I'm currently in Shanghai and there is a gentleman's agreement between schools. They also are in contact, if you try to secretly interview with one your admin will find out before you can return to work. At my school it is in the contract that if you break your contract you can not be hired by another school in Shanghai for 6 months. If the contract is up you are free to move and we have hired many new staff members this way the past few years. They are all on local hire contracts.

SSIS does participate in both the CISSA (Jr. High) and SISAC (HS) Sports leagues in Shanghai. I coach basketball at one of the schools listed in the previous post and will travel there to a game next week. They have two campuses in Shanghai. The Main campus in in Minhang near SAS and BISS. The Minhang campus has great sports facilities - a huge gym that can be divided into 3 or 4 sections, a full track and soccer field, and even have a chipping and putting green. The Xuhui campus is much smaller - I have only seen the soccer field. I really can't give much information about how it is to work there but have seen the campus.

It depends where you are. While living in Western Europe I found it easiest to open a paypal account in the local currency. I was able to link my local bank account and my US bank account, so whenever I transferred money I just deposited the money into my paypal account from my local bank then a couple days later withdrew the money from paypal and deposited it to my US bank account. Avoided wire transfer fees and it didn't raise any flags even when I tried to refinance a mortgage and they reviewed my bank history.

I am currently in China and have a monthly transfer set up between my Chinese account and US account. A don't know much about limits, but I have not had a problem in 7+ years overseas.

I agree 100% with liketotravel. The easiest way to get an AD job is to find a PE job then get hired internally after you have been there a year or two, but the market for an AD at the fairs has been pretty thin. I got an AD job at a fair with PE+coaching and had one year as a MS AD at a private school in the states. I now have no desire for an AD job, but the last fair I attended I was shortlisted for every AD job available just because of that experience.

Psyguy, where are you getting your information?

I am currently at Yew Chung Shanghai. My airfare was reimbursed with my first paycheck in August, 3 weeks after I arrived. The housing is by far the best I have had in now my 4th international school. Yes I do pay all my utilities, but it runs about 300 RMB a month. My complex has a gym, pool, game room, Video library, and a rooftop BBQ that I use for free. The salary you post is much lower than I am making, but maybe you were talking of the salary for a beginning teacher with no experience. Don't know much about the insurance package, just know I was given a list of places I can go to get medical attention if needed. My workload is 20 class periods a week, and the extra hour everyday you mention is nowhere near the truth. We have to provide one hour PER WEEK, and only do this 2 of 3 terms. If you coach a sport this counts as that hour.

Each primary classroom has a Chinese and Western teacher and all subjects are taught in English except the daily hour of Chinese instruction.

To start off I don't think it is accurate to assume that you will have to start at a less-desirable school. If he has 4 years experience and you have 2 (after this year) and have no dependents I think you will be very strong candidates for any school. I have lost out on a few jobs because I am single and the job was offered to a teaching couple.

Since you say you already have penny pinching habits I think you could pay off the loans in your first two years overseas. When I first moved overseas I went to western Europe to a school that projected I could only save 5-10%. In my first year I was able to travel every vacation, eat out 2-3 nights a week, pay off $6,000 in credit card debt, and make monthly payments on my student loans. I set up a budget with my focus on paying off the credit cards in 18 months and stuck to it and it was easy. I have never been at a school that projected I could save a huge amount but I have always been able to save 10-15% and still live very well.

When I first moved overseas in 2005 they were supportive if not a bit in denial. My mom knew I had the job offer and was seriously thinking of it but she seemed surprised when I accepted it. They were supportive in my move though. Not much changed after my first two years when I moved on to another school/country. Things started to change in 2009 when I told them I had decided to return to a fair to look for the next couple years. Mom's response was "Haven't you outgrown this phase yet" but dad understood it a bit better as he looked at it from the "there just aren't any jobs back home" viewpoint. I returned home a year ago much to their delight but they knew my heart wasn't here. Mom even called me on it at Thanksgiving asking if I had ever thought of going overseas again....before I had gotten around to tell her I had already registered for a fair the week before.

So I went to the fair and got a new job which I leave for in less than 2 weeks. Much hasn't been said other than "it's a new adventure" but I really think they know I won't be back.

I have tried excess baggage in the past and one thing to look into is if there is an embargo for the airlines. A few years ago as I was moving to a Caribbean country to teach I showed up with one extra bag and they would not take it because between May and August you are only allowed 2 bags, period. I sent one home with my parents and had them box up the items and mail them to me, and it turned out to be cheaper than the $150 extra bag fee.

I also agree with other comments that you seem to be overpacking. I am also headed to China and my plans are to pack very light. Two bags of clothes and little else. I have found that I can usually buy most things local and prefer to do that.

[quote="tdaley26"]any one else headed to shanghai soon?[/quote]

I am headed there to teach at YCIS - Puxi.

Does anyone have any experience using one of these overseas? I know they are not valid for international air travel, but I was wondering if it could be used to carry with you as ID instead of taking a passport or a copy of the passport everywhere you go. I had a colleague in Germany that had one and they accepted it at the banks and post office in place of the book, but I am not sure about other places.