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By now I'm sure some of you are wondering what I'm doing next year. It's a reasonable question. By this time last year I knew I was returning to Shenzhen and CTLC for another year and I'd written all about it. So as you may have guessed, I'm doing something different.
Yes, I'm staying in China. I'm still happy here. I'm still loving the work and the country. And I have no desire to attempt to find anything in the US just yet. Not in this economy, anyway. Been there, done that, got the t-shirt... which is sitting in my parents' garage, a navy blue reminder of my misery in banking.
By November of 2009 I already knew that my time in Shenzhen was limited. There are some things you just know. I'm pretty sure my illness in November (that flu-like sickness that lasted a week) was caused by stress and depression. Upon realizing that I wanted to leave and that I could leave, I felt better. It's not my school or the program, I just really needed a change. I needed to get out of Shenzhen and I needed to stop teaching middle school students. Some days I feel like I'm more of an entertainer than teacher. Many foreign teachers will joke about this, because, in truth, that's what we do. Some teachers I know entertain more and are show ponies on top of it. I've been lucky.
I started thinking about how I came to love teaching when I was in the US. I taught adults, mostly. They
wanted to be there and learn. They got excited when they understood things. They were willing to try and willing to make mistakes.
I then emailed a few former CTLC friends I was still in contact with, knowing they were still in China. I asked then about their new experiences, asked how it was comparing to life in SZ, and if they were happy with the decision. The responses were nearly unanimous: the work they were doing now was much more satisfying and they were happy they'd moved on to a non-CTLC job and left Shenzhen. They also all agreed that CTLC was great for getting started, but overall were happier now. Granted, I'm sure even higher pay and full apartments and different cities were a huge part of that. But the part that stuck in my head the most was that the jobs were more rewarding. Teaching middle and high school students one doesn't usually see any progress or receive gratitude. And no matter who you are, you can only give so much.
I started to remember my dreams. You know, those things you wish for but think will never happen. Because, really, in most cases there's no way they can happen. That's why they're dreams. But remembering your dreams keeps you on track to being happy and achieving what you want in life.
When I was in university I was a teaching assistant. I spent a lot of time in the teacher's office, talking with him and other professors. I learned a lot. I envied his ability to keep learning and studying and trying new things and get paid for it. How great would that be? The idea of being a professor--reading all those books, reaching out to the best and the brightest--really appealed to me. But the likelihood that I would ever get a PhD seemed really small at the time. I wished I could just jump over that important requirement and get to the fun stuff.
Or could I?
So I started to think about where I wanted this glorious job to be and what I wanted to do. I decided I wanted to teach at a university or college. Then I'd have older students with better vocabularies who wouldn't beg for games each class. Instead of a few top students, I'd have a whole class of them. I like dreaming.
So after some reading in a book I purchased on a whim before moving here in 2008 (all about expat life in different Chinese cities) I started looking online. I bought another book in Hong Kong about living in China to prepare me for anything. I still haven't read it.
Then I went to Hangzhou. I fell in love. Now you know why I would venture to a colder climate in January. I spent some time sightseeing, and I spent a lot of time looking at schools, attending a Chinese language class at a company, talking to teachers at some of the schools, and making friends with people in the city. You call it going to the bar, I call it networking. By the time I'd left I was convinced Hangzhou was the city for me.
I started the job hunt immediately after I got back from SE Asia. Really, truly, within the week. I knew I had to get a start on it. I read postings, sifted through all the companies and recruiters, turned down numerous offers to work in high schools with "top students" and yes, I'm sure I won't reconsider. I kept applying, making a list to make sure I didn't apply to the same place twice. Some schools replied but most didn't. I started submitting resumes and letters all over, not just in Hangzhou. Better to be employed in the middle of nowhere than unemployed and living in my parents' garage. I applied to 33 schools and heard back from less than 25%! (MISSING) I submitted lesson plans, had interviews, got letters of recommendation, had Anthony and Iris talk to schools about me, had more interviews. By late April I'd figured out that they weren't really replying to anyone. Most likely they were waiting until after the Labor Day holiday to do anything.
Then, suddenly, it was May. Where did the time go? And suddenly, job offers. 4 of them in 3 days. Some of the schools hadn't even talked to me on the phone or talked to Anthony or Iris. None of the offers were from my top choice (yes, in Hangzhou), but one was from my second choice.
My second choice was a college I'd clicked on on a whim. It wasn't in a city I wanted to live in. It wasn't even in a cooler climate. It didn't necessarily have an overall lower cost of living. It's in Guangzhou, the capital of the province, one hour away by train from here. But the school is outside the city and their website says to do one's shopping at the little town down the road. How quaint. I could actually practice my Chinese! I would still be close to Hong Kong, should I want to have a weekend away or need to fly somewhere internationally. It's still close enough to Shenzhen that I could see my friends who are staying if I wanted to. Hmmmm. Wait, free Chinese classes? Better pay? (Every job I'd looked at was a pay cut from what I currently make.) It wasn't hard to convince myself to apply.
So when I got the email over the break with a job offer (with my higher salary listed) I nearly fell off my chair and then jumped for joy. I still haven't heard back from my original top choice. But that's okay since they're obviously no longer number one!
So, to be sure it wasn't too good to be true, I googled the school. One school I had almost accepted an offer from actually had negative feedback about it on a major ESL job search forum website. No negative hits for this place! But I did find two blogs that mentioned the school. So, I contacted the writers. One wrote back almost immediately and told me how she's been in China 6 years and the school is the best place she's ever worked and that she's already signed on for another year, as have many of the other foreign teachers. She and I have been emailing back and forth for a few days now and everything she tells me just convinces me more and more that I'm making the right decision. The other blogger wrote me back yesterday and said his friend (who he'd been visiting at the school) had a positive experience and was still there! It just doesn't get any better than that!
So I contacted the school about visiting. It's close enough that I have no reason not to. So now I'm being put up in an apartment for the night and they've arranged for me to have my own tour guide. I'll sign my contract and get the paperwork started for next year. And then I'll go enjoy dinner with new friends, as the woman I've been emailing with has invited me to join her and another teacher and a top student for dinner!
It's going to be a very exciting weekend.
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ElyseandPete
Wanderlusting Winter
Congrats
Kris I am so happy for you and feel your pain of applying, applying, applying and hearing nothing back. We are still waiting for that dream job but hopefully in the next 5 weeks something will happen. If not life will go on.