Job Discussion Forums

kurtz · Joined: 12 Mar 2008 Posts: 518 Location: Phaic Tan

Ok here it goes,

seems the folks on this forum seem a lot more civil then the twisted up losers on the Korean forums so I'll make a post.

Currently living in Korea. Working in a public school with little holidays. Life is good as I can eat out every day, travel on weekends, ride my mountain bike in nearby hills, go to the beach, go hiking and still save money.

Problems are

Korean won has taken a massive nosedive so in real terms I'm saving $5000 less then what I should be
Korean culture is a little dull
Traveled most of Korea and there seems to be a lack of geographical diversity as many mountains and places look similar
Korean women are quite boring (sorry, that's my personal thoughts)

In short I feel like a change.

I only have two years up my sleeve, one in a hagwon, one in a public school, no TEFL cert

Is China a good or bad move considering that I've got it pretty good here?
China is a huge country so there is a lot to explore, so that really draws me to it.
After reading some posts, it seems like you can't save much if you want to enjoy yourself like eating good food and drinking sometimes which is a big negative in my book.

My questions are as such

1. How easy are public school jobs to get with my experience and are holidays paid usually?
2. Any regions that are especially good to live in in terms of scenery?
3. Any cities that are especially good?
4. Why are you in China and are you enjoying it?
5. Any other places you can recommend in the world that you can save OK $$? Turkey sounds interesting, as does Vietnam.

Any thoughts or experiences would be kindly appreciated

naturegirl321 · Joined: 04 May 2003 Posts: 9041 Location: home sweet home

YOu'll be making less money than in Korea. But if you're after culture, CHina's great.

1. How easy are public school jobs to get with my experience and are holidays paid usually?
NO problem and they're paid.

2. Any regions that are especially good to live in in terms of scenery?
OUt west is supposed to be nice.

3. Any cities that are especially good?
Depends on what you're lookin for.

4. Why are you in China and are you enjoying it?
I enjoyed my time there and would love to go back.

5. Any other places you can recommend in the world that you can save OK $$? Turkey sounds interesting, as does Vietnam.
Middle East, Taiwan, HK.

Anda · Joined: 16 Jan 2003 Posts: 2199 Location: Jiangsu Province

Most public schools in China will try to write a ten month contract and not a twelve month contract. Top pay is 5,000 RMB a month plus accommodation for 16 teaching hour, weeks, paid utilities and airfares.

5,000 Chinese Yuan Renminbi = 788.047 Australian Dollar

5,000 Australian Dollar (AUD) = 31,724.0 Chinese Yuan Renminbi (CNY)

One place that employs for government schools and advertises here on Dave's and elsewhere.

Jiangsu Education Center for International Exchanges (JECIE)The Affiliated High School to Jiangsu Education Institute. Nanjing No.14 Middle School. Nanjing No.1 Middle School. No.2 high School Affiliated to Nanjing ...
www.chinatefl.com/jiangsu/teach/jecie-2.htm - 59k - Cached - Similar pages
More results from www.chinatefl.com �

I taught for eight and a half years in Korea and find the change interesting but forget saving unless you are chasing the hours like mad here.

kurtz · Joined: 12 Mar 2008 Posts: 518 Location: Phaic Tan

yeah thanks guys, I kind of suspected that you can't save much.

Would you advise going to the big mega cities? I know the best way is to travel there and get a feel for what you like but it's a massive country and there is no way I can travel all of it and say yeah, I want to live here.

What is concerning is some places might really suck like for eg I read about a city that has really bad pollution, it's hard to get a taxi and you'd spend half the day getting to and from work.

Another thought is how do Chinese students react to English? It's quite a drag in Korea trying to motivate them.

Chancellor · Posted: Wed Aug 06, 2008 6:29 pm Post subject:

Of course, the reason the grass is always greener is the manure. Smile

Anda · Joined: 16 Jan 2003 Posts: 2199 Location: Jiangsu Province

Um, mega cities here are mega expensive so unless you are on big money they are not that good. Beijing is normally very polluted. Smaller cities are like in Korea being much cheaper to get about in general. You either like big cities or smaller places.

The students are much the same as in Korea for their interest level in English.

caustic yeti · Joined: 24 Nov 2008 Posts: 8 Location: himalayas

OP,
i was considering korea, but the whole won nosedive situation has dampened my enthusiasm. making 2M won a month, how much (USD) can i save per year if i am frugal?

naturegirl321 · Joined: 04 May 2003 Posts: 9041 Location: home sweet home

very little, maybe a couple hundred bucks.

kurtz · Joined: 12 Mar 2008 Posts: 518 Location: Phaic Tan

This response is a little late I'm sorry but as an Australian AUS $1=about 920 won I can save at least 1,000,000 won a month, more if I go on a budget. Being an American, you'll have to divide 1,000,000 by maybe 1400 with leaves you with about US 700 per month if you want to live well. You can save more but that means no expensive coffees, drinking at bars, eating at foreign restaurants.

Justin Trullinger · Posted: Sun Dec 14, 2008 9:05 pm Post subject:

JZer · Joined: 16 Jan 2005 Posts: 3898 Location: Pittsburgh

surrealia · Joined: 11 Jan 2003 Posts: 241 Location: Taiwan

I've taught in both Taiwan and Hong Kong. I enjoyed my stay in both places, and was able to save up some good money (more in Hong Kong).

If you would like to read some helpful articles on teaching in both of these places I would refer you to:

http://www.geocities.com/allhou/hongkong.htm

http://www.geocities.com/allhou/taiwan.htm

kurtz · Joined: 12 Mar 2008 Posts: 518 Location: Phaic Tan

Surrealia can you sum up Taiwan and HK in a nutshell?
I'm thinking VN but I'm open to suggestions.
Do they work you hard? this is pathetic I know but after a year in a public school in Korea I couldn't handle a tough ESL job, I'm like teaching 14 hours a week and that's full time!

naturegirl321 · Joined: 04 May 2003 Posts: 9041 Location: home sweet home

About money, you just have to budget. Serously. I used to have all my money in an envelope and took it out. Then I started going to the bank and depositing a bit when I got paid, but still spent the rest.

With my husband, we-ve been on a strict budget, And it-s hard. We get money and put it into little envelopes, from food, to utilies, to the carpark. We each have money for lunch, transport and extra,(shopping, whatever) once it-s gone, it-s gone. It-s very hard at first, but you learn and we-ve been able to buy a flat that was 40K usd and a SUV that was 8.5 k usd cash by doing this. And let me tell you, we-re not making much in Peru Smile