Dear beloved members,

I'm currently employed in an IB school in China and after 2 years will be moving forward elsewhere. My question is to those out there who have started a family whilst living abroad? I'm tempted to take a career break for a year to start the family, as I assumed schools would rather you did this than take maternity leave/leave of absence for a certain amount of time.

Those with experience, share your stories!

steve416 wrote:
> @hairylemons: If you don't mind me asking where in China are you?

Hey Steve, we're located in North East China.

I had the same situation this year. I moved to China, left my boyfriend behind. Then we decided he'd move over and see how he liked it. I never mentioned it to the school {they pay for the apartment} and just told them he was coming for a visit. 9 months later he's still here! the school never said a word, have been great and have sorted out visas for him, bank account etc. Never once have they mentioned that it was 'uncool' for him to be living with me. Im pretty damn happy with that.

You could always say she is coming for a visit, and then boom, she liked it so damn much she got herself a job here :)

I'm just about to complete my first year IT in China and it has been interesting.

I think China is ok. I certainly wouldn't spend the rest of my life here. I'm based in North East China so there's not a hell of a lot to do here. I'd move to Shanghai in a heartbeat. One of the greatest cities I've been to and a welcome relief into normalcy after spending months up in cold North China.

I've yet to be to Hong Kong but from what I've heard from most people is 'its not China'. Which is either amazing for people who arent enamoured with China or sucky.

If I were you, like everyone else has said, I would avoid rural places. In fact I would avoid anything that is not Beijing, Shanghai or Guangzhou. Life where I live is much harder. English is rarely spoken or understood. The food is atrocious. There are no cultural things to visit/see/do. Our expat community is tiny. Nightlife is none existent. The foreign companies that work here get a hardship posting pay. We don't get anything. So choose your place wisely.

As for secrets I've learned:

-TAs are amazing. They are treated so poorly in my school. When interviewing inquire how the local hired staff are treated, if it isn't similar to what your contract if offering you I know now I wouldn't accept it. It pisses me off how badly these people are treated, barely any holidays, ridiculous amount of extra duties for no extra pay, long long hours, and awful shitty pay.

-Chinese BBQ food is amazing. Again like the other poster said, eat where its busy. Hungry now.

-Car horns honking will drive you mad. Where I live it is 24/7. The noise is so bad we have to have our windows closed all the times so we can watch TV. You have never honestly heard anything like it till you move to China.

-Chinese customs are bizarre to Westerns. For the most part ok, but then sometimes its just pure baffling. Chinese woman having to stay indoors and unbathed for a month after the birth of their child creeps me out. My colleagues were so shocked when one of the western mums in the school bought her newborn baby to school a few days after its birth. They couldn't get their heads around it. Whereas I cannot get my head around their custom.

Good luck!

mathewsp wrote:
> I've accepted a position as a Teacher Librarian and am wondering if there
> are any Teacher Librarian (TL's) list servs for the overseas librarians or
> advice anyone can offer. I have MLS in library science, have six years
> 6-12 experience (US), eight years at comm college and one year overseas
> librarian at men's college (post high school) Any thoughts, advice greatly
> appreciated.

@mathewsp if you can tell me the region I might be able to help a bit better. I'm currently a TL in China and there are a number of groups on Yahoo and Schoology that cater for the Chinese International Schools. I'm still learning myself as I'm in a remote part of China with very little support.

Enjoy the experience wherever it is! Im sure it will be fantastic!