Job Discussion Forums

whosonfirst · Joined: 27 Apr 2009 Posts: 4

Hello. I am an American man in my early thirties, and I have been a foreign teacher in China for about three years. I have a B.A. degree, but not in teaching. During that time I have worked in plenty of cities throught the country. I am now at somewhat of a crossroads. I am currently working in one of the top three cities in the country. Yet I am wondering as Jack Nicholson said in the movie with the same title, is this as good as it gets ? Let me start by saying I have learned to enjoy the job of teaching here through my many experiences. But I am now wondering what's next. Yes i do know the saying. wherever you go, there you are. But I also believe that changing the location, can be good as well. I also need to add that I am married to a Chinese woman from the mainland. She has stuck with me through many adventures here. She is in her late twenties, and is currently back at school getting her B.A. Degree. She is a smart cookie, with standard english, and some business experience. We do not have any childern.
So my question to the Dave's ESL masses, is where should i go from here, with my wife ? I enjoy teaching in the university level. And would be open to moving to another part of Asia. The things i would be looking for, are 1) a decent quality of life , 2)decent pay as a foreign teacher. 3) A place where my wife can get a decent job.
I know after reading this most of you will say, why don't you take your wife back to America. But that's just not in the cards right now.
Places I have been thinking about are Hong Kong,( although everyone on the esl board here talks about the differences between there and the mainland). I have also thought about Japan. as my wife is learning japanese for her class.
So i am hoping that people from other parts of Asia can give me some opinions. There may be other countries that I am not thinking about as well. All ideas and suggestions are welcome.
If we make a move, it would be in the Summer of 2010. So need to plan now

seklarwia · Posted: Sun May 24, 2009 7:58 am Post subject:

It seems that this kind of question gets asked every couple of days and some one will always answer with:

"Have you read the FAQ stickies?"

You are no way near qualified enough for uni work here. A BA will get you entry level ALT or Eikawa work (see stickies info for answers to rest regarding your situation)

As for your wife... you need to understand that it will be extremely difficult (bordering impossible) for her to convince anyone to employ and sponsor her for a visa as an English instructor alone. She'd have better luck becoming an instructor in Manderin but as this is an ESL forum, its not the best place to be seeking advice on that.

Or if you get a work visa, then she will be eligible for a dependents visa, which will limit her to working 20hrs/week, but she will not be confined to a certain field of work as will be the case on your work visa. But realistically, she is going to need a very high level of Japanese (JLPT2 or JLPT1) in order to even be considered for most decent part-time work.

Billy Chaka · Joined: 20 Oct 2003 Posts: 77

In all honesty, it sounds like you have it pretty good where you're at. You're working at a university in your wife's home country. You probably have lots of paid vacation. If you want to travel Asia, take a nice long vacation with your wife, and then come back to your wife's home country and continue your job at the university. If you want to challenge yourself professionally, look into getting an advanced degree online or something.

fat_chris · Joined: 10 Sep 2003 Posts: 3198 Location: Beijing

Tiger Beer · Joined: 08 Feb 2003 Posts: 778 Location: Hong Kong

I would agree with common sentiment here. CHINA seems perfect - you gained a lot of experience, married into the culture, your wife is actively involved in her future there - through education, etc.

I don't really get the point of giving that up just to go to Japan for the heck of it to see if its the same or not. They are more or less the same deal. You would essentially be trading a country that you have a long-term future with and a partial past connected to, for a stint in an unrelated country without any particular reason or goal for doing so.

I personally love being in Japan, and wouldn't trade it for China. BUT, I have long-heard that China is the future. Plus I have heard that whereas most in Korea/Japan are firmly entranced in predominately ESL teaching. The expats in China seems to have the business world wide-open to them - easy to get involved in export/export and really easy to start any kind of business with visas, permits, etc.

I think in your particular situation, China seems right. Not only that, but the idea of waltzing into Japan and getting the best jobs is fairly unlikely, whereas your post 'is this as good as it gets' seems to imply you are well on your way to that in China.

A Japan move generally means starting back at the bottom. Uni jobs over here almost all require MA degrees in Linguistics, TESOL or related field, PLUS publications PLUS Japanese profiency (with some exceptions). Whereas, in China, the only requirement seem to be able to breathe and fill out an application.

cvmurrieta · Joined: 10 Jul 2008 Posts: 209 Location: Sendai, Japan

whosonfirst,

After reading your post, I envy your situation right now. If I am not able to find anything long-term (e.g. one year) by the end of my JET contract, then I may be heading to China or Korea.

I may just end asking you for advice Wink

As someone who has made a move with a Japanese wife to the States (and then saw that marriage end in divorce), stick with the China thing for now until you are ready to make the move back home. If you have been married to her a couple of years by that time, then she may get an outright green card rather than getting a conditional one that my ex got.