Job Discussion Forums

[revilo]

I worked last year in NE China. I stayed in China during Spring Fest and visited Harbin. After 10 months, I saved about $6500 but I spent $1500 on air fare getting out.
did you guys save more or less? I've never been able to get Chinese schools to pay air fare to leave. I did get one to pay air fare coming in.

[hdeth]

I should be able to save about $18k USD this year. My school pays up to $1,000 twice each year for plane tickets to our home countries or to visit relatives.

Totally depends on the job and the person. Most of the teachers at my school seem to constantly be broke.

[Songbird]

I'm aiming for a smidgen under what Hdeth is saving, even once my airfare home for summer is paid for. And even after taking a swanky trip travelling through Europe last month, so I definitely could have saved into the 20's if I wanted to.

[Mikeylikesit114]

My Chinese wife and I are on target for about 50K USD combined savings for the year, but I've got to hustle on the side this year. Last year was cushier.

Next year, if we get the jobs we want, 70-75K USD savings may be doable.

It's all relative though...I'm originally from the San Francisco Bay Area, so I feel pooooor.

[MuscatGary]

Surely it depends on how you want to live and therefore spend?

[buravirgil]

[Son of Bud Powell]

[Hatcher]

If you work at a big international school then you can save a lot.

If you work at a training center, it depends on how much you hustle.

[The_Big_White_Elephant]

Mikey, songbird, and hdeth, the three of you listed some impressively large numbers. I'm curious, what kinds of schools do you guys work at and how long have you guys been teaching?

[Deats]

It's all about the privates. If you have a Chinese wife, it's so easy to find privates. In a big city it is 200RUB+ an hour for 1 on 1. Also, you can teach classes and earn way way way more.

I knew a Chinese woman who taught classes of 50+ kids and each kid paid 50RMB an hour. That's 2500RMB ($400) an hour ffs. She worked in a governmental school and the teachers were so unscrupulous. They would deliberately not teach all the book, and the students HAD to attend these additional private lessons by teachers or they would be missing info for the classes at school. They were booked full over the weekend. 8 hours a day. They cleared 40,000RMB (nearly $7000) a week. Not bad, huh. The funny thing is they only earned 2000RMB a MONTH from their school - but they had to keep this job to pull their scam of making the kids do privates to be able to pass the school year.

Imagine if you are a foreigner... it's 100RMB per kid... the potential is limitless.

Obviously this is illegal - but this is China. You grease the right palms and the problem goes away.

If you are a foreigner on your own, I wouldn't try pulling such shenanigans, but if you are married to a local (especially a connected one) then the world is your oyster.

[hdeth]

I work at a private international school and have not been teaching very long. I have an advanced degree though which is how I got my foot in the door. Most teachers here are certified teachers in their home country.

If I took a nice vacation to Europe the amount I could save would be substantially less. I usually go on vacation somewhere in Asia which is pretty cheap. Traveled in China this winter break and will go to Vietnam and maybe Cambodia in the summer for 6 weeks or so.

Anyways, like I said, most of my co-workers seem to always be broke, so a lot is lifestyle. I am a big spender by old-Chinese-villager standards but cheap as hell by typical-American standards.

[Markness]

I work at a training school and make about 13k a month. Started at like 9k when I first started. I basically only work like 3 days a week, the other 2 I only have like 2 hours of classes blocked together. If I wasn't such a lazy arse I could do part-time at an another school before my classes started on my monday and tuesdays but I am too lazy. If I just worked at a measley 150 an hour for 4 hours a day on those two days that would be almost an extra 5000rmb a month, but again, too lazy, haha.

Oh yes, savings, not much here since I keep buying new things and have only been in this city for a year and have had to pay a year of rent already. Once the lady puts more pressure about serious life commitments then I will definitely put more effort in, but for now, I am going to keep playing my diablo 3.

[Emp1]

I'm looking to save $40,000 USD this year. I do work 6 days a week for a large portion of the year mind you. Although the flip side is 4 months of the year is extremely cushy in terms of time commitment.

[bcxxbc]

[Emp1]