Job Discussion Forums

[ColinA]

So you're searching the wanted columns and seen the bold print "travel the world and get paid for it". Could this be your way out of that boring job which has little chance of upside? You read on: no degrees or experience required just attend a 5 day (wonder) course at the local hotel and we guarantee you a job. Sounds pretty good but as it turns out fewer and fewer countries will waver the degree requirement. Further research reveals a number of agencies will offer you placement most likely in China. So you fork out $1500 for the course and then a further $1500 for the airfare and off you go on what generally will be the adventure of a lifetime. Not only will you make a difference in their lives but the experience will question everything you hold of value, even your own identity at times.

I cant speak for everybody, only from my own 3 separate experiences. I offer my impressions candidly and in good faith so what you do with them is of course, entirely up to you. Having come and gone 3 times to cities, 1000's of Km's apart, I think I have a fair handle on how the system works. You may read a lot about how great China can be for those who make all the necessary cultural adjustments. At the risk of offending some long-term dwellers who talk up the place and denigrate their previous lifestyles, I hope to give you a realistic account of what you may expect.

If you're not fit and healthy, China is not for you, especially the faint hearted, the thin skinned or those with respiratory problems. Neither is it for people with strict diets, skin complaints, allergies or those who cant handle extremes of temperature especially heat and mosquitoes. Despite the claim that some ex-pats have 3 jobs earning rmb 25k a month, most ESL teachers rarely earn more than the equivalent of US$600/month which doesnt allow much for those who plan to save for other ventures. Japan and Korea have so much more to offer in that regard. Living cheaply is one thing but hardly a place where a young graduate could pay off a hex debt.

Being the most densely populated country on earth (60% is mountainous), it is a place where pitfalls both natural and man-made, are abundant. Apart from the natives who have no idea of personal space, potholes, open sewers, trash and a plethoria of vehicles that often come out of no where are the norm. Not to be alarmest, I saw at least one fatality and several accidents, even had three near misses myself. Life tends to be cheap with serious injury even death awaiting the careless or the unwary. There are 200million desperate chinese living below the poverty with crime an inevitable consequence. Traveling in pairs is recommended in major cities at least. Nevertheless,I still think it is a fairly save place to live and work once you become culturally aware and pedestrian savvy.

As an ex-environmental scientist, I am dumbfounded by what the country is doing in the name of progress, its priorites and lack of forsight and the untold misery its causing many of its citizen. The dumping of toxic waste, the cancer hot spots, the 100's thousands of people in places like Guizhou suffering from contaminated soil and groundwater are a national disgrace. I have pointed out elsewhere that a good friend of mine succumbed to an exotic virus last year which serves to highlight that there IS an increased risk to living in a third world country (if you needed reminding).

On the plus side, many foreigners including older couples often find a new lease on life but rarely stay more than a semester or two at a time. With so many idle hours (between classes), it can be a lonely place for singles or those who come alone with "baggage" from a failed career or relationship. Chinese TV and cinema offer little comfort for the foreigner, so the endless hours people spend posting on this and othe websites suggest that some (not all) struggle to fill-in their leisure time.

Two Chinese teachers from Hangzhou who taught with us in 2003, came to stay at our home as part of a summer study tour. They couldnt understand why we would ever want to come to China when our country was a place that most could only dream about. If anything most Australians take far too much for granted and really need to spend some time in the real world where clean water, great beaches, clear skies, social security, free health and education are unheard of. Nevertheless, I do love many things about the Chinese culture and admire westerners who've embraced it wholeheartedly. I do worry for them however, knowing that long term health/life expectancy is at risk in many of the cities identified as the most polluted on earth.

Good luck, I hope your time is a fruitful, safe and happy one.
Colin

[william wallace]

nil

[pandasteak]

I think if any of the problems (like potholes, pollution, and stuff) come as a surprise to you when you come to China, then you didn't do your research in the first place.

There's lots to do in China (or at least where I am), and I think if you can't find something to occupy your time with - be it study Chinese, or finding some other employment - then you're not trying hard enough. Maybe this doesn't apply to all cities, but it certainly holds true for the bigger centers.

Check out this
Newsweek article about old expats finding work in China. It cites Jeremy Goldkorn as an example. He's the man behind Danwei TV.

There are opportunities in China.

[william wallace]

nil

[DirtGuy]

william wallace:

Why do you contend ESL is dead? Not trying to flame you or anything. I'm curious.

As far as FTs trying to get into other ventures is concerned, I have an idea. Could it but that teachers in general are not, um, how shall we say, the most astute business people? I realize that is a generalization yet it is based on more than a few years of observation of fellow teachers. Many of them simply could not cut it in the business world and that is one reason they are in education. Not that this is a bad thing, mind you. The world certainly needs good teachers. It just may be that the skills that make someone a good teacher do not readily make that same person good as an enteprenuer.

Just a thought.

DirtGuy

[pandasteak]

[Roger]

FIrst of all, those silly adverts address the sedentary, culturally passive/consumerist person. Let's state quite honestly in most countries such adverts would lure no one. Ergo it's for people who share certain cultural features such as the notion you can go abroad and be paid for it!

And it targets people who do not have a stellar educational background that would predestine them for teaching jobs.

It is no wonder most "successful" candidates recruited by these agencies are not really into culture, living abroad or making a life-altering choice. They want fun, full stop. I suppose the word "career" sounds to them like a socialist term such as party cadre!

Now you also get a good many people who do not come over with the help of such an agency, and many of those stay longer and experience China quite differently from the first group!

I never thought I would stay more than 2 or 3 years; I have been here considerably longer and I see no reason to quit just yet!

Korea and Japan just don't hold much of any attractiuon for me; sick nationalism is the hallmark of their culture (some say the same about CHina's culture).
But unlike China, these countries are comparatively small and compact; China is a continent and you can discover thousands of places that have neever made it into a guide book!

[pandasteak]

[ColinA]

[Lobster]

[ColinA]

[vikdk]

ColinA's post is just about spot on - but to understand it's implications you really have to view it in terms of the two types of China FT - the traveler who just takes China on for a short term, as a life building experience - and the long-termers who choose China as more meaningful part of their lives.
So with this in mind - maybe post after post from these "long term guys" is not just a reflection of all those hours of freedom, but more a reflection of how meaningful their China lives have become to them - which - especially when viewed in terms of the bland and meaningless state of the standard western lifestyle (at least in certain peoples estimations) - may be a clue why a fringe element of FT's - despite all the mind blowing problems found in this sh** hole - actually wish to have more than a brief encounter with China - they've actually let it become their hobby

[william wallace]

nil

[Lobster]

Mmmm....I am not Roger, and Roger is not me. Are you more confused than usual, ColinA? I'm Canadian, but I don't think Roger is.

[prof]