[quote=traveler1234]not to digress from the main topic of this forum, since there is interest re teaching english in foreign (at least asian) countries, here's an idea of a qualified instructor for sat, toefl, gmat and lsat exams would generally get as a comp package (i use this because it means you have a skill set, more experience than just a 'native english' speaker, etc):
hourly wage: btw us$20-45 per hour. in se asia, lower end of scale, korea/japan higher end. this is reflection of general cost of living, what they charge for comparable courses - the two major employers being princeton review and kaplan (and of course many local prep schools).
bonus after 6 months - $500, maybe up to $2000.
living allowances: btwn $200-500 per month (some cases they'll provide you simple studio or comparable - if they do, take it).
travel allowances: btwn $150-300 per month
airfare - if full time instructor, they'll pay round-trip economy class if you work one full year (usually one way after 6 months, the return segment after 12th month).
sounds like a lot? well, if you average 25-30 hrs per week, salary not bad. but factor cost of housing in say seoul or hk or tokyo and not so attractive anymore. for seoul, tokyo, and maybe hk, you could gross about $50-60k per year but you'd be teaching 40 hrs a week (which is a lot) and then housing ($1-3k per month) would eat a lot of that!
as english instructor, you'd probably make less. not much left for mongering.....:)
now - if you are a certified teacher, with a degree in teaching and with a position at either international or comparable, it's a different story. you should expect to gross $50-60k plus excellent housing/living allowance.[/quote]
trav,
korean employers provide accommodations rent-free.
i've got a tiny little bacherlor pad here in busan, within walking distance of the beach. utilities (gas and electricity) are on my dime. but the monthly rent comes out of my employer's pocket. he also picks up the high-speed internet and cable tv bills.
i walk to work, can buy anything i need within walking distance of my home, and so effectively pay no transportation fees.
does all this make me rich? no, not by a long shot.
can i, however, live quite comfortably here in korea, while managing to budget fairly regular trips to thailand (4 or 5 times a year)?
hell yeah!
and i do it all on a six-hour workday.
none of this is meant as a boast, however.
no one yet, to the best of my knowledge, has ever boasted of living and working in korea.
and anyone making any real money (such as my kid brother, back in the states) would laugh out loud at my monthly wage. ***while i laugh at loud at his inability to hit bangkok every other month or so--heh, heh, heh!***
all things considered, then, it ain't half bad.
my kid brother (three years younger) has his mansion, custom-built, has dream car, his gorgeous wife, his cute little daughter, his wonderful life. but he's never yet been to bkk! and so which of us is truly better off?
god knows, i would not, for a moment, trade places with him.
meanwhile, back to sex . . .
bkk teen: thumbs up, overall.
bkk teen ii: thumbs down, based upon my one visit there. (your mileage may vary, of course!)
[url=http://isgprohibitedwords.info?CodeWord=CodeWord901][CodeWord901][/url]'s: forget it. waste of time and effort.
angels: thumbs way up, and then way down again. my first visit was amazing, my second was shambolic.
lotus: out-of-this-world gfe, with a gal who was subsequently so, so sweet to me, though it seems that our email romance has since died. take her, fellow mongers!
nana hotel carlot freelancers: choose your gal. be a bit careful, please. your gut will tell you a lot.
i'm aiming to be back in bkk at the end of this month--thank you, korea!--and hope to provide a more narrowly sex-focussed report or two at that time.
sukhumvit
