| I started this post a long time ago, as a companion to an earlier post about -- what are the upsides of living abroad? The question is -- what are the downsides? How long should an ex-pat stay and live in China? I think the answer depends on a number of things: Number one: If you have a really cool, high status, well-paid job here -- as opposed to being an ESL teacher -- perhaps the main considerations are (a) the pollution and (b) what is the best for your family life and your children, supposing you have any. The career considerations I'll discuss below do not apply to you... | |
There are also jobs for certified teachers -- people with a teaching degree, not an ESL certificate -- who can find work at a middle school or high school that is accredited by their home country. In other words, you could be from British Columbia and work at a BC-accredited high school in China. I think teachers should jump at this opportunity, because you will be able to live very modestly and bank most of your Canadian-sized paycheque. A husband-and-wife teaching duo could really sock the money away. You could come home with your student loans paid off or have enough saved for a down payment on a house, plus you'll have an amazing cultural experience which would really help you if you live and work in an area with many immigrant children. Frankly, I think it's a great opportunity.
ESL teachers tend to fall on two ends of a spectrum. There's people like me, older people, who are at the end of their career arc, or are retired and enjoying a second career. We don't have to think about which career move will help us climb the ladder back home, We might have to think about whether we have adequate medical coverage, or the fact that we are not going to be able to save a lot of money from our salaries in our final working year because while our Chinese salary gives us plenty of purchasing power here in China, it doesn't translate well to Western dollars.
Then there are the young people, looking for an adventure, casting about for a career, or unable to find a decent job back home. For under-30's at the beginning of the career arc, and young and bright enough to learn some workable Mandarin, I think one year in China is plenty, two years at most. Here's why:
Most of you are not planning to work as ESL teachers all your lives, The Chinese teaching job, for you, is just a job, like being a camp counselor, which makes it possible for you to go live abroad for a year. Since most job postings today call for several years' experience doing whatever it is the job entails, you are not advancing yourself in your future career. You are not going to save money, as I've mentioned. In the best case scenario, you'll return home personally enriched, wiser, more mature, and with more knowledge of yourself and more confidence and with many transferable skills, but not necessarily better off, career-wise or financially, then you'd be if you'd stayed home. And although the onset of adulthood keeps getting pushed back* there might be some negative consequences if you spend most of your twenties living abroad doing a low-paying job.
And if you're here even longer, if your one year becomes, three or four and more, you'll face some serious economic consequences when you finally return home. Unless you have a separate source of wealth, you will have built up no assets and no retirement fund. When I was in my twenties, retirement was a distant abstraction, and saving up for old age was even more of a distant abstraction. Well.... where did the time go? The time will come for you, as well.
So.... if you are mulling over whether to come to China for a year or two, take those financial and career considerations into account. No-one can guarantee you'll have a great experience teaching abroad, but I hope you do. A lot depends on what attitude you bring to it, of course.
So.... if you are mulling over whether to come to China for a year or two, take those financial and career considerations into account. No-one can guarantee you'll have a great experience teaching abroad, but I hope you do. A lot depends on what attitude you bring to it, of course.
One of my ground rules for this blog is that I don't snark and snipe behind people's backs. What I meant was, I am not going to use this blog to joke about, insult or criticize anyone that I worked for or with. Just because I have a blog, that doesn't give me a license to take to the internet to blast people whose foibles would otherwise go unexposed, but for their misfortune in rubbing shoulders with me. That said: if you are thinking about coming to China, and researching what it's like, you will more than likely visit the China forum at Dave's ESL Cafe. There you will encounter a lot of cynicism and negativity from a lot of people who claim to be Old China Hands. My feeling is, take any advice given on that forum with a grain of salt. Also, if you're a Millennial I'm sure you know how to Google information yourself, so please don't be one of those panicky, helpless types posting the same topic on the forum for the millionth time ("Moving to China -- help!!!!!!!") without reading previous posts or just searching out the answer for yourself. Seriously, don't do the thing with the exclamation marks. It's really irritating.
Dave's ESL Cafe isn't the only source of info, either. Try Internations. Try YouTube. Austin Guidry, the vlogger I've linked to above, is a good place to start, and so is the Local Laowai series. And of course, my blog.
Dave's ESL Cafe isn't the only source of info, either. Try Internations. Try YouTube. Austin Guidry, the vlogger I've linked to above, is a good place to start, and so is the Local Laowai series. And of course, my blog.
*When my parents were in their early twenties, they were teaching in war-torn Korea, raising three children and fostering war orphans. As a comedian (sorry I don't know who) said, at a comparable age, his biggest achievement was collecting all the "Planet of the Apes" movies.
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