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Dear members,
I happened upon your fantastic and informative site whilst spending yet another long night doing 'research' into the possibility of working in China. My wife and I are interested in coming to China to teach ESL, learn some language and see some of Asia. We even hope to complete some additional study online. I must admit that the whole ESL 'industry' is very frustrating, and one feels like we are at the mercy of the providers. We have contacted several providers and weeded out the dodgy ones and are now negotiating some work in Dalian. Basically, Dalian looks to be a nice compromise between big city benefits yet not too polluted, dangerous, expensive, cold etc... I may be wrong, I have only done minimal research.
Are there any Australians out there who have moved over to teach for a year or two who can give some well considered advice, we are not wanting to come and 'party', rather just hang out in a foreign land whilst working, studying and meeting interesting people. I know we are not meant to mention provider names, so I will maybe PM anyone who want to chat and share their thoughts.
Any suggestions are greatly appreciated, as we are excited by the prospect of living in China but at the same time, very apprehensive.

Cheers,
Alex and Ali

Hi Alex and Ali,

I'm glad to hear that your heading this way, if there's anything we can do to help don't be afraid to ask. Don't worry there's no need to be apprehensive about coming to Dalian. I'm sure like everyone you'll be pleasantly surprised when you get here. Trust me I would have left 7 years ago if there was anything to worry about. lol

Dalian is an ideal city for expats, not to crazy like Beijing, but still there are all the amenities you need and access to all those foreign goodies from back home. There are lot of Aussies in town so you won't be alone. I'd chooose Dalian over any city in China by a long way. Mind you, it doesn't have the nightlife and culture that some cities do, but I'm not here to party and there's still a great deal to do here.

I'm a pom BTW, but if you really feel like you need to speak to an Aussie I can PM you the email of a friend of mine who lived and married here for 5 years (currently in Beijing).

The only advice I'd give to you is shop around and find out as much as you can about any schools you night be considering signing to. If you need the heads up on a school, just PM me the details and I'll let you know if they are friend or foe. Also be aware that sometimes contracts offered online are quite often below the going rate.

If there's anything else I can do for you, just PM me or carry on posting in the forum.

Happy hunting,

Mat

Thankyou members for you welcome attitude and local knowledge. My wife and I are currently working through details back in Austraia. We are consulting ESL provides but most don't have work until July, so hopefully something comes up soon -there nothing worse than moving out of your apartment, selling stuff and getting ready to come over to China and then having to wait in limbo, hopefully we can aviod this by getting something solid in the next 6-8 weeks. Thankyou you all again, hopefully everything will come into fruition and we can catchup with some of you for a coffee or beer and share some stories.

Cheers,
Alex and Ali

I am sorry about your failed negotiation and poor impression on the "industry".
I am a Dean of educational administration in the American Language School (ALS) in Dalian. I am confronting the same situation here, but the the dodgy ones are our foreign teachers, they violated contracts leaving only a not. So we are pushed into a trouble of big human inadequacy. if your are heading Dalian, you can touch me by e-mail, This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it , to have another negotiation with another dodgy guy.