Young Family Moving to China to Teach English

[PopaJay]

First off, hello everyone. This is my first post on chinese-forums, but I've been reading and making good use of all the advice on here for a long time, so thanks!

My wife and I are planning to move our young family (we're in our mid-twenties, our two boys are 3 and less than one) to China to teach English next year. The first question we had to ask ourselves was 'is it really feasible and/or sane to uproot a stable, solvent life in provincial England, transport small children to the other side of the world and risk infamy, bankruptcy and shame just in order to get away from a boring life in a place we don't like?' Well... the answer's yes.

Next we need some specific advice on the details:

Jobs:

Will we find jobs that suit our needs?

Both of us have degrees, me an (albeit Scottish) MA. We both have at least a year's experience teaching English to a range of ages in China, though this was age 19 on Gap year placements. My wife has CELTA and, if I can find a decent-looking one, I will have done an online TEFL course.

Our needs: we would need two posts at the same institution, a two-bed apartment, and an employer not scared off by the unusualness of our baggage.

How much would we expect to earn?

Realistically, what would we be offered? We're not money-grabbers, we want to make a serious go of the teaching aspect and we live a pretty lean lifestyle, but it's an important early consideration.

Do universities recruit for the term starting after Spring Festival?

Children:

What are our childcare options?

Considering the wages, will an Ayi or local kindergarten be affordable for the time we are both teaching? Would they be flexible enough to fit around a (presumably) sometimes unpredictable teaching schedule? Would they be reliable and safe?

Would insurance be astronomical for a family abroad for so long?

Location:

Where should we go?!

We have spent time in a number of different regions in China, and different sizes of towns too, but without children. For me, trying to transpose the two worlds of China and child-rearing onto one another is like grabbing at jellyfish. Part of me wants to go to a third-tier town no one's ever heard of, far away from laowai and Starbucks and vast, faceless city centres. But the other part knows the children's wellbeing comes way ahead of anything else and can't risk a medical problem exacerbated by isolation from decent hospitals. (And I guess we might want a bit of laowai company sometimes too).

Perhaps more importantly,

would we have a choice?

Back to jobs, but how picky could we be? We wouldn't choose to go to Beijing or Shanghai, but would we find posts in the Nanjings or Hangzhous?

...

This may seem like the Spanish Inquisition, but it's a very pared down list of questions, I promise! Advice from anyone with experience or tips on any of the above would be incredibly welcome.

Thank you!

[kdavid]

You've asked a lot of questions that can be easily answered once you start doing some research and applying to jobs on your own. You should start applying for jobs now, or at least seeing what's available. As more information on that front becomes available, you'll start to have what you need to make a decision.

On the job-related front, as you both have degrees, experience, and ESL-specific teaching qualifications, you shouldn't find it too difficult to land a decent paying job. Income, benefits, etc. will all depend the location and type of institution. For example, schools in bigger cities pay more, but this is off-set by the cost of living. Also, private schools pay more, but require more hours.

Regarding your family, this is a personal call. As a father (my son will be 2 in August), I find China a less-than-ideal location to raise a child. Where I am, there are a shortage of clean areas and parks to play, doctors unnecessarily require IVs for even the smallest colds, which can make visiting the hospital with a young child very uncomfortable, and, amongst other reasons, your children will be stared at, prodded, and never viewed as 100% human since they're not Chinese.

An issue I have yet had to deal with, though, is the lack of playmates, and that's because (not all) 2-year-old Chinese children are in school preparing for university. I imagine that as my son gets older, granted we're still here, he'll likely have fewer opportunities to interact with others his age as I'm sure as hell not sending him to a Chinese school. Since you children are coming with a sibling, and you may not plan on staying here in China long, this may not be an issue for you.

With that said, there have been children as young as 2 - 3 who have refused, out of both fear and hatred, to play with my son because he is a foreigner--even though he's actually half Chinese, but just doesn't look it. As a father, this breaks my heart every time I hear it. As a human being, it infuriates me that children so young have already learned to reject others based purely on race. These latter two points are perhaps my biggest gripes with raising children in China.

Moving along, childcare is easy to come by, either by hiring a baomu or by putting them in daycare, though the quality, at best, would be average. In general, you can be confident your children won't be lost or starve to death, but that's about it. Depending on your location, you're likely to have little to no options for English-speaking childcare/daycare. Big cities will certainly have many options, but as they mostly cater to children of expats making western salaries, they're likely to be expensive.

If you two are just looking for another year abroad, can find a position requiring only minimal hours, and can work out a schedule where one or both of you can watch over the children on your own, I'd say go for it. However, if you're looking at relocating on a semi-permanent basis, and want high-paying jobs which will require a good deal of your time, I suggest you reconsider.

[PanShiBo]

'is it really feasible and/or sane to uproot a stable, solvent life in provincial England, transport small children to the other side of the world and risk infamy, bankruptcy and shame just in order to get away from a boring life in a place we don't like

No. China is very good only for certain things like seeing the places, meeting people and basically for having fun. Other than that think twice what's the point. Working in China especially makes no sense to me: your are trading for pennies your own time, which is valuable and non-recoverable limited and ever decreasing asset: your life. Why not earn (10x more for every hour) and save money back home and go travel later? You can even break free from work for a few years in between and just travel? Making money in China just is not right thing to do.

