[GlobalMan]

I've taught in Thailand and Colombia. Quit both times. Why? Putting in a full work day sucks, and sucks multiple times more in other countries. Teaching is draining, you always have to be "on", you can't have a bad day keeping to yourself. And I even had the best gigs. Thailand- a small exclusive school in an air conditioned office. Colombia- one on one with executives at multinationals.

It took me years to realize (guess I'm slow), that getting a job as a means to stay in another country, when you really want to chase pussy and explore and live life...sucks. You end up in the same situation as back home, just with different surroundings. You're tired at the end of the day with not a enough cash to make it worth your time. If you only want to make money teaching then Dubai and Saudi Arabia pay very well and give you a nice apartment. But who the fuck would want to live there.

For short term, if you just want to try it, then go for it. But long term, if you want to be able to live abroad and enjoy, while still earning cash, then the only way to go is building an online business that you can run from your laptop anywhere in the world. Thats where I'm at, and I wouldn't make another long term stay somewhere if I had to rely on working at a job there. IMO your time is better spent getting something going online and then hitting the road.

[Chick Magnet]

(07-31-2015 02:44 PM)GlobalMan Wrote:  

I've taught in Thailand and Colombia. Quit both times. Why? Putting in a full work day sucks, and sucks multiple times more in other countries. Teaching is draining, you always have to be "on", you can't have a bad day keeping to yourself. And I even had the best gigs. Thailand- a small exclusive school in an air conditioned office. Colombia- one on one with executives at multinationals.

It took me years to realize (guess I'm slow), that getting a job as a means to stay in another country, when you really want to chase pussy and explore and live life...sucks. You end up in the same situation as back home, just with different surroundings. You're tired at the end of the day with not a enough cash to make it worth your time. If you only want to make money teaching then Dubai and Saudi Arabia pay very well and give you a nice apartment. But who the fuck would want to live there.

For short term, if you just want to try it, then go for it. But long term, if you want to be able to live abroad and enjoy, while still earning cash, then the only way to go is building an online business that you can run from your laptop anywhere in the world. Thats where I'm at, and I wouldn't make another long term stay somewhere if I had to rely on working at a job there. IMO your time is better spent getting something going online and then hitting the road.

Great point. It's still the 9-5 grind with all the stress and drama that entails (but with hotter women perhaps).

I taught ESL in Asia myself - and had a very cushy job (good salary, nice free apartment,etc).

But those little brats took so much out of me. I swore I'd rather starve than keep on teaching. So I quit.

It was just me and my laptop in a dingy hostel - and I had to make money with it somehow. The desperation forced me to succeed.

Some guys can handle jobs like teaching or whatever...not me. I just wasn't built to take orders. It was either commit ritualistic suicide, or start an online biz. Fortunately, I got the later to work.

[GlobalMan]

(07-31-2015 05:38 PM)Chick Magnet Wrote:  

But those little brats took so much out of me. I swore I'd rather starve than keep on teaching. So I quit.

It was just me and my laptop in a dingy hostel - and I had to make money with it somehow. The desperation forced me to succeed.

Same here man. I woke up one day and knew I couldn't spend another day traveling around Bogota on the Transmelinio for hours only to do something I hated. That was the day I started building my first website.

[Moto]

(07-31-2015 05:38 PM)Chick Magnet Wrote:  

(07-31-2015 02:44 PM)GlobalMan Wrote:  

I've taught in Thailand and Colombia. Quit both times. Why? Putting in a full work day sucks, and sucks multiple times more in other countries. Teaching is draining, you always have to be "on", you can't have a bad day keeping to yourself. And I even had the best gigs. Thailand- a small exclusive school in an air conditioned office. Colombia- one on one with executives at multinationals.

It took me years to realize (guess I'm slow), that getting a job as a means to stay in another country, when you really want to chase pussy and explore and live life...sucks. You end up in the same situation as back home, just with different surroundings. You're tired at the end of the day with not a enough cash to make it worth your time. If you only want to make money teaching then Dubai and Saudi Arabia pay very well and give you a nice apartment. But who the fuck would want to live there.

For short term, if you just want to try it, then go for it. But long term, if you want to be able to live abroad and enjoy, while still earning cash, then the only way to go is building an online business that you can run from your laptop anywhere in the world. Thats where I'm at, and I wouldn't make another long term stay somewhere if I had to rely on working at a job there. IMO your time is better spent getting something going online and then hitting the road.

Great point. It's still the 9-5 grind with all the stress and drama that entails (but with hotter women perhaps).

