I agree with Joe.

One of the main reasons I got out of IE was that as I got older, I just started to despise having to "play the game" with administrators. many of whom had years less experience than I had.

I once had to listen to this cute, empty-headed little muffin who was a first year assistant principal at a school in the ME and who had NEVER worked out of the U.S before as she questioned me on how I would handle the stresses of working overseas!

At my last fair I finally said Screw this, and just ignored my mailbox, put my suit in the closet. and spent the 3 days seeing friends.

Job fairs are archaic and unnecessary now and are held solely to make money for Search, Iss, etc. and to give school heads and admin a paid vacation and, when in Bangkok, a yearly chance to get their bells rung.

@worldtraveler

I worked in southern China and I checked the AQI every day, sometimes several times a day. Never got above 100.

Even then I would NEVER worked in Beijing.

When I was in China, even Shanghai had pretty good air quality and nobody talked about food poisoning like they do know.

And how the hell can anyone justify working at a school because they have air filtration systems?! Wearing a mask outside or just never going outside is ok with you?

So, whatever you have to tell yourself to rationalize your working in polluted countries - and even if you need to pretend that my actual experiences aren't factual - it's your lungs...and liver and kidneys and colon and...

I think it's pretty simple.

If you can afford the expense of the travel, even if you don't get the job, then do it.

I would not since I think it is damned inconsiderate for a school to ask this and if they demand this before you even get a job, what will they demand once they "own" you.

Exactly.

So, again, WHY are so many people still working in China schools? Can they all just be unconcerned about health issues?

People working in China now and wanting to continue, can you share your reasons?

Right.

I have a lot of Chinese friends and they all are concerned about the health/safety of their food.

Those heavy metals and poisons that all those Chinese factories spew 24 hours a day have to land somewhere, like in the soil.

But the question is: Why in hell do people still want to work in China now? Aside from ISB or SAS or Wab and a couple of others, the salary/benefits are not exceptional. And if they want culture, they can just visit on vacation rather than risk the long term exposure to poisons.

Anyone who still teaches in China care to answer this question? And I did work in China for 8 years - left in the late 2000's when things were still good.

Jesus, Shadowjack. You replied 2 hours after my post!!! Don't you have a job?

And your reply is just classic rationalization. Which usually does follow when a person settles and wants others to think he didn't.

You didn't know that when you took that miserably low job that you would have positive experiences or meet any good people. So, you settled, but just got lucky. I'm not knocking you; if I had a non-working spouse and kids, I may have had to settle for some sh_t job too.

I just wonder why you got so worked up that you had to respond just 2 hours later.

Shadowjack,

You wrote:

" We were a little different in that we went overseas when our kids were school age, but I have had to bite the bullet and pay tuition, fees, etc for two kids. I made about $1,000 a month after everything was done.'

"bite the bullet"? 1000 a month?

That sounds like the textbook definition of settling to me.

Here's a question that is off track: Did you really get that jet lagged just going from the states to London? West coast?

The whole International Education world is built on the fact that many teachers WILL end up settling. Due to the crazy early deadlines required of teachers to give notice, teachers are often forced to take jobs that they are not enthused about - to support their families. As a math teacher, I never had to take a job I didn't really want, but I feel sympathy for others who have to. If there was nothing I wanted at the time, I would just wait - something good always showed up later.

And job fairs just plain bite. Useless in the time of Skype and Schrole.

And the health problems may not show up for years.

Think about this: You're in bed sucking on an oxygen mask. And you can't help wondering if it is all because you wanted to teach in China.

And we haven't even talked about the food and water pollution.

You're a "good looking guy"?

Teaching would be a hazard for you. You would have problems with all of your female students being too awed by your fantastic looks to pay attention in class and when their grades suffered, your teaching skills would be questioned. But, if your school head or principal were a woman, you could just use those stunningly good looks to "persuade" her to overlook this.

If I were you, I'd turn the job down and become an international male model - or gigolo. Put those good looks and "friendliness" to better use. You know, go the IM (International Male) route instead of the IB one.

Hope this was helpful.

Man, I regret making this post.

I agree with the Gringa.

The absolute worst teachers I ever had the misfortune to work with were either ex-engineers/scientists or university professors.

The incompetence combined with the dripping arrogance - many go into teaching because they can't hack their old jobs anymore and believe that any moron can teach - is amusing to watch. They rarely ask for help, as they all know so much more than everyone else, and NEVER share what they know - remnants from their back-stabbing days at university.

Once these fools realize that teaching high school or lower grade students requires that they actually be able to motivate and share their knowledge - rather than just have that knowledge - they wilt like daisies in the rain and hurry off with their tails between their legs.

Now, since you two state that you only have Master's degrees and are not REAL university professors, you may be able to do it.

By the way: We all have master's degrees now guys. And in hard core subjects, not TESOL.

Nanjing.

All 3 are polluted, but Nanjing has a lot of history and genuine Chinese culture. And you can get enough Western stuff if you want.

Also more green areas and Purple Mountain, historic walls. Great place to learn Mandarin as the location is between the extreme accents of the north and south of China.

Other than those 3, Xiamen is still pretty clean. Also very beautiful and not so full of expats.

@bobbydylan

How is the climate of Bogota? I went for a few weeks some years ago and it was always cool and drizzly/rainy.