Kindergarten Fail!!! But not the end of the world!

As for my new job.......

Well.....

I made a meteoric rise to Management, even now applying for a center of my own to manage, or a cross China National Manager position.....

All within 6 months of starting...

On the other hand, I have a Chinese business interest here, who wants me to come work with him and will not only buy me a car and provide excellent working hours and benefits, but also a salary that pales anything I have ever been offered in my life, NOT just in China.....

China truly is the land of opportunity! My biggest headache at the moment is which opportunity to take!!!

As far as the teaching, well, I am the favorite teacher in my center, and am told such daily. I love my awesome students and they love me! I am actually considering working part time on weekends even if I take the business job, just to keep up with my students!

Either way, its alllllll good here!!

Dear Anthony,

I confirmed with Ping (my contact in the buckland group) about what visa I am to get and she told me:

"Please note that because you do not have a Bachelor diploma, our government can not issue the z visa (work visa) to you. F visa is for culture exchange purposes . Our program is registered with Chiense government as a Culture Exchange program, which is the reason we can accept people who don't have Bachelor degree to work in China within our program as a teacher. For our program fellows without Bachelor degree, we will provide F vsia invitation letter for you to enter China.

Your first F visa will be valid for 6 months, then 3 weeks before your F visa expires, we will ask you to send us your passport for us to update your visa to another 6 month F visa for free. This is a standared procedure Buckland has been taken for years with teachers who do not have Bachelor degree."

What should I do! I am supposed to leave on Sunday for BC where i am to buy my first VISA. I'm lost! Can I trust the Buckland group not to put me in a bad situation?

Hi Megan,

The F visa is technically a "Business Visa" and apparently China is seriously tightening its rules about visas. I am sure you will be ok with an F visa, and Buckland has always been very professional in their dealings with not only teachers but also the government.

But, to all new grads this is something to consider. Gone are the days when teachers without degrees could find easy work in China. Now that the Chinese economy is booming more and more immigrants from all over the world are flooding to China in the hopes of securing jobs. It is going to be like most other countries, where only those with University degrees will be allowed to come to teach or even hold other non teaching jobs.

Personally I would say go for it now while you still can and enjoy the experience!

Have fun and don't worry so much! You will have a blast!

Dear Anthony,

I was wondering if you could suggest a good bank in china that is easily assessable from most cities?

???

Are you talking accessible from within China or outside China?

In China, any bank is fine. Really. Same as asking which banks are more accessible in Canada. ATM's accept all cards, most now even accept foreign bank cards.

As for outside of China. Same answer. I have 3 different local bank accounts I have successfully accessed outside of China. No fears.

Both, what I'm really looking for is one where i can set up an account before i leave and transfer the money i have saved up for the first few weeks into that so I can avoid any annoying bank fees (it costs me 5$ + bank fee + exchange fee to access my RBC account in China). it would also be nice to be able to understand whats going on when I set up my account.

Easiest way to go is Bank of China. Buckland will help you set up an account when you arrive.

Hey Anthony just wanted to tell you I'm in China now and I am actually leaving tomorrow for my school. I am going to work i n Jiangxi province near Shangrao. I am teaching primary school ages 7-11. Do you have any suggestions for my first classes? or any tips in general? also can you suggest a good proxy? i miss you-tube already!