When I first moved to China it was fun to check my bank account balance, just to see the number multiplied by 8, ( Dollars to RMB ) but as it slid away the reality of getting a job started to sink in. Without too many options and only an Associates degree I figured that Teaching English was my best shot. Threw together a resume with anything that related to working with kids or that I thought made me look smart or at least competent.
After sending out a good 20 emails I got an interview with a group called Yulun Education, they contracted out their curriculum and Foreign teacher's to primary schools across Shanghai. We got on well and I had my first job Teaching English, it was an hour on the Metro both ways, followed by a motorcycle taxi to the school. They fixed me up with a cubicle in the English Teacher's office and I did my best a pretending I had a clue what I was doing. (this could be why I was some what paranoid that the Chinese Teacher's didn't trust me)
My students were grades 1-2 with around 30 kids to a class. We did lots of Simon Says/Hangman and I always worked hard at coming up with fun games or props. Mainly it was crowd control, thirty 8 year olds are easy to get out of control and once their gone it can be nearly impossible to get them back. Bribery by stickers worked at the start, but the naughty ones who never got stickers just seemed to get worse, giving up on the idea of getting rewards and venting some frustration at that. The best approach I found was to split them into 3 teams based on their rows of seating. If the row as a whole was listening and participating they got points if even a member of the row was being disruptive they all lost points. Teams with most points were rewarded. This had the students policing eachother, where before a naughty student was a pain in the teacher's side that all the students could enjoy, he was now a pain in their sides and they kept eachother in check far better than I ever could.
After a semester of 1-2nd graders I picked up a 2 week summer camp for $1,500. These were highschool students. They were a lot of fun and because it was a summer camp the atmosphere was pretty easy going, at least in my classroom. Chinese students are under an unbelievable level of stress from the demands of school and parents, many taking up to 6 extra classes outside of school. We talked about song lyrics, the suicide bombings in London (with a few students saying they thought it was good.) I even got them to do a performance of Bob Marlely's 3 little birds for the closing ceremony. Teaching older students was rewarding in that they were able to express themselves and at an age of transition with their ideas.
Next was my final stop a Kindergarten not far from where I lived. My salary went up to $15/hr I went to school for Chinese in the morning and worked the afternoon. My jaw dropped when they first put me in front of some BABIES! (They could hardly stand up forget talk) Apparently my job was to talk to them...After a while they actually started catching on.
The Kingergarten had a few levels the oldest being 7 year olds they were fun to work with and aside from being able to read in Chinese and English some were doing multiplication and even long division AT AGE 7! The job was hands down the best I've had to date, my salary was great around $1600/month for 30+ hours a week, to put in perspective my 2 bedroom apartment was only $300. It's hard to take yourself seriously when you hang out with a bunch of 6 year olds all day. We played loads of games, sang songs, told jokes...There was of course a good deal of crowd control involved. Because children wear their emotions on their sleeve you were able to get instant feed back on whatever it was you threw at them. Comedians always say that's what they love about comedy, you instantly know if your doing it right. This had me always adjusting and re-adjusting to see what kept them interested and under control. It convinced me of just how much kids, adults, groups, societies can be managed and manipulated. 
I had it a pretty sweet deal and always felt a little guilty that the Chinese Teacher's had to do so much more for so much less. They got there earlier, left later and had to handle an entire class through the day for only about $300 a month. That must of caused for some resentment me being like this round eyed ringer they brought in to speak some English and show off for the parents, the truth is that I was a prodcut for them to market to Chinese parents who wanted the best for their kids and were easily convinced that a foreign Teacher was just that.
The Kindergarten had another American teacher he was probably the reason why they all seemed to like me so much. He was an ex-mormon missionary who after a divorce from his Japanese wife would constantly be talking about how bad or greedy the Chinese were and how much they were out to get foreigner's. He always had stories about women that he slept with, prostitutes, random women, students moms...Once or twice women showed up at the Kindergarten claiming he got them pregnant and looking to get money out of him. Something about him just wasn't right and he was by all accounts a few screws loose.
Eventually I was offered position for $24/hr teaching at a Private school in Shanghai, (I turned it down, I'd really become attached to my students) the reference came through a Canadian Teacher I'd met at the summer camp. Networking hands down is the most important part of living well while Teaching in Shanghai. There are so many bums out there slobbing through lessons that anyone with a good reputation and some energy becomes a high demand. For anyone thinking about Teaching abroad I cannot say enough about the benefits, especially in China. Be careful with long term contracts and many of the programs that recruit you in the US are just middle men who take a good chunk of your contract.
Good luck...
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