Teaching English/Working in China Part 1:
Another series that will probably run for a long time, and no matter how many times I repeat myself or scream myself hoarse, clueless people continue to show up all the time.
There was a discussion about this at OE, and this was my response to a young Canadian guy who just got off animation school and getting bored with his office life. He wants adventure, fun, romance, and a dream life! This was his original question, (I’ll not print the discussion in full, because it requires too many permissions, but I’ll give the link below):
I could really use some career advice here. I just finished 4 years of animation school and while it is only my 1st year working as a proefessional animator I’m only pulling in about 43K a year. . and this is in Canada were at least 20% of it goes to income and sales taxes. Also I am working long hours and don’t get much in way of human interactions. (And everone I talk to thinks I have the coolest job haha!)
Mekhong. . your situation in Macau sounds like a dream job to me! I’d love to live in parts of China or Taiwan and teach at a university level. . and your tax free salary and benefits are great, considering the lower cost of living in China (as long as you can avoid those casinos in Macau!)
This was my response(mekhong is another semi regular at OE):
ROFL. Me and Jack here can probably write a novel on why not to come to China with that idea. I have been home for a month and the fresh air, drinkable water, hot baths, clean public places, and healthy/clean food make it seem like paradise.
You just got out of school, so you are probably much BETTER off working in the local area or go to the west coast like Cali or Vancouver for the animation scene.
Don’t expect to be the fab 5 life style here. It requires a lot of currency just to stay at the current life styles that some of the average North American families live. China is still dirt poor. Some farmers make $200 US a Year. The leather jacket I bought last year on 50% discount is still worth much more than that.
It’s ALL about WHO you know in China. You’ll be surprised the amount of doors opened when I was working in Hangzhou for a while and told people who my boss were. Party secretary. If you know anything about China, you will realize the amount of power that holds, and I didn’t. It was the most enlightening experience.
As for your salary, expect the monthly salary range around 3-6000RMB, which is 400-800 US a month. My life style in Beijing is as spartan as I can get, and I was spending 5000RMB a month. Then again, I do live in Beijing, and I haven’t started counting rent. I do teaching for fun since it’s nice to have someone look up to you, but it’s VERY hard to make it a good living unless you live outside of the 4 major cities and the living costs are MUCH cheaper. I have my business and teaching is good for me to practice my presentation skills.
As for animation, don’t expect to get hired in China, unless it’s for publicity reasons. If that’s the case, expect to be paraded around town like a side show.
I tell this to all the people who are seriously considering here, Don’t expect China to be the golden land that will solve all your problems. Tibet is suppose to be the Shangri-La, and look what Chinese did to it.
And if you want some real advice? Go see a good Career consulor. Sit down, talk with him or her on what you really want to do. I am Canadian too. I see a lot of people like you in China. Most of them come back after 3-6 months. Life is VERY different around here.
As for the teachers that really makes money? Those Montessori guys/gals. They make US dollars and British pounds. That’s the real money there. Make foreign dollars and spend RMB. RMB is useless anywhere else anyway.
As an animator, I am sure you are aware of the amount of work that is farmed out to China. Guess why? Cheaper. Can you, without any social or financial support live with their wages while learning the language?
Sorry for the cold shower, but having high expectations of China is like the AT&T. They spent millions courting the Chinese and in the end the Chinese never bought a single switch. And never be the old Macdonald-Douglas. In the end, all they got was bankruptcy.
Jacks’ Response:
Most of the young foreigners here in Lanzhou stay for quite some time just for the lifestyle. The pay is good considering one generally works less than twenty hours a week and the nightlife can be rather entertaining.
As for starting a business here. My experience is that you need to know someone. I’d go with that recommendation of getting a teaching job first, woo the locals with your charm, make some good contacts and then you can get stuff done. I have a friend from Canada who’s in the oil business. It’s fair to say that he’s loaded and while everyone wants a piece of that it’s also not been easy for him to get his business off the ground because it’s all who you know here.
If you want to teach, stay away from the universities. They’ll suck up your time and the pay isn’t great. Find a small school, Dave’s Esl Cafe is an excellent choice to look, and make sure they provide you with housing and what-not. Then, take it upon yourself to make contacts. Spend time hanging out where the local business guys hang out. If you’re not just another amusing monkey for them then they’ll take you seriously and provide you with more work.
I know we sounded cynical and jaded, but we have been here for a long time, and we have seen too many people fail, scammed, ruined and being made fool of.
Working in China is a big commitment, ESPECIALLY Teaching. There are a lot of cultural strings attached to this job that isn’t well understood in the west. Confucius was considered to be the grand role model for teachers. There are a lot of cultural expectations for this job that is just not there for western societies. Real teachers will love it here. The students here are smart, hard working, respectful, and don’t really talk back. But given the same mindset, you as a teacher are expected to be their legal guardian of sorts. You are the consular, boss, manager, priest and parent all rolled into one. It’s a very tough job, and the parents/adult students can be very demanding.
And never, I repeat, never misunderstand the respect as adoration or love. Going out with your students is a very bad idea. Only 2 types go out with their “English” students. Arseholes and idiots. If you are an idiot, may Deity/Deities have mercy on your soul. If you are of the first type, expect to be lynch mobbed and tarred and feathered. Public opinions can move very fast in China, and should the government get involved, don’t expect anybody to save you. Remember, you WILL be caught. There is 1.3 billion people here, and someone will see you. Doing stuff like this also makes life very uncomfortable for the hard working expats trying to live a respectful life here.
Should you help to turn negative opinion/spot light on our expat community, don’t expect help from us. We will help them find you!
P.S: The exchange rate has changed, so the salary is less now.
