Spotlight On China

Have you become caught up in the 2008 Olympic excitement yet? If so, what better place to head to teach than China itself: an intriguing history, culture and written script too, good food that varies by region, the Great Wall. I haven’t been to China but I can guess that if you’re up for a handful or two of cultural surprises, this is the place to find them. Word is that China is a also bit more lax on requirements for EFL teachers than many other Asian countries.

One of the neatest resources I’ve recently started following is the serialized online travelogue of a former English teacher – traveling through China, in search of…Pigs In The Toilet (just read this). Twice a week new installments are published. We’re only up to installment ten, but already Jeff has taken the slow boat from Japan to China (”It does not linger on your lips like opium smoke, but it does reek”) and, on a train, diplomatically predicted the outcome were the Chinese and US armies to duke it out.

For more teaching-oriented information on China, you have the China Job Board at Dave’s ESL Café (and don’t forget the job-related discussion forum), the chock-full of info China page of Teach English Abroad, and the video of the daily life of a teacher in China.

I should also point out that there is a regular warning about certain recruiters and employers on Tesall.com, a site I visit regularly and respect much. I don’t know much about China, but my intuition and experience with Tesall tell me this is something to take seriously.

Lastly, where would I be without linking to a few travel stories: visit Beijing’s underground city here, eat your way through Urumqi here, and revel at some cultural differences visible even in Shanghai here.