[roddy]

Because a year working abroad with children is feasible, while a year traveling abroad with children would be a living nightmare. Is my guess.

[PanShiBo]

a year working abroad with children is feasible, while a year traveling abroad with children would be a living nightmare. Is my guess.

Let's have no illusions: a year working abroad (especially in China) with children would be a living nightmare too.

[roddy]

For the OP,

I think there are enough universities in China that you could find one to take you. Paywise, I think university jobs run around 4,000RMB a month at the moment. For childcare, I wouldn't rely on the university to organize anything - ideally I think you want to try and have staggered teaching hours so that you take it in turns, and if necessary sort out extra cover yourselves. There'll probably be a university kindergarten for children of staff that you could put the older kid in if you're happy with that. Universities do recruit for the post-Spring Festival semester. Bear in mind this puts you in China over the long summer holiday - check what arrangements are for accommodation and pay for that, and think about what you might do.

Insurance - I have no idea, but I can imagine this might be a stumbling block.

As for where, I'd think about a decent second-tier city. Dalian, Qingdao, Chengdu, Kunming maybe.

I think what you need to do at this point is get in touch with as wide a range of universities as possible, explain the situation, and see what response you get. Be sceptical about any promises - 'We can arrange expert childcare' may well turn out to be 'we can give you one of the less competent cleaners'.

[imron]

and risk infamy, bankruptcy and shame just in order to get away from a boring life in a place we don't like

The fact that you're asking this question suggests that the answer will be yes. Whatever else, a year in China will be an experience to remember (for better or worse ).

Edited July 17, 2011 at 09:17 AM by imron
wrong quote

[jbradfor]

Let's have no illusions: a year working abroad (especially in China) with children would be a living nightmare too.

I think you don't know what you are talking about.

I personally know more than one family that moved to Beijing for 1-2 years, and their family loved it. Said it was one of the best experiences in their lives.

It is true that their situation was different than the OP's: they were on an IA, so their company paid for their children to go to an International School, and they were making a pretty decent salary, so they could live quite well. And certainly, at first, there were many issues. And I'm not saying every family that goes has a good experience.

But a blanket statement like that is just simply not true.

[HedgePig]

Popajay, I can't help with many of your questions but can tell you our experiences.

We moved to China with our children when they were one-and-half and four years old and while we occasionally doubt our sanity (not necessarily because of the move) , overall it's been a worthwhile experience. We've been here more than 5 years now.. Our children are also mixed and so are regarded as foreign but I don't think this has ever been a problem. Although it does result in them getting more attention, this has never been hostile and is usually genuinely curious, if sometimes a bit intrusive. Our kids do both speak Mandarin which has certainly helped. They also have attended local kindergartens and are both now at a local primary school. While we definitely have issues with some aspects of the local education system (very rigid, lots of rote learning) it's certainly not all bad. We did send our younger one to the internationsal stream of a very highly rated local kindergarten (partly to improve her English!) and were very disappointed with it, particularly considering the high price which was, quite frankly, extortionate for what was provided.

My feeling is that with young kids and both of you working you will want a good full-time ayi. I haven't heard too many horror stories but finding a really good ayi doesn't seem to be easy. It could also take a fair chunk of your earnings, if you're considering a RMB4000/month university job.

On medical insurance, I do think it's something worth considering very seriously, at least to cover the remote event that something major happens. This is not going to be cheap. Although there are some excellent doctors, the average standard of medicine in China is not very high.

[PopaJay]

Thanks everyone, all opinions are useful!

I didn't mention above that I've been studying Chinese for quite a while so I can get by with the language and having the boys learn too is all part of the appeal, so lack/unaffordablility of English-language nurseries and international schools isn't a problem.

kdavid, you've given a heap of valuable advice, thank you. Your last para is particularly encouraging: "high-paying jobs which will require a good deal of your time" is exactly what we're not after, so perhaps we're on the right track!

PanShiBo,I couldn't agree more:

your are trading for pennies your own time, which is valuable and non-recoverable limited and ever decreasing asset: your life.

...and that's exactly why I won't spend the rest of my life earning as much as I can, hardly ever seeing my children and "balancing" it all against increasingly infrequent (and stressful and overpriced) vacations. Thanks anyway, and good luck with the career.

On the money question, I know it's not everyone's choice, but we are definitely not looking for a quick buck (not quite that naive!); we'll be happy if we can earn enough to pay for a simple, pared down lifestyle and what childcare we need without having to dip into savings just to support ourselves. We are also definitely not looking to go out there and recreate a Western lifestyle with all luxuries and mod cons (adequate healthcare excepted).

roddy, (I love the tagline btw, takes me right back to happy hours in the Chinese stationery aisles!) I hadn't thought about the summer vacation, we'll definitely find something to do, but I'm sure you're right that it'll need thinking about and clarifying with the university.

HedgePig, as with you, education is (obviously) a major concern. For now, we're not planning to stay for the long-term, and will be relying on a combination of home schooling and a local setup (for Chinese language, at least).

Thanks to everyone else