Nick Lenczewski - Ultimate China Guide: How to Teach English, Travel, Learn Chinese, & Find Work in China

Copyright 2016 Nick Lenczewski

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No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, mechanical or electronic, including photocopying and recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the Author.

Ultimate China Guide
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TABLE OF CONTENTS

Chapter 1

Introduction
An Alternative Career Path

Not all those who wander are lost.

JRR Tolkien, The Lord of the Rings

WHAT ARE SOME OF your career goals? the interviewer asked me.

A job fair for soon-to-be college graduates in Minnesota was held each February and my friends and I had driven into the city to be a part of it. We didnt have any ideas about what to do with our lives after college, so we figured we might as well check it out.

To not have to work? I thought. Wasnt this everyones honest career goal when they were 22? This is what I really wanted to say, for who would want to get up every morning, commute to an office, stress out every day, and watch TV at night in order to unwind if they didnt have to?

I studied math in college because Ive been drawn to numbers all my life and a business analyst is something Ive always seen myself wanting to be, I answered instead.

The financial services company interviewer smiled and nodded, taking down notes. I was sure he had heard the same answer before and deep inside, like me, he knew the question he had asked reveals little about a persons ambitions.

Thank you for your time today, well be getting back to you, he said as he shook my hand.

At 22, it was obvious to me that I didnt want a job at this point in my life. As far as I could tell, I would mainly be drinking coffee and staring at Excel documents. When I was a kid, it was school that was always in the way of learning and doing interesting things: exploring the town I lived in via bike and canoe; learning to play Beethoven and Scott Joplin on piano; playing hockey with my friends without a coach making it too competitive to be enjoyed; reading JRR Tolkien and Terry Brooks fantasy stories and then writing my own tales; traveling to other countries. A job seemed like school for adults and upon graduating from college, 40 more years of it with only one or two vacations a year wasnt appealing.

I wondered, Werent there any other options? Couldnt I somehow create an ideal life with work I enjoyed through following the yearning for freedom that was inside me?

Adventure in China

This guide offers an alternative to working a 40-hour-a-week job as a career path and lifestylethat is teaching English 20 hours a week, traveling through Asia, learning Mandarin Chinese, and turning these experiences into work you can be proud of and enjoy. Its not an easy path and you may feel uncomfortable at times, but if you crave adventure you will feel alive like youve never felt alive before.

This guide will help you on this path and give you some starting points and direction. It doesnt cover everything about living in China, for that several books would be needed. Instead this guides purpose is to give you a good taste of what living in China can offer and how to go about creating this type of life for yourself.

Chapter 2

The Life of a Foreigner in China

A Typical Day in China

TUCKED IN BETWEEN HUNDRED-YEAR-OLD Guangdong architecture of southern China, there is a small Xinjiang restaurant. Xinjiang is famous for its lamb and its for this reason that my Chinese friend Tommy and I have chosen to have supper here. It is near the end of December and both of us have two months of vacation coming up. It is standard for foreign English teachers at Chinese colleges and universities to have four months of vacation per year, which provides ample time for traveling. We are planning a road trip around Qinghai province, a part of the Tibetan plateau, over 1,000 kilometers from Guangdong province.

We can stay with my family in Xining before we set out, says Tommy. Xining is the capital of Qinghai and Tommys home. Well make that our base, and then we can head to the Kunlun Mountains and beyond.

We pay our bill, a mere 100 RMB ($15). This is enough money for both of us to eat like kings: skewers of lamb, fresh asparagus lettuce, and a couple lamb dishes.

I bid farewell to my friend because Im meeting a date for a post-dinner stroll through the park. I hail a motorbike taxi for 6 RMB ($1) and have the driver take me two kilometers to the park where my date, Jing Jing, is meeting me. Jing Jing is from Zhongshan, the medium-sized city where I live and teach English. Given the sheer amount of single women in China, especially in a booming city like Zhongshan, it is no wonder I eventually met someone I could have a relationship with. Even though her English is not perfect and my Mandarin is far from perfect, we are able to communicate very well.

We stroll beneath the palm trees and other subtropical foliage on a circuit passing some small lakes within the park. Although it is December, it is still warm enough that in the evening all that is needed to stay warm is a light jacket.

Do you want to go meet some of my friends later? I ask Jing Jing. Theyre at a club across the river.

Why the hell not? replies Jing Jing.

Thats the kind of answer I like to hear.

We hop in a cab and take it to a club called Visa. We walk up the steps past young hipsters and check our things. The hipster crowd in China is growing year after year and these young people can be found at clubs all over China.

The music inside is perfect for drinking and dancing. The neon blue and orange lights make everyone feel like they are in a club in London or New York. Many of Chinas smaller towns (five million or less) have such clubs whose decor and level of hipness compete with those of some of the most well known metropolises around the world.

We make for a table where my friends are standing. Dean and Ken, two of my closest Chinese friends are there to greet us.

Where have you guys been? Dean asks us. Its almost midnight!

We were waiting until it was busy enough. Now is the best time, I yell over the music.

Dean is the leader of a group of volunteer students assigned to help foreign teachers at the college where I teach adjust to life in China. We share a penchant for making short films and learning languages. He is from the nearby city of Shenzhen, the fourth biggest city in China, a city that 30 years ago was no more than a village.

Who is this? Ken asks me. He puts his hand out to shake Jing Jings hand and introduces himself.

Ken is from one of the inner provinces of China. Although the college he goes to is not very renowned, he has been accepted into a PhD program at a different university. This is a very prestigious achievement in China that very few people ever attain.

This is my girlfriend, Jing Jing, I tell him.

Ken does a double take as he shakes Jing Jings hand. Wow, shes really hot! Ken says.

Jing Jing laughs.

We sing and dance as the servers go around pouring more green tea whiskeys for everyone. As it nears 2 a.m., the crowd starts to die down a little. We all get into cabs and head home. I have class the next day at 2:00 p.m. Its still only Monday and I love my schedule this semester.

Why Live in China

I hope that the previous section was able to illustrate some of the reasons why a foreigner living in China teaching English can lead a great life. The opportunities that teaching English in China allows are many and illustrating these opportunities and how to grab them is the primary purpose of this guide.