I know there are a lot of people here who are NOT in Hong Kong but would like to teach English there, live there, etc...  There are people like Mars who like to judge people's English when writing in a forum, so this is perfect for you Mars.  You could help all the HK bros and folks like myself who does not write perfect term paper fully edited English in a forum.  

Salary ranges from HK$22,985 to HK$48,400 (approximately $3,000-$6,500 USD) per month. (That is fucking more than what teachers make in the US)
They pay for your airfare, 2 year contract, and get this, they give you a pretty decent rent stipend.  All NETs will receive an allowance of HK$14,245/month to assist with accommodation. The housing allowance is based on the average cost of an 800 sq. foot apartment across all of Hong Kong.

IMHO, this is a great opportunity for a single guy who wants to fuck around in HK for 2 years if you have the qualifications.  The pay is good enough, enough to easily live in HK, definitely not enough for NYC, and not enough to raise a family here, not sure about HK.  

I've seen a few bros who were interested in something like this but always complaining about the pay, I don't think you can complain about the pay here.

Here is the website:  http://www.teachaway.com/content ... c-schools-hong-kong

Good luck bros!

   ... bros and folks like myself who do not write perfect .........

Old schoolmarm Marsupial says that after dinner tonight it's straight to bed for you sexpert, and no desert! And take your hand out of your pants!

bate but no switch !!!      

I understand from the teachers who have come here just to teach English sais its very difficult to apply
don't remember the details but the amount of red tape was very off putting ...

I think one of the requirements is not using a whoreboy forum... And another is the ability to teach!

I think Kennichi would be up for something like this!...

teachers in nyc make about that much.

I fwd that so some of my family members who r teachers, I doubt they will give up their tenure as their job is bulletproof with pensions in nyc.

Yeah, I think it was Kenichi, I recall a few other bros talking about it too.  My friend's cousin actually ended up doing this because she never made tenure and was shut out of a very broke NYC education system.  She loves HK, so it was only natural for her to want to do this for 2 years.  

Sirtiger:  If you make tenure in NYC education, you are set for life as long as you don't do something stupid.  I have a friend who is 42, who could retire right now with a heavy pension, but he won't give up his cushy job at almost 100k annually now.

Maybe if plan 1 and 2 fail,

Both plans are TOP secret, and mean that I fulfil the wise words I once heard:

If you find a job that you love, then you will never work another day again,

I fly out to Shanghai 2010 in March or April to submit a proposal. The risk is high but the reward is such that it is worth grabbing both hands with.

I am not bigoted and neither am I trying to start a flame or to disturb the boards or anything at all -

I just want to pass on what a friend of mine, who is a NET teacher, told me.

And I'd like to pass this on to anybody who may be considering moving here as an English Teacher - as I would think he would at least like to be able to take this into part of the equation when deciding to move here or not.

My friend tells me that there ARE A LOT OF PEOPLE in Hong Kong who thinks that any Westerner who are NOT in a high executive position (judged even by where they live -  If in less than desireable locations here i.e. the Peak, Southside, Mid-levels etc) to be nothing more than a step away from being trailer park trash.

And since he's had to content with a lot of the local parents of his school as a lowly NET teacher, that he's really very P.O.ed by this all.  This may of course have clouded his judgement quite a bit - and one does need to take what he says with a grain of salt.

Unfortunately though, the truth of the matter is that there ARE  a few of these narrow minded locals who thinks that it's a given that a Westerner should be in a high position - as that was how it was in days when Hong Kong was a colony; and that unless a Westerner occupies such a high position (him having been unfairly privileged, by virtue of the fact that he is Westerner) that he must be a bit of a failure.

Just relaying what my friend's sentiments are and that he can't wait to finish up his contract.

SEAJ

[ Last edited by  SEAJ at 31-12-2009 00:30 ]

If your friend is so concerned about his 'status' in society, he probably shouldn't have become a teacher. There is still a perception, and not just in HK, that men become teachers because they can't really do anything else. Oh yeah - and also because of the long holidays.  

I'm not defending what he feels at all.  

I just wanted to relay here what one actual NET teacher told me.

And of course YMMV
SEAJ

Ps. Hope you're not a teacher yourself - and my post was certainly NOT to disparage anybody, least of all teachers, for whom I have very high regards for generally.

[ Last edited by  SEAJ at 31-12-2009 03:06 ]

Rather than social status, I think it's more to do with the generalisation that ESL/EFL teachers are backpackers who aren't as devoted to the education of their children than local English teachers. This is more of a real issue in other Asian countries such as Korea or Japan, but the sentiments are also here in HK. The other thing is that most NETs do not fit in in the staff rooms, and experience less respect and authority than their local peers from the students. NETs grumbling in HK is unfortunately in the majority...

All that yes - but you must also feel how there's a helluva lot more Social status discrimination versus other type of bigotry that exists in Hong Kong.

One could be the worst criminal, be the ugliest physically, have the morals of a Tom cat, be any race - but if one has $$$ - he/she's gonna get treated like a Rock Star!
Just about anywhere in Hong Kong.

Money!!! That's all that counts - and pity the poor NET teacher who've NEVER experienced Social Status discrimination in their own home country - where teachers ARE held in high esteem for the most part.

SEAJ

Its not about the money though, its life style, in that Faye Wong has a ton of money right? I remember a very long time ago that she was caught on camera sluming it with her fella in Beijing apparently having to take a bed pan outside once.


She was slated incredibly for this.

Same thing with benny hill in the UK he was a multimillinaire but the papers crucified him as he liked to live a simple life.

