Job Discussion Forums

calsimsek · Joined: 15 Jul 2004 Posts: 775 Location: Ist Turkey

Hi new here, have been teaching fro years in Turkey from K-12 as well as top copmany Exe's. Anyway thinking of bring wife and 1 year old child to China. I hear alot of work around. Is it safe, what are the conditions like for little kids and what health cares like. ( Kids get ill alot ).
Whats the difference between a Yan(?) and R.M.B currency. Which is stronger. Whats the rate of exchange.
In Istanbul at the moment the going rate at a good privet K-12 school is about 1,400 to 1,800 US dollars a month. The centers pay a bit less for a normal 100 hour class time monthly contract.
How does this compare to China.
Anyaway hope you can help.

Voldermort · Joined: 14 Apr 2004 Posts: 597

Before you come to China you should do a lot of research. To teach here you are required to have a BA degree and some sort of TESOL certificate. Also you will find that you need a good command of the English language.

The healthcare is very poor here. As teachers we are given medical insurance, though I have never used it. It cost very little to visit a doctor and medicines are widley available. Though in my personal experience, Chinese medicine is nothing cmpared to the hard to find western medicine.

It sounds from your post that you are coming here in search of wealth and riches. The money you will make in China is good for living in China. Outside the country it is nothing more than loose change.

China is a dirty polluted place, certainly not somewhere for a young child.

Spiderman Too · Posted: Mon Feb 21, 2005 1:44 pm Post subject:

Sheep-Goats · Joined: 16 Apr 2004 Posts: 527

Is "Istanbul" really that hard to type out?

Jobs in China that pay 1400 to 1800 USD a month are scarce. 500 to 800 much more common.

Volodiya · Posted: Tue Feb 22, 2005 4:08 am Post subject: Welcome Calsimsek

Not all of China is dirty, or polluted. The cost of living can be very low. I spend about $200-220 USD/month- not including clothing, health care, travel or gifts. My apt is provided. I haven't completely adjusted to life here, nor stopped thinking about the places I love which are now far, far away (Istanbul, for one). But China grows on you, and it has on me.

Where you get hurt with the low salaries here is on those things which are priced at western levels; for example, in my case, travel to the U.S. (return, KMG-TPA, $1250 USD), and my permanent policy of international health insurance (I.H.I., $2,700 annually). These kind of expenses are tough when you're paid $500-800/month. Many find they need extra streams of income to make it work for them, long-term; but then, these are available.

Many of my friends have kids. Most of them are relying on "home study", or placing their kids in the local schools. International schools tend to be too expensive for most of the people I know.

Would it be worth it? Not unless you really wanted/needed a new experience in life for you and your family and you thought two-three years of "treading water" wouldn't crush your other long-term goals. The other option, for those who really like China, is to settle in, live like a Chinese, and make a life of it here. The place has its own charm.

Roger · Joined: 19 Jan 2003 Posts: 9138

Your typing needs some help, I think: the only 'yan" I know is the Cantonese word for "man"; interestingly, Cantonese 'man' means 'yuan' or 'money'.
I guess your 'yan' is Chinese YUAN; a synonym is RMB, which stands for renminbi = literally 'people's money'.
One U.S. yuan is around CHinese RMB 8.2
And, no, someone has said it accurately enough: you are not going to make more dough in China than in Turkey.

calsimsek · Joined: 15 Jul 2004 Posts: 775 Location: Ist Turkey

Thanks everyone for the info, sorry about the typing fat figuers and crap spelling.