Job Discussion Forums

[kev7161]

Well, it's that time of year again and I'm curious as to what our forum members have planned for next school year:

1) Are you staying on at the place where you are currently working?

2) Are you looking for (or have found) a new job within China (and if you are changing jobs, why?)?

3) Are you going to another country to teach? Where might that be?

4) Have you had it and are going home?

5) Will you work a summer "English Camp" job?

6) Are you going to travel within China or outside of China, before returning to your "regular" job?

7) Will you go home to your mother country for the summer and return in late August/early September?

Just curious. Contract negotiations are underway so I'm planning on staying here in Suzhou. I am planning on a short summer camp job, then home to the US for about 3 1/2 weeks before my return in late August. ONE MORE YEAR (I hope).

[Babala]

Staying. Just signed on in March for my third year with the same company. No changes here.

[Sinko]

Staying. This place I'm at is good. The pay is fabulous and I get to go home at the end of every semester with FULLY paid return airfares. It will be just a short holiday in Oz (about 2 1/2 weeks). While I've still got the enthusiasm, I'll continue. Europe beckons, though.

[7969]

1. leaving.
2. found new job already. current job is out of town and i dont live on campus. dont really have fond feelings for the city i'm in. school admin is too slow to react to requests/requirements. communication channels here are less than adequate. partly my fault.
3. stay in china. already been to korea and taiwan. korea wasnt my cup of tea at least when i was there in 2001, taiwan is alright but my employer was a poor planner and organizer. overall, while they pay less than other countries, the jobs in china are a bit easier and more enjoyable.
4. still keen on china. interesting things to see and do here, and i do enjoy it when i see students benefitting from my help.
5. no summer work for me. thats time to rest and get ready for another year of work. looks like easy money at those camps tho....
6. probably go rock climbing in thailand for awhile AND travel in china for a few weeks. hopefully to xinjiang.
7. while i attach great importance to my ties with my dear motherland, my cross-ocean compatriots will have to do without me for another year. but no matter what happens, i am an inalienable part of my motherland and nothing can separate us and i expect all posters here to abide by my one motherland per person policy.

i dont like staying in one place too long. i'll actually be taking a slight pay cut to go to this new job, but in the end i'll come out ahead (lower salary isnt a problem for me, i have income from investments). the new school i'll go to has on campus apartments, meaning i'll save about 2 hours a day in travel alone (10 hours a week). the apartments look nicer. further, they have a pool on campus (have one here too but its not really open and the water is ice cold) thats open year round and i'll save on the monthly swim pass i currently buy (RMB386). the new school is also in south china, so no need for winter clothes or wondering when the central heat is going to be turned on. also the new school puts me a lot closer to macau so that getting out of china for holidays is a lot easier and cheaper.

as they say, a change is as good as a rest. and there's plenty of schools in china, so i dont see any need to spend any more than a year at any one of them. might as well experience as much of china as i can while i can. those are my feelings anyway.

[Chris_Crossley]

1. I'm staying put for now. Indeed, I have already signed up for my second full-time year at my current job four months in advance of my current contract expiring.

2. 3. and 4. Irrelevant, given my answer to Question 1.

5. No, never, and, thankfully, no need. Last summer, I worked at a private language chain school for 20 working days merely in order to "plug up" the 1-month 1-day time gap between my 5-month 80% full-time equivalent contract (no allowances or perks) and my first-year full-time contract (allowances and perks included!), both at my current place of employment. No time gap this time, though, since my full-time contract lasts a full 12 months and I am due to have 9-10 weeks' paid summer holiday (hooray!), so no summer work for me this year, thank you very much!

6. and 7. My wife and I will be visiting my homeland this summer. She has never been to the UK before and she is keen to meet my parents. Hence, we will be travelling outside of China but inside my homeland (where I technically have no home any more, since we have ours in China - for the time being, at least!).

[Brian Caulfield]

My philosophy is that staying at the same place doesn't get you
a bonus . It is a global principle of employment everywhere . To get more money you must move on . The jobs are the same in China so I move on just to see some new scenary and meet new people .
I plan to go to North Korea and see what evil lurks in the hearts of men .

[prof]

I'm planning my escape from the Motherland.

[Girl Scout]

Staying. I've been moving every 18 months, I need to slow down for a little while. I am going to the motherland for 6 weeks before returing in early Aug.

[william wallace]

nil

[Bayden]

[7969]

[shenyanggerry]

I'm leaving at the end of June but will return in Feburary 2007. Assuming I can get a visa for my SO, I'll stay in Canada for that time. If we can't get the visa, I'll drop back to China for a while in the fall but won't teach.

I'm staying at the same university. I like it here and it's becoming a second home. I'm on the third of three consecutive semesters - too many. Never again will I teach more than two without one off!

[Russell123]

As much as I will miss all that disposable income and bbq prawn, I'll be heading back to school in Canada. There's more than one way to avoid the 'real world' after all, and many other interesting and less filthy countries to be lazy in.

I love China, and will miss it, but what kind of future can a laowai expect here, long term? China sometimes seems like a backwards little village with 1.3 billion people. You'll always be laowai, and until the RMB goes up considerably (don't hold your breath) you'll be a poor one at that...

[Malsol]

Wives are like taxis. Another on the way, just around the corner?

[mondrian]