Desertexile

The Dunes is a good way to pile up the cash and also a good place to find a non-teaching gig once you find your feet and earn a proper expat salary, if that's your thing. Which is should be cause no cat comes here for the joys of teaching the locals.

Go through the pain barrier, travel at EVERY opportunity, put some effort into distancing yourself from workmates (there is nothing worse than hearing a pride of TEFLifers ripping apart the DoS or HQ at a weekend BBQ). Find some other teaching mates or folks with totally unrelated gigs.

Travel loads (yeh, I know I said that twice)

Learn to make beer

Find a bird

Read a lot

Shag a lot

Have house parties

Travel a lot

Dont be too stingy with your cash, it makes you boring.

And the golden rules - Don't try and change anything locally, you are an infidel and that's all you are. And don't bitch and moan to your workmates, noone wants to hear it and if you can't handle it, leave.

Arrive back in Thailand and you'll never moan about Thailand ittby bitty problems again (plus you'll have loads of lovely lovely money)......

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I want to live like a poor man,but with a lot of money

kiwiling

I subscribe to a pay website called International Schools Review. They have a name and shame part for International Schools. Although there are quite a few from LOS...the bulk of complaints come from the Middle East...some are quite serious. Here is a quote:

The vast majority of teaching professionals, and I personally know dozens, who have taught in Kuwait know it to be the "arm-pit" of the international education circuit. You go to a job fair and, if all else fails, you can be hired in Kuwait at the drop of a hat....Some years ago there may have been several decent schools but this all changed with the advent of Kuwait ownership. There are major problems with all of them - if this wasn't and isn't the case then why would such a tiny, inconsequential country be so over-represented in the negative reviews on the ISR site? The people who stay there, year after year, do so for one reason - money! It is a gravy train of private tuition and people can bank their teaching salaries.

Pookie I think I am allowed to send you a copy. If you want to see it you can PM me.

Desertexile

My point exactly. ~The international school teachers I know, double their salaries and they certainly bank more than their basic pay.

Bank it, bank it bank it - travel - and if you wanna save the children, fook off to Africa.

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I want to live like a poor man,but with a lot of money

phuketbound

I think living there, and if you would like it would depend a lot on the person too, and what their goals are.

Cheers for the advice.

Kiwi, pm on the way.

torbek

^ Sound advice from Kiwiling, but remember...

The website he refers to is predominately aimed at identifying suspect 'International schools'. Many schools in the ME...and elsewhere around the globe..are not legitimate International schools, despite their name.

And their recruitment policies reflect that.

So what (some) Middle Eastern schools offer (especially Kuwait) is the opportunity for those who aren't fully qualified (or sufficiently experienced) to teach in mainstream International schools to earn some reasonable coin.



But at the expense of your lifestyle.

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Most people are other people. Their thoughts are someone else's opinions, their lives a mimicry, their passions a quotation.

kiwiling

Interesting comment Torbek but I was approached by an agency that only deals with qualified teachers. A couple of the schools were in Sharjah. The ISR had bad vibes on those schools as well. I think the thing about ISR is you have to pay about 3500 baht to join...so the people are not casual moaners...they really are pissed off.

torbek

Don't doubt it for a second.

Were I a fully qualified, well experienced teacher looking around the globe for travel/work opportunities, I'd be cautious of any ME offers.

All I was saying was that...because of exactly what you and I have said...there are opportunities for the less qualified or experienced.



But...to repeat...at the expense of their lifestyle.



Their choice.

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Most people are other people. Their thoughts are someone else's opinions, their lives a mimicry, their passions a quotation.

stfranalum

wow that underground scene must be swank eh. heard a few stories, but man am i curious!

wonder what theyd think if 'ol jew boy rides into town on his YOU-ESSSS-EHHHH! train?

UP with israel!
UP with women's rights!



id last a nanosecond there

or

would be the best goddamn brewer those saudis ever saw

:jewboy:

kiwiling

...I think you could add almost any offer to that. When schools in England, New Zealand or anywhere with plenty of their own teachers to choose from are advertising with overseas agencies it points to one thing...they haven't got enough time to leave fighting their fires to replace their high job turnover...caused by the very fires they are fighting. Good schools with low staff turnover don't need agencies.

I got approached for some vacancies in the UK as well. I checked them out with mates in the UK and was told not to even think about it.

As much as I complain about the admin in the LOS the place does have a lot of redeeming factors...doesn't it?

stfranalum

gotta be the quote of the day

funny, aint it?

kiwiling

I have to make a correction to a post I made before. The subscription to ISR is about US$30 per year I think. I got the exchange wrong. Sorry guys.

stfranalum

use the 'edit' button, you monkey

torbek

You telling us or asking us?

I think you know the answer anyway...

Sure it has redeeming factors. But all such factors are external to the education system in Thailand.

For someone of your experience and qualifications, there are much better options, professionally, freely available around the world.

But perhaps without those redeeming factors...

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Most people are other people. Their thoughts are someone else's opinions, their lives a mimicry, their passions a quotation.

Desertexile

Of course they do - it's basic economics! Why would any business, anywhere in the world use a contractor of any sort? Economics.

Take your example of a great school, with a low turnover - perhaps the recruitment work doesn't warrant having a recruitment department or is too much for an existing HR Dept. Hell, look at Select Education - it boasts extremely prestigious clients and is present in countries from UK to Oz. They do just that, recruit for great schools - they are a recruitment agent.

I think you are getting mixed up with some patpong based agent press ganging for some shitty schools project in Nakorn Nowhere.

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I want to live like a poor man,but with a lot of money