Hi CaliRay,  You are an inspiration to me!  I'm in my early sixties and did the online TEFL course 60hrs almost two years ago.  I went and taught a bit in India where I help in an orphanage, but quicly realised that I needed a little more training, never having stood in front of a class before.  So now I'm going to sign up for a weekend course where I live.  Hope to go back inn 2012.  Anyway just wanted to say hi and hope that you are well again.

Regards

Hi Ray, thought you may be interested in joining the "mature-aged TEFLers" group. How are you going with courses & the job searching. I am hoping to get something short-term in China early next year, however not sure of the opportunites for those 50+ ?  regards

Interesting name that...slinkysurf.  If it's not to risque, what's the origin of that?  If it is risque, more the better, but make it a PM. :-)

Well Marian, I'm 67 and this could the biggest stumbling block for me.  Although I don't have a degree either, I think that's easier to overcome, at least in many countries.  i can't start the TEFL here until next February and the online stuff may not be up to standards for a high value certification.  I'm looking into that now.

Good luck with your plans.  Hope it works for you.

Hi

Sounds good - I have sent a message to Robert as I'm very interested in this......

CaliRay - hope life is treating you well.

Marian

Robert,

From reviewing job offers and requirements as well as reading some comments from teachers, I see there is a wide range of pay and benefits in China.  Certainly your new gig sounds better than the previous one.  I suppose things like location also play a big part.

8000/month seems like decent pay for the time required.  For me, while pay is important, other aspects of teaching and the job requirements in particular would be equally important.

Thanks for the dialogue.  It's helpful to talk to someone who is walking the walk.

I am contracted but there you can break the contract at anytime. I decided to change jobs so soon because the hours and pay at EF were crazy. Example was last week; I taught 35hrs in 6 days and up to now have not had a break for 10 days...I will have been in the school for over 110hrs over this many days. All for 6000 per month. Not that great, wouldn't you agree?

The new school is strictly 9-5pm monday to friday with the odd saturday marketing / demo class thrown in like every 2 months. classes only in the morning and all for 8000 per month.

When you are ready for a move please look me up, I am sure we will have vacancies around then!

Hi Robert,

Thanks for the info.  Your last blog post raises some questions.  If you've been in China for only a few months, how did you manage to change jobs so quickly?  Didn't you have a contract to teach with EF for a period of time?

As for teaching small children, that would be interesting, but I'm probably a year away, maybe slightly more, from being prepared to make a move to China.

Hi,

Are you looking to work in China?

Do you want to work with Kindergarten children?

Do you want a good Salary?

Do you want weekends off and two ½ days?

If you do, please contact me today. Our kindergarten needs teachers for the new semester starting September. We also have vacancies in our training centers. We are based in GuangZhou, Dongguan, and Foshan all in Guangdong Province, China.

Our school is called CIEO (Canadian International Education Organization)

If you want more details then please get in touch, If you know someone who might be interested then please forward this to them.

If you can’t start September don’t worry, you can still apply as we need teachers throughout the year!

All the best,

Robert

True, but there has to be the balance in all life....so thats why we have the bad too. It's all relevant ....I'm still getting my head around the fact that one can put a piece of paper in a machine in London and it comes out of another in the middle of the Indian Ocean somewhere.....how amazing is technology!

I'm just glad I am able to use a pc and enjoy making friends all over the world, just wish my mother had learned because her world would have been so much more interesting for her. But like so many her age, she was afraid of it. I'm still pretty useless but at least I try.....hahahaha

The technology that interests me the most is the ever expanding applications on the Internet.  It's an amazing collection of software with the potential for becoming the greatest human uniting force ever to be invented.  Our conversation here is just one example.

But, then it, like so many other technological advances has the potential to be used as a disinformation source and cause great harm.  I dream of a day when some Internet god filters what is on the Internet in a way that identifies what is good from bad. ????

If that ever really happened we would all be trapped in a hellish existence where all thought is dominated by a single vision.