Beijing very different from Shanghai I like em both in different ways
I think living way the hell out amongst deserts and mountains in a city of 3 million with only 200 ex-pats makes me appreciate western trappings when i find em out here
Never been to Qingdao, but do enjoy a Tsingtao from time to time
glad to hear you are going for a second year, mate... nice pics
Do you know about the IELTS examining gig? 350 quid a weekend (but i know weekends will currently be your busiest time). you can do 2-3 weekends a month in Qingdao.
Yeah I know about IELTS examining, I wanted to do the test but my school wanted me to pay for it all as at the time I only had 6 months left on my contract.
I'm looking for work now for when I move in September and this is something I'm asking the schools about as it's something I would really like to do.
Yangzhou is about 5million I believe and certainly less than 200 ex-pats. I'm very, very bored of this place now, it's a nice hub for travelling but for doing stuff whilst living here it kinda sucks, it's the choice of go to a club, be the token white people and get free alcohol, or go to a KTV, which I hate with a passion (probably because I have a girlfriend I won't cheat on, unlike most Chinese men)
But I try not to judge them too harshly. Intense parental pressure to get married soon after leaving uni/at a young age means a whole load of people are shoe horned into unwise/unsuitable partnerships.
certainly different set of standards from the west
I always find it pretty ironic when locals try to tell me that it is westerners are the "open" ones who cheat on each other!
anyway... Ielts... Need 2 years post certification experience (and your tefl will need to have included teaching practice of 5? hours)... good idea to try to find a school that will give you weekends off for ielts... The training is free, but you need to get to beijing at your own expense
Maybe a uni job would make it easier to get weekends off. Less pay than a private training school, but allows you to cash in with ielts and ultimately make more (with less effort)
Had no idea that yangzhou had so few foreigners, but at least you can get everywhere easily. I face a 4 hour flight to beijing... 3 Just to get to xian
Sounds fascinating. What does the other half do while your teaching? Must be hard just you two out there in that environment. Shame I have no teaching qualifications or I would look into doing something like this myself.
She teaches as well, we are both at the same school. I also have 3/4 good friends who we hang around with a lot, Chinese people are also pretty friendly and our students literally fall over themselves to hang out with outside of school time as it's pretty much a free lesson for them.
If I'm honest, the TEFL course I did was a piece of piss.
As for the IELTS stuff, I wanted to start off by just teaching IELTS classes at my school - I teach at a chain called Global IELTS, after all - and the move onto the examination stuff.
I certainly want a much lighter work load for my next gig, weekends off would be amazing, as you say they are by far the busiest time of the week. Although having my days off during the week does have its advantages, as when I go and do stuff the city is a lot less busy as most people are at work.
Interesting stuff Stu, I used to live in Singapore and considered doing something similar but onced the wife decided that we were only going to stay out there for 18 months decided not to bother (a fair bit of red tape also put me off)....good pictures too that you posted.
Comments
I like em both in different ways
I think living way the hell out amongst deserts and mountains in a city of 3 million with only 200 ex-pats makes me appreciate western trappings when i find em out here
Never been to Qingdao, but do enjoy a Tsingtao from time to time
glad to hear you are going for a second year, mate... nice pics
Do you know about the IELTS examining gig? 350 quid a weekend (but i know weekends will currently be your busiest time). you can do 2-3 weekends a month in Qingdao.
I'm looking for work now for when I move in September and this is something I'm asking the schools about as it's something I would really like to do.
Yangzhou is about 5million I believe and certainly less than 200 ex-pats. I'm very, very bored of this place now, it's a nice hub for travelling but for doing stuff whilst living here it kinda sucks, it's the choice of go to a club, be the token white people and get free alcohol, or go to a KTV, which I hate with a passion (probably because I have a girlfriend I won't cheat on, unlike most Chinese men)
But I try not to judge them too harshly. Intense parental pressure to get married soon after leaving uni/at a young age means a whole load of people are shoe horned into unwise/unsuitable partnerships.
certainly different set of standards from the west
I always find it pretty ironic when locals try to tell me that it is westerners are the "open" ones who cheat on each other!
anyway... Ielts... Need 2 years post certification experience (and your tefl will need to have included teaching practice of 5? hours)... good idea to try to find a school that will give you weekends off for ielts... The training is free, but you need to get to beijing at your own expense
Maybe a uni job would make it easier to get weekends off. Less pay than a private training school, but allows you to cash in with ielts and ultimately make more (with less effort)
Had no idea that yangzhou had so few foreigners, but at least you can get everywhere easily. I face a 4 hour flight to beijing... 3 Just to get to xian
puts an away game in carlisle into perspective!
If I'm honest, the TEFL course I did was a piece of piss.
As for the IELTS stuff, I wanted to start off by just teaching IELTS classes at my school - I teach at a chain called Global IELTS, after all - and the move onto the examination stuff.
I certainly want a much lighter work load for my next gig, weekends off would be amazing, as you say they are by far the busiest time of the week. Although having my days off during the week does have its advantages, as when I go and do stuff the city is a lot less busy as most people are at work.
I can sometimes get a real nice loaf of homemade bread from the owner of the only western bar in town. Its 20RMB a pop though, so not exactly cheap.