I taught ESL in Asia myself - and had a very cushy job (good salary, nice free apartment,etc).

But those little brats took so much out of me. I swore I'd rather starve than keep on teaching. So I quit.

It was just me and my laptop in a dingy hostel - and I had to make money with it somehow. The desperation forced me to succeed.

Some guys can handle jobs like teaching or whatever...not me. I just wasn't built to take orders. It was either commit ritualistic suicide, or start an online biz. Fortunately, I got the later to work.

I've kinda combined the two. I teach English online. It's just a side gig, but could certainly become my main job if I want. It's way more relaxed than classroom teaching, whether TEFL or international school teaching. Working with adults, mainly, there are no 'discipline' problems at all. I'm not even on webcam- it's just audio and a powerpoint basically. It's easy to seem "on" and energetic with my voice, while the rest of my is in the most comfortable reclined position as I puff my e-cigarette and sip a scotch.

Slightly better hourly rates than I made teaching TEFL, without any of the transportation time-loss and stress.

[iknowexactly]

(06-05-2015 06:07 AM)bacon Wrote:  

If you have a stem degree you can get work at an International School teaching math or science to kids.

I know a guy doing something like that in Thailand. I don't know if it officially an "international school"--there's no students from USA/EU-- they're all Korean I think. He doesn't quite have a STEM degree, it's related but I can 't be specific without coming too close to identifying him.

But his life is hugely better than it was in America, like night and day. In Thailand he is a respected pro making maybe double or triple their minimum wage, back home he got bounced from one precarious job to another, ended up close to homeless (living in a car or the like) frequently because he's eccentric.

[PragueDude]

I teach in Prague and love it. Let me know if you have any questions. The people who say you can't reinvent yourself are lying.

[boss13]

For those with experience teaching math/science abroad, can you share your experiences? My advisors are being dicks and it doesn't look like I can finish my master's unless I start a completely new thesis project, which I don't want to do. I heard there are some lower-tier schools in SE Asia, such as Thailand and Malaysia, that would hire those who have just BS degrees and have passed substitute teaching tests in their states. They don't require a teaching license.

[AWright]

I'm bumping this thread to hear other's experiences. I'm thinking about teaching abroad but up in the air about it in large part due to OP's situation of career in the states versus life abroad. OP what did you end up doing?

[Monxp]

I saw a flying plastic bag today while rolling around the street and it reminded me of this thread.

[boss13]

(03-10-2016 03:26 AM)AWright Wrote:  

I'm bumping this thread to hear other's experiences. I'm thinking about teaching abroad but up in the air about it in large part due to OP's situation of career in the states versus life abroad. OP what did you end up doing?

Call me a wuss, but I decided to get a STEM job in the US instead of teaching abroad. I've already lived briefly in Asia before, so it wouldn't be that much of an adventure to teach abroad. I also decided it'd be better to sacrifice a few years of being socially dead but building up my career and income as opposed to having a better social life asap but a worse career path. Finally, I decided not to let my dick due the thinking for me. That is, I had to resist the urge to have better opportunities for women by staying in the US

[Recovering Beta]

If you're American, you have serious disadvantages in your working life in spite of the higher pay and lower taxes. The first is having to depend on your boss for health insurance, which makes it harder to strike out on your own. I quit the States for a country with a good universal health-care system and I like the flexibility it affords me.

The second thing with being locked into a job in the U.S. because of health insurance is the fact that you generally end up with only two weeks of vacation, which cancels out any dreams of really seeing the world.

This is part of the reason why many American women are toxic (I didn't say all, just many): they were brought up in a society where such activities are normal. It is not normal to be locked up in a cubicle for 50 out of 52 weeks.

[ovloV]

(03-15-2016 07:46 PM)boss13 Wrote:  

(03-10-2016 03:26 AM)AWright Wrote:  

I'm bumping this thread to hear other's experiences. I'm thinking about teaching abroad but up in the air about it in large part due to OP's situation of career in the states versus life abroad. OP what did you end up doing?

Call me a wuss, but I decided to get a STEM job in the US instead of teaching abroad. I've already lived briefly in Asia before, so it wouldn't be that much of an adventure to teach abroad. I also decided it'd be better to sacrifice a few years of being socially dead but building up my career and income as opposed to having a better social life asap but a worse career path. Finally, I decided not to let my dick due the thinking for me. That is, I had to resist the urge to have better opportunities for women by staying in the US

That's the best move. If you really want to get abroad, you can always try to get a skilled job abroad, which would give you a lot more money an status than teaching abroad. Plus when the fun is over, you can pick up with another well paying skilled job back in the States.