole Latin American food equation. One of the reasons I'm going there early next year (although I guess food is a little different in the Yucatan.) I've heard really bad things about food in China. As in unhygenic, so intestinal bugs are common for tourists visiting rural areas/small cities.

[Guy Courchesne]

[nomadder]

I can speak to the food situation in L.Am. It pretty much comes down to Mexico and Argentina(unless you don't eat beef or get tired of it easily). Strangely enough I had some excellent food in Peru especially this chicken place in Nazca and considering it was pretty much chicken from Guatemala all the way down, that says a lot. In Arg chicken was out and beef was a big thumbs up. Heard Brazil has good food but I didn't go. Uruguay is similar to Arg. The breakfast soup in Colombia can be nice.
Worst places for getting sick were Mexico, Honduras and Ecuador.

Best overall food goes to Thailand/Japan, Italy and Mexico, Morocco-tagine mainly. Places that didn't live up to food expectations-Vietnam, India, Spain, France(but maybe my budget was too tight). Also I prefer not to see my food moving or hear it squealing before eating it. Sometimes vegetarianism is a necessity. Best if food is not hanging from a fly infested rack. Not much into rodents but I did try an insect once-it's all in the sauce I hear.

Culture-Asia ranks above L.Am for me.

Climate-anywhere that has little to no snow-probably a mix of hot countries and seasonable 4 seasons

Also a mix of developed and developing countries- and small savings to large

Don't care so much about dating the locals but as a female I don't want lecherous type men to have to deal with nor do I want bad situations for women-ie having to wear black veils in 100 degree heat, etc.

Would prefer a language I'm interested in-Spanish, Japanese, Italian-may consider a few others

Talkative, highly motivated students are also a plus. Not to mention trustworthy bosses.

No really bad governments either

[Hod]

[Jyulee]

Would "Ease of integration into host culture" figure anywhere here? I�d imagine that if it does, Europe and Latin America would score highly, with the rest of the world not doing so well. Although I�m not expert of Every Country In The World, anecdotal experience from other teachers I�ve met (and from this forum) seems to suggest that teachers in Europe and LA spend more time socially with the locals, generally speaking, than those in other areas, where friends etc.. are more likely to be expats and other teachers.

[guangho]

[Justin Trullinger]

I think this is an interesting thread, largely because you get many different perspectives on what are essentially opinion questions. Maybe we could offer more info by trying to define our personal tastes, individual needs, and general life situations.

For example- I'm vegetarian. This colours my food preferences pretty thoroughly. For me, India wins hands down. (Fully developed veggie cuisine! Yes!) Italy takes second. (Nice cheeses, and many veggie options, although you have to explain yourself clearly, because the concept of vegetarianism isn't widely understood. Ham is NOT a vegetable.)

Spain takes last place, not because the potential isn't there, but because of something I call "food fascism." The Spanish are in thrall of the idea that their food is the best in the world, and that it simply is how it is. They are frequently unwilling to make even the slightest changes to accomodate a customer. I remember a restaurant that made sandwiches fresh when you ordered them, but REFUSED to make me a cheese sandwich. NO, they repeated, the cheese only comes with ham or turkey. 8-(

While the traditional food in Ecuador is nothing less than vile, I find the people to be friendly and willing to do it however I ask for it. Sometimes they offer opinions (Well, it would be better with the blood in it...) but generally they make a real effort to get me fed, which I appreciate. In Spain it was often the "food my way or the highway" approach.

Another issue related to enjoyment of food is parasites. I've lived in Ecuador for almost 3 years, and have had a truly amazing array of intestinal parasites. Also amoebas. Also worms. I've heard that Chile and Argentina manage to be in South America without offering the same stunning selection of diarheas. I don't know about other countries. But one downside of Ecuador is that if you stay long enough, you're gonna get something.


Another question from the OP had to do with women. Well, are we taking about physical attraction, willingness to have one night stands, cultural ideas about relationships similar to our own, or what?

While I find that Ecuadorian women are frequently quite pretty, I'm living in a several year long relationship with someone I met before I got here. So I don't really know what they're like to date, at least not first hand.

External observations indicate that the latin tendency towards jealousy is alive and well here. And that traditional attitudes towards gender roles die hard. (The man MUST always pay, even on a TEFL salary. And women cook and clean. Men don't.) And birth control is not widely understood, or practiced. Which can be a serious danger to a particular kind of TEFLer.

About the weather- I'm from Iowa. I don't give a BEEP about weather. I am happy with subzero temperatures, or with the high nineties (40s centigrade) and 100% humidity. Weather makes no difference to me, although I sometimes miss a strong seasonal change.

Culture is a very personal taste. I enjoy street culture. (Community events, long nights on the sidewalk, town squares where everybody sits around.) And in the poorer barrios in Quito, there's a lot of this to go around. (In the "nice" neighborhoods, security concerns keep everybody inside their own walls.) Museums aren't to plentiful here, but there are a lot of music bars. I also find the bohemian side of SA refreshing.

Another concern is the work scene. Life can't be lovely if you're a severely exploited wage slave.


Gotta go to work,
Justin

[Hod]

No one's said Morocco yet.

[ls650]

Okay, Hod: tell us about Morocco.

[Hod]

Chips are nice.

[ls650]

Now, now, Hod, don't be so verbose.