I honestly have no idea how I ended up in China.
The end.
I was half a hair away from hanging up the mitts with teaching overseas. The Korean Ministry of Education had been hemming and hawing about changing laws surrounding what grades should be allowed in public after school programs. In classic, passive-aggressive Korean form, they made the stink, but couldn’t pull the trigger.
That is, until I STARTED TEACHING AN AFTER SCHOOL PROGRAM!
For years the talk was to prohibit G1 and G2 students from being enrolled in the programs because they were too young for the extra workload.
Which I completely understand. After 8 hours of regular school, 6 hours of piano lessons, 4 of math, and judo class, they had to draw the line somewhere.
So my precious after school program was pulled out right from underneath me. All that struggling trying to get the F-4 visa so I could get this type of job was in vain.
I think Lloyd Christmas said it best when he yelled, “That’s it! I’ve had it with this dump!”
However, out of peripheral was this other interview process I had earlier with a school in Dongguan, China.
The pay was ridiculous even though the location was too.
But in classic, greedy Korean-American form I jumped on it. And the school allowed me to get on board early. (My after school program ended before my one-year contract did).
I wasn’t psyched about China. But it’s funny, after you save in 3 months what took a year of frugal living in Korea, the day seems brighter.
Not to mention the expenses. I get 3 square on the house each work day. Food bill – gone.
My rent is the killer. I live in a brand-spankin’ new apartment.
Huawei-built, Huawei employee-owned, and a toilet that has never been sat on. Fully furnished. 2 bedrooms. Marble floors.
$300/month.
That’s insane! How did you make something like that happen? Do you have a teaching cert from the states to get the job or is it all from leveraging your experience in Korea?
Sorry, I just saw that you have a teacher cert in Florida using TeacherReady. I have been eyeing getting certified and doing Celta for years now but it seems like teacherready is a quick cheap process to get state certified. Have you taught in the states at all before teaching overseas?
The only person I ever listened to regarding teaching overseas was Ben from benteachesenglishoverseas, but I can say that I have recently become a fan of you. Hope you keep making youtube videos even though you’re busier now! They help alot of people and are more practical than the wide-eyed millennial hipster vids that focus on the novelty of travel over the passion of teaching and making it a lucrative career.
Thanks so much. The TeacherReady program takes about 1 year to complete and then you just need to study for the 2 state exams. I had to fly home to take those. I didn’t teach back home at all. I worked in IT. I just took off one day and then worked on getting certifications and my license to give me more options. As with anything else, it’s a combination between being ready and a bit of luck.