Packing your luggage for China, four key things to remember

Daily Life, Teaching English in China, Trips Abroad

Cramming your entire life into a 23 kg suitcase and small carry on can be a frightening and stressful ordeal. But there are ways in which you can make this task much less daunting. Here are a few  tips for how to pack as much as necessary and as little as possible. Avoid heavy textbooks  Textbooks are made of paper and are heavy, you won’t ever be able to carry enough to give to all of your students and the schools will have textbooks of their own. Do your back a favor and try to drastically limit the number of…

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Chinese school children with masks

5 reasons why TEFLing is a great gapyear experience

Teaching English in China Leave a comment

Year upon year thousands of brave souls from recent graduates to mature businessmen take it upon themselves to stop what they are doing and fly out to a foreign land to teach English. Lets shine some light onto why this prospect is such a great idea. Its good money Teaching English as a second language is a lucrative business in many rising nations, particularly China. Teaching your native tongue as a profession is seen by many as a fun, rewarding way to earn serious money. For example, many new western TEFL teachers in China earn in excess of 3 times the average…

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Chinese menu in South West China

Culture shock and how to handle it

Teaching English in China Leave a comment

When travelling half the way around the world to begin a new adventure in a culture so different from your own then it is probably no wonder why many new TEFL teachers suffer from a hefty initial dose of culture shock. Here’s a look at some of the stages of culture shock and how to handle them. 1) The honeymoon phase  Firstly comes the honeymoon phase. On moving to a new culture, you will tend to look at your new environment through rose tinted lenses, seeing the good points of all difference you encounter . This will almost certainly start…

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picture of passengers preparing to fly to china

How to get the best flight ticket price for China

Daily Life Leave a comment

Almost all teaching positions in China include a one off lump sum intended to contribute towards the cost of flying to and from your school in China. As you are given a lump sum, it is all the more in your interest to get the best deal possible when booking a flight out. Here are a few tips. Book at least 53 days in advance Recent research by a large comparison site Momondo found that on average booking 53 days in advance or earlier gives you a 29% saving compared to booking on the day of departure.This highlights the importance of getting…

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