Yes and no.

I see your point about life style - but for every Faye Wong, there are tons of others like Little Sweety (Nina Wang) who are substantial but chose to live frugally/very proud doing that  AND still gets lots of respects etc as she WAS moneyed.

Nah.... it's not life style - but if one does have $$ or not.  

And.... there ARE a lot of posseurs who ACTS as if they have $$$ but is actuallly.....nothing but a posseur!

And the unfortunate thing about NET teachers in Hong Kong is that just about everybody knows what they're making - and it certainly ain't ennuf for anybody to even be considered comfortable in Hong Kong!

Just my thoughts/IMHO

SEAJ

22K HKD a month beats the UK by a long long way though, in that the raw figures don't tell the whole story. In that my two cousins in HK earn about 16K HKD a month one works as a drivers mate the other works in an office, one lives at home unable to afford to move out.

Average pay in the UK is 26K, = 327600HKD
But the median is 16K= 201600HKD.

Except in the UK you get 33% taken off your wages up to 53% income tax.

If I were to take up a NET job on 22K a month thats 264000 HKD a year I pay 4,345 HKD tax
Leaving 258000HKD net pay left over.

Also there is disparity with purchasing power, you can tell this by everyday goods and or purchasing power, WGs in HK cost $500, in the UK a WG costs £100~£150 1260~1890HKD.

Or that the Manchester MTR which is shit full of criminals and is slow and late, costs £4 per trip HK$50.4 per trip when I remember my HK trips were always $14.6 to get to TST hunting grounds from Tai Po.

Add in other factors such as no VAT the purchasing power of a lower salary in HK actually gives a much better life style than higher salaries in the UK.

Hence 22K / month would have been a substantial pay cut from my previous job but working it out it was actually a fairly big raise.

The way it works and the way my NET teacher friend thinks - that if you don't earn Big Bucks as an expatriate in Hong Kong, you're gonna be looked down upon.

And the kind of money we're talking about for teachers here is peanuts in the scheme of things in Hong Kong.  

You may think that things are cheap in Hong Kong - but it ain't - not if you had to live up to the standard of what "an expatriate is supposed to live like" in Hong Kong.

SEAJ

And don't forget the very generous stipend for rent either.  If I were a young English teacher in the USA, I would definitely take some time and do some work in HK for this kind of money.  It is better than teaching in NYC because rent alone for an average 800 Sq Ft apartment runs about 1700 USD a month.  As an older person who is more established in NYC, I couldn't even put my kids through school with this type of money.  I've spent a month or two living in HK and it really isn't that expensive at all unless you are hoity toity.  It is cheaper than living in NYC by a long shot (meaning cheapest means of living without losing the amenities of life) except I would never drive in HK because I would be easily driving into wrong ramps all day, funny coming from someone who drove in NYC his whole life.  When my relatives in HK come to NYC and sit in my car, they hold on tight and their blood pressure goes up because of how close cars get here, I recall my uncle saying to me while I was driving on the inside of the williamsburg bridge (easily one of the tightest bridges in America), "you are so close to this guy, I can see the hairline scratch on his fender" just looking out from the passenger side window. Funny shit.

I know it's your friend saying it and not you, but I have to say I've never experienced that. I'm an engineer working in construction so I obviously don't mix with much with the super-rich. I did meet David Tang once and he was super-charming. We chatted for more than 20 minutes and we talked mostly about ME. He seemed to be genuinly interested about what I was doing in HK and the other countires that I've been - I've worked in a lot of strange and unusual places. Certainly no feeling that he 'looked down on me', even though my dinner jacket is second hand and a little frayed at the edges  

I agree with what CL wrote - it's not the money so much as NETs don't seem to get a lot or respect in HK. I have friend who teaches kindergarten. She's half Taiwanese and half Danish, speaks fluent Mandarin, Japanese and a couple of other languages. She's poorer than me and has a couple of prominent tattoos but she certainly mixes with a lot of high-flyers.  

Actually, as you pointed out, things ARE a lot better in Hong Kong than it was in the past. But you have to understand that even though its not "out in the open' as it was before, Socio/economic bigotry still loom large in the background.

David and others of his generation/younger are Western educated and have taken on SOME of the traits AND beliefs imparted to them during their University years; but even them - you have to understand the Extremes that existed during even as late as their childhood and young adulthood.  As an example of how things were, A bottle of local Soda Pop (i.e. Watson's cream soda) was HK$0.20, Coca cola and Seven Up were HK$0.30 - but if you order it at the Peninsula in the 60's during High Tea, that same drink would cost you HK$10.00 - at a time when secretaries, accountants, shipping clerks were making HK$300-500/month.  Maids??  HK$120 plus meal and board!

Yes, the price differential is still there even today - but it is now NOT that extreme plus a lot more people are making a bit more decent wage. But if you had grown up sitting around the Peninsula when the Plebes were milling outside - how does that affect your way of thinking?

I'd say that there's probably only 300 - 500 "prominent families in Hong Kong Max - and by that I do NOT mean some of these Nouveau Riche Johnny Latelies - THE prominent families! And if you notice, they all associate only with themselves, belong to the the same social clubs, with their children marrying each other.  Hong Kong people are very much aware of this and many aspire to be part of this.

And it's NOT a good idea to mix "too much" with the hoi polli if you're trying to improve your status in the pecking order of Hong Kong society.

Just IMHO

SEAJ

[ Last edited by  SEAJ at 3-1-2010 17:01 ]