I'm living in a second tier city now, and as a foreigner I get stared at all the time. A lot of the foreign guys have Chinese girlfriends. Places like Beijing, Shanghai, and Hong Kong see a lot of foreigners. If you're working as a teacher you aren't going to be making enough money to really show off in those cities.
The English teachers in my city make about twice the amount their Chinese counterparts make, their apartments are paid for, really the only mandatory part of their budget is food. They have money to flash around and do so, often excessively (I've been here for 4 months and I've heard way too many guys complaining about being broke).
Learning Mandarin is a total bitch. Let no one tell you otherwise. If you've never studied a tonal language before you're in for a shock. A lot of foreigners I've met here said they originally planned on learning Mandarin when they first came, but then settled into easy mode and only know a few phrases and words, picking up something new from time to time.
The English teachers in my city make about twice the amount their Chinese counterparts make, their apartments are paid for, really the only mandatory part of their budget is food. They have money to flash around and do so, often excessively (I've been here for 4 months and I've heard way too many guys complaining about being broke).
Learning Mandarin is a total bitch. Let no one tell you otherwise. If you've never studied a tonal language before you're in for a shock. A lot of foreigners I've met here said they originally planned on learning Mandarin when they first came, but then settled into easy mode and only know a few phrases and words, picking up something new from time to time.
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