[00:00.00]I began to inquire about opportunities
[00:03.06] and whenever I searched
[00:05.04]the internet for jobs,
[00:06.56]I always seemed to be
[00:08.09]drawn like a magnet
[00:09.74]to the category of teaching.
[00:10.94]It did not take long before
[00:13.79]I found that there were
[00:15.43]countless positions available
[00:17.07]in many countries.
[00:19.04]Amid the listings I identified several
[00:21.88]that were for teaching positions in China.
[00:25.93]I decided that I would
[00:28.99]communicate with some of
[00:30.74]the people offering these positions.
[00:32.93]I sent emails and
[00:35.67]made phone calls to
[00:37.09]several prospective employers.
[00:39.60]The feedback that I got
[00:42.23]from most of them was that
[00:43.54]they expected me to
[00:45.18]bring all the resources necessary.
[00:47.59]How could I pack enough
[00:49.56]in my baggage to
[00:50.98]provide what was needed?
[00:52.84]I was inclined to
[00:55.58]look for a situation
[00:56.78]where books were provided.
[00:58.43] I wanted to sign a contract
[01:01.81]for only one semester but
[01:03.56]found that most positions were
[01:05.65]for one or two years.
[01:08.16]I could sympathize with the amount
[01:11.50]of paperwork needed to arrange
[01:13.58] for a person to accept
[01:15.22]one of those positions and
[01:16.64]realized that it was wiser
[01:18.83]for people to spend a year
[01:20.58]or two in one location.
[01:22.77]I attended seminars by companies
[01:26.16]trying to recruit teachers.
[01:28.46]I found several companies
[01:30.43]that captured my interest.
[01:31.96]I began to review my options.
[01:36.67]I asked specific questions
[01:39.18]about the positions with the companies
[01:41.37]that sincerely interested me.
[01:43.88]I inquired about how many suitcases
[01:47.28]I would be allowed
[01:49.02]to bring and what
[01:50.67]the living accommodations would be.
[01:52.64]It was refreshing to realize
[01:54.94]that there was a big demand
[01:57.23]for people who could teach English.
[01:59.20] Several positions seemed superior
[02:02.26]in their benefits and
[02:04.13]they sparked my interest even more.
[02:05.99]I especially wanted to
[02:09.16] teach students at the secondary
[02:10.91] or high school level
[02:12.44]rather than middle school.
[02:14.85]I could hardly believe that
[02:17.80]I was contemplating doing this
[02:19.99]at this stage of my life.
[02:22.61]At times I felt that
[02:24.80]it was a radical idea
[02:26.66]but I also realized that
[02:28.63]I had always had the desire
[02:30.60]to have this kind of experience
[02:32.35]but circumstances never seemed quite right.
[02:36.51]Now they were. I decided to proceed.
[02:40.22]I made an oral
[02:43.29]agreement with a company.
[02:44.40]I read their written contracts,
[02:46.26]clause by clause, to be sure
[02:49.21]nothing had been omitted
[02:50.63]from the oral agreement.
[02:52.61]In spite of wanting the clause
[02:55.34]about staying two years
[02:56.87] to be deleted, I signed
[02:58.73]the legal contract after
[03:00.70] a few minor changes were made
[03:02.89]and initialled in the margin |