Job Discussion Forums

tomnewcombe · Joined: 17 Jul 2010 Posts: 3

Hi im going to be starting a job shortly in Vietnam with ILA. I am going to be going over with very limited funds about $700, which im worried about having only that to find somewhere to live. They have said I get a relocation allowance. What does this cover and when will i get any funds paid to me from this allowance.
Thanks in advance from a worried teacher!

GambateBingBangBOOM · Joined: 04 Nov 2003 Posts: 2021 Location: Japan

Did you honestly mean to post this on the newbie forum? This is an international discussion board. Most of us aren't in Vietnam, and even then, people couldn't really say for certainty what your particular employer is going to do.

You might have a chance of getting an answer on the Vietnam board.

Maybe you could actually ask your employer, but before that read the contract. It might actually say.

denise · Joined: 23 Apr 2003 Posts: 3419 Location: finally home-ish

I'd be worried about going ANYWHERE with so little money. Many places that I've worked for have taken their time getting first paychecks to new teachers, so you may have a couple of months to cover by yourself at first. That said, places that are slow getting you paid at first should also be understanding enough to give partial advances and do whatever else they can to help you out.

d

spiral78 · Joined: 05 Apr 2004 Posts: 11534 Location: On a Short Leash

I second what Denise wrote. A little bad luck can go a long, long way when you're in a foreign country, and having so little financial cushion to get yourself out of any unexpected situations would be very worrying to me.

I remember a newbie teacher from North American literally standing on a street corner in Prague, all her belongings at her feet, begging for enough cash to phone her parents in the States, after being kicked out of a flat by an irate landlady before her first paycheck was due (and no, the school didn't help her - regardless of the ethics of that!!).

tomnewcombe · Joined: 17 Jul 2010 Posts: 3

obviously it's quite a hard question to answer, but how much then do you reckon is safe enough to live on for a month before your first pay cheque??

spiral78 · Joined: 05 Apr 2004 Posts: 11534 Location: On a Short Leash

In addition to one month's living money - which varies by region, obviously

Always be sure you have enough in hand to buy a flight ticket home and a week or two at a hotel plus food & etc in case of problems.

Sashadroogie · Posted: Sat Aug 21, 2010 2:11 pm Post subject:

spiral78 · Joined: 05 Apr 2004 Posts: 11534 Location: On a Short Leash

I think it was one of those shady post-communist conflict-over-ownership-of-the-flat situations, and the girl had shown up for work hung over and late once or twice.

Sashadroogie · Posted: Sat Aug 21, 2010 3:41 pm Post subject:

The ownership issue couldn't be foreseen. Quite a weird concept to begin with. But the hungover part is not going to go down well in any country that has a drinking culture... Limited sympathy...

nickpellatt · Joined: 08 Dec 2006 Posts: 1522

spiral78 · Joined: 05 Apr 2004 Posts: 11534 Location: On a Short Leash

Oh, I wasn't sympathetic to any great degree. I gave her a couple of koruny and scolded her for her lack of foresight in bringing sufficient funds and becoming distracted by the expat party scene.

I guess you could say she hadn't done anything so terrible, for a 20-something newbie, but the consequences were pretty difficult to deal with, due to her lack of slush funds.
That's the point.

Sashadroogie · Posted: Sat Aug 21, 2010 4:18 pm Post subject:

True, very true. I shouldn't be so hard on her. But there was once a time when I'd have been all for packing her off to Siberia to reflect on her errant ways. See, I've mellowed.

spiral78 · Joined: 05 Apr 2004 Posts: 11534 Location: On a Short Leash

It just occurred to me that she was about the same age as the students I just sent off after an intensive pre-sessional course. What were her parents thinking to let her go off to Prague as a half-baked adult, with insufficient funding and a taste for binge drinking???

OMG. I sound like an actual adult Shocked

Sashadroogie · Posted: Sat Aug 21, 2010 4:35 pm Post subject:

You know what? I blame the parents. Especially the ones in Moscow who hire a foreign teacher to teach their precious spawn English, but then use said teacher as a baby-sitter and go out shopping for a couple of hours. No concepts of the potential dangers involved in that at all. I mean to say, I'd be very reluctant to let somebody like me look after my teenage child unsupervised - and I know me!

Parents. Have a lot to answer for...

In the words of Philip Larkin

They *beep* you up, your mum and dad.
They may not mean to, but they do.
They fill you with the faults they had
And add some extra, just for you.

But they were fucked up in their turn
By fools in old-style hats and coats,
Who half the time were soppy-stern
And half at one another's throats.

Man hands on misery to man.
It deepens like a coastal shelf.
Get out as early as you can,
And don't have any kids yourself.

Sashadroogie · Posted: Sat Aug 21, 2010 4:36 pm Post subject:

Hmmm. Interesting censorship there. Past tenses are fine...