This title is a question I get asked often, usually followed by one of these statements: "Of all the places in the world....China?" "What about Trump?" "Aren't you scared! You are so brave!!" Brave? LOL I'm not going off to combat in the front lines of war. I'm going to teach English to children!
Back to the question at hand, why China? Since graduating college with my degree in social work, I have spent almost 3 years working in nursing homes. While I loved my patients dearly, and even cried when they passed as if they were my family, I was ultimately miserable. People verbally/emotionally abuse social workers and get away with it. It's a stressful and thankless job. My hard jobs made me a lot less patient and easily irritable. I desperately wanted a change. My whole life when people ask me what I want to do, I always answered "I want to travel the world and make money." Well, my real dream is living on a remote island, naked, drinking from a coconut but...apparently that's not realistic.
My first trip that I paid for, and that didn't involve a family member, was Los Angeles in August 2018. It really set off something for me. I needed more than one trip a year. I first learned about being a TEFL teacher abroad through a friend of mine. She taught in Tianjin, China for two years. Despite some ups and downs, she spoke highly of her experience. She is now back in the States, but is considering moving back to China again in 2020. Talking with her sent me into a frenzy of endless YouTube, Google, and Instagram searches. South Korea was the country I first strongly considered. South Korea, like China, pays ESL teachers decently and has an affordable cost of living. However, I came across several articles about Shanghai, and I immediately fell in love with the modern mega-city.
Cue the job search. November 2018 I got my TEFL (Teaching English as a Foreign Language certificate) and I started looking for jobs (I will go into detail about the TEFL certificate, requirements, job search, different types of schools etc. in a later post). The job search was frustrating at times as people would often quit emailing back, or they wanted you to pay for everything upfront like you're Daddy Warbucks. Initially, I wanted to teach in a public school because they offer a great life/work balance and usually provide housing. However, teaching 30-80 students in one class as a first time teacher just wasn't it. In March 2019, I signed a contract with First Leap China to teach in Nanjing. Before signing (and after), I contacted a lot of teachers who work for them, and all of them were really happy with their job. First Leap assists with the visa process (which is also another blog post because my god is it an irritating process), pay for flights to China, help set up phones, help you get a bank account, provide two weeks of training, pays you a rent stipend, and much more. All of that initial support is necessary for a foreigner. Not gonna lie, I was disappointed that Shanghai didn't work out for me, but it's still exciting no less and Nanjing is only 1.5-2hr metro ride to Shanghai.
China will definitely be a major adjustment. However, the chance to grow as a person, the cost of living, and access to neighboring countries for travel was too good to pass up on. Imagine taking a quick weekend trip to Thailand. China is a massive country with beaches, mountains, desert, jungle, and chic metropolises. I already have a travel list a mile long. When you hear
China, you probably think of packed streets, which do exist, but China has so much more to offer (see pics of some things I look forward to seeing/doing) and I can't wait to experience it all. *I don't own any of these images*
Thank you for reading my first post, and I can't wait to take you guys with me.