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Norby
Joined: 20 Jul 2010
Posts: 9
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 Posted: Fri Feb 18, 2011 3:09 pm Post subject: |
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| Serious_Fun wrote: |
You state "Days off are a veritable rarity � 2/3 a month", and then you mention weekend breaks; are the "days off" extra free days?
Western holidays, but no public health insurance or retirement plan? I can't guess the location.
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Apologies, I wasn't very clear on this in my attempt to disguise the country. I work every day of the week, public holidays are relatively rare until Tet (Lunar) New Year where I don't work for a month. The time off is unpaid time off that I book off.
In a way people may find the way I put it in the original post misleading, but time off being paid or unpaid varies across every country and I was focusing on the bottom line. I'm interesting in what people think about comparing in this way by the way.
Can we truly compare across countries in this way, or is it 'apples and oranges' like Naturegirl says? (misquoting you a bit here Naturegirl, I realise you were replying to my previous post and not explicitly suggesting this)
EDIT: Shocking MSN alt-tabbing English and additional question at the end. |
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gaijinalways
Joined: 29 Nov 2005
Posts: 2279
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| Posted: Fri Feb 18, 2011 4:30 pm Post subject: |
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This thread was inspired by deepteeth�s thread: http://forums.eslcafe.com/job/viewtopic.php?t=86693
MOD EDIT Ttompatz encouraged people to focus on the bottom line, rather than absolute pay. My post is written based on this mindset.
Many thanks to all those that take the time to read my post.
I�ve been working in my current job for 2 years. It is my first TEFL job. |
Congrats, you survived 2 years.
| Quote: |
Responsibilities:
-An average of about 23 contact teaching hours a week.
-I teach general English to adults, teenagers and young learners (6+), class sizes vary from 4-24, most classes are 8-10 students � CEFR A1-B2
-Days off are a veritable rarity � 2/3 a month.
-Marking responsibilities are minimal to non-existent.
-I (amongst others) assess the oral part of the school�s in-house mid-term and end-of-level examinations. |
Sounds pretty typical except for the days off. And almost no marking responsibilities; no homework, quizzes, exams?
| Quote: |
School information:
-I can print/photocopy to my hearts content � black and white only.
-Computer resources are generally quite poor � they are usually in some kind of state of disrepair.
-We use up-to-date Cambridge textbooks, almost all students buy them, occasionally the odd student will photocopy one.
-I have access to our resource library, which is average.
-Each class is taught 1-2 times a week by a foreign teacher and the remaining 1-2 lessons by a local teacher.
-There are local teaching assistants in beginner/low elementary classes and most young-learner classes.
-Teaching evaluations are rare.
-2 classrooms in my school have computers, one utilising a projector, one a large TV.
-My �commute� to school is 5 minutes. |
I think I like your commute. I have similar problems with access to a computer for the classroom at one uni I work at, something we as educators have to deal with (that and learning how to use all that stuff if you have it  ).
D
| Quote: |
uring this time, using my salary, I have been able to pay for:
-A CELTA course (this includes accommodation and living expenses, in addition to course fee and travel costs.)
-A vehicle, enabling me to travel to and from work and to other cities in the country. Previous to buying it, I rented for several months � this was due to personal choice, not lack of funds.
-Holidays / breaks � Christmas / New Year breaks to tourist destinations within the country and countries in the region (3 abroad 1 in country)
- Frequent �mini-breaks� touring surrounding areas of the city I live in.
- A 2 week holiday travelling around tourist destinations within the country.
- Further weekend breaks travelling to other cities within the country.
-A netbook
-A full business wardrobe (sans suit jackets)
-I haven�t flown back home yet.
Currently I have $5000 in salary-derived savings.
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Sounds okay considering your lifestyle, but you haven't gone back yet?
| Quote: |
Lifestyle:
-90% of food is eating in restaurants or cafes. The remaining is street food. I never cook my own meals.
-In my city I don�t have access to cuisines outside of local ones, on my trips to other cities I am usually relatively lavish in this respect.
-Over the course of these 2 years my drinking habits have varied greatly. A fair average across the whole time could be heavy drinking once a fortnight and light drinking a further 2 times a fortnight.
-I drink non-alcoholic drinks in cafes 2 or 3 times a day.
-I live in a hotel room which is cleaned daily (I hate chores and fuss, so living in a hotel for such a long period of time is something I�m perfectly comfortable with � I�m sure others wouldn�t be.) The room has satellite TV, a fridge, en-suite bathroom, wireless internet access etc.
-I have all of my laundry cleaned and ironed.
-I�ve had about 10weeks of holiday time in total. |
The food is great in Vietnam, and cheap to boot. I don't blame you for not cooking. And I assume the laundry services are relatively cheap as well, so that sounds fine.
You seem to be doing okay, but only 5000 after 2 years.... Have you visited any other countries? |
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naturegirl321
Joined: 04 May 2003
Posts: 9041
Location: home sweet home
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| Posted: Sat Feb 19, 2011 12:41 am Post subject: |
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[quote="Norby"]
| Serious_Fun wrote: |
In a way people may find the way I put it in the original post misleading, but time off being paid or unpaid varies across every country and I was focusing on the bottom line. I'm interesting in what people think about comparing in this way by the way.
Can we truly compare across countries in this way, or is it 'apples and oranges' like Naturegirl says? (misquoting you a bit here Naturegirl, I realise you were replying to my previous post and not explicitly suggesting this) |
I'm a bit torn. Yes, you can say in X country you save only 5K and in Y country you can save 20K, and that would be the bottom line. BUt there are other things to keep in mind. For example, in X it's easier to live, you're happier, cost of living is lower, more vacation time, etc.
I think it depends on each person and what they want. |
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gaijinalways
Joined: 29 Nov 2005
Posts: 2279
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| Posted: Sat Feb 19, 2011 1:53 am Post subject: |
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naturegirl321 posted
| Quote: |
I'm a bit torn. Yes, you can say in X country you save only 5K and in Y country you can save 20K, and that would be the bottom line. BUt there are other things to keep in mind. For example, in X it's easier to live, you're happier, cost of living is lower, more vacation time, etc.
I think it depends on each person and what they want. |
Definitely agree, some countries are a lot easier on the eyes and they offer better food, (I loved the food in Vietnam when I visited there a few years ago) etc. Some countries are also a lot cheaper to travel in (Japan is not, hence why my wife and I sometimes opt to do longer travel outside of Japan). And there is something to be said for a lifestyle that you enjoy. Sometimes the "over-concreting" that is done in some Japanese cities is a bit depressing. that and having to live in smaller places if you want to be somewhat near a city center (and/or not have to endure longer commutes to your local station).
Living in a hotel would not be for everyone, though it sounds appealing for having to avoid household chores (including cooking in the OP's case).
Saving money though does become more important at some point depending on how much of a safety net you wish to have for retirement (well for most people anyway)  .
It also depends on what you like to do; my wife and I love to travel internationally, and you need money to do it in most cases (and my wife and I are at the age where we don't backpack travel..or perhaps I should say my wife's perceived comfort level for traveling prohibits backpack traveling). Jobs in some countries don't really allow you to do it, only domestic travel (because of work schedules and/or poor currency value as judged against other countries).
If you mostly stay at home (as we age perhaps we might), then retiring in a place like Vietnam or Malaysia (the latter a favorite amongst some older Japanese) seems very doable. The cost of living is much lower, even though more modern housing is not necessarily cheap, but the prices are lower than here for something comparable.
Life is a journey, hope it takes you somewhere interesting! |
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