BUUUUUUUMP!
So I'm still in Zhejiang. I decided to renew my contract for another year. It was mostly a better-the-devil-you-know decision. Also it's much easier just to renew your contract as all the paperwork was done before I left China for the Summer.
Some people were asking for photos of Zhejiang. I've started a YouTube Channel so here's some moving photos. I've only got one video so far but I plan on adding a load more. I mainly want to cover what it's REALLY like teaching in China.
Please vote me up, comment, subscribe etc. etc. - TEFL is a brutally tough niche to get rankings for these days so I need all the help I can get!
What's going on in my life?
- I still like teaching. It's a lot of fun even if I got lumbered with the boring accountancy majors this term. I just got a TEFL originally because it was a good way to work overseas, but I could now see it turning into a long term career thing.
- A fun new teacher joined our school from Korea. I love MBTI and he is as "P" as it gets. Well he managed to plan his lessons but realised he hated teaching and has now found a non-teaching expat job in China. Seeya! Well I'm disappointed because he was a good wingman in as much as showing me stuff like bars and didi and taobao and "stealing" ofo bicycles - none of which I figured out on my own.
- Zhejiang is still soulless. I had a bit of dating activity but to be honest I just don't want an East Asian woman in my life. Many years ago I took my Cantonese girl to Shanghai. We both felt out of place. I think I just feel more at home in Guangdong.
- I might relocate to Southern China or Korea after this. I've found some jobs to apply for but can't do anything until after New Year.
- I taught an IT course! So now I know what it would be like to teach something other than English. Teaching IT was great. However it took a long time to plan the lessons and a long time to mark all the classwork. Well it's something good for the resume.
- I'm still stacking cash. I've done 3 wire transfers home this month. Thanks to stacking high yielding investments I make more from passive income each month than I do from my teaching job.
- I've been playing around with embedded systems. I have a great idea for a gadget. If I move to near Shenzhen I'll try and get it made.
- Although Zhejiang is soulless, it's not all bad. Now I can order stuff on TaoBao I have better heating in my room. I even have a bath! Also I brought lots of herbs and spices from home so this year I can cook stuff with more than the single type of curry powder you can buy in China.
- Strangely, I've had less food poisoning here than I had in London. London was terrible - I used to get the sh1ts at least once a month from dodgy sandwich bars. Aside from the air, Zhejiang is pretty clean. And the air isn't always bad as it's pretty windy here so it blows away most of the time.
- One more highlight - I appeared on Chinese TV. I'll try and post the clip when I've edited it out of the show.
I did have an interview for a job in Thailand but turned it down. The boss was Western guy (usually a bad sign) and the salary was low (no free apartment either).
I've met a lot more expats here. It's possible to do really well here - big fish in small pond and all that. But it does require a lot of going out and knocking on doors.
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