Hello, my name is Elizabeth. I accepted a job in China teaching English to children. I have been prepping for this job since August. The process is extremely involved and can be rather frustrating. I cannot tell you how many times I was rerouted to several different people only to be returned to the first person I asked just to answer a simple question. Chinese culture is much more laid back than American culture. It will feel as though nothing is getting done and then, all of a sudden, things will inch closer to completion. It’s something you will have to come to terms with during this process.
For anyone who is about to teach English in China, maybe I can help you by telling you some pointers that helped me prepare for China. Well...here goes nothing.
First things first:
1. Figure out if your company has a good reputation
There are many sites that review companies based on how they treat their employees in categories including transition assistance, language learning, cost reimbursement, work schedule, flexibility, vacation and most importantly, work visa help. You cannot get a work visa without the help of your employer. Apparently, there are some horror stories about companies that do not help you get your work visa or lie to you about whether you can receive it or not. Scams are a real issue. Be wary. Do your research before you sign a contract.
2. It is going to be an expensive process.
After everything was said and done, I believe I spent around $1000 just on paperwork validation and what not. Note that this cost includes agency fees which are expensive, but for my location, it was the most cost-efficient option. I highly recommend going through an agency. It is expensive but gives you a huge peace of mind. I went through China Visa Service Center. They were helpful and prompt when I called and dealt with anything that would have required me to drive to Chinese Consulate. Check with your company to see if these fees will be reimbursed to you. If so, keep your receipts!!
3. You'll be going all over the place.
You will be going everywhere to get your paperwork. Maybe I was just unlucky to not live near a large Secretary of the State office or Chinese consulate, but I was all over my state and if I had not chosen to work through an agency, I would have had to make at least two trips to Chicago to get paperwork approved at the consulate.
4. Research. Research. Research.
Look up where you are going and what you will need and bring everything you have. Bring copies of everything. Whatever you can carry. Honest. For example, the Chinese work visa application needs to be completed in writing not on the computer. I only found out because one day I decided to look at the frequently asked questions section on their very user-unfriendly website.
5. Figure out your luggage situation.
I was lucky enough to be matched with a group of women that were going a couple months before me so I got to hear about their travel situation. Without them, I would have not known how much luggage I was allowed to bring until 4 days before my flight out (I wasn't kidding about the frustration part). I was allowed one carry-on and 2 checked bags with my company. Check with yours as soon as possible.
6. Start setting aside money
It was recommended that we bring about $2000-3000 dollars in some accessible form to China since transportation, food, housing, company expenses, and personal effects will cost you.
7. Start a travel binder
You are going to get a bunch of information once you sign your contract up until the day you start working. Print it out. Print another copy. Get page protectors. Save it on your computer. Save it on your email. Save ALL THE PAPERWORK. EVERYWHERE.
8. Get a copier.
You are constantly going to have to print some paperwork out, sign it and send it back. Constantly. And usually, they want it as soon as you receive the document. So be prepared for that. I highly recommend you set up a signature on adobe or any PDF viewer software you use as well. It is convenient when they send you an email at 3 am and you're obsessed with responding to emails immediately.
9. Budget Yourself
Cost of living in China is much lower than in America and many other countries. However, that doesn’t mean you can frivolously spend your paycheck. Try to figure out how much expendable income you will have once taxes and cost of living are factored in. I used Numbeo for all my general cost of living questions. It was helpful and made budgeting easy. I cannot yet attest to how close the prices are compared to reality, but I will update when I found out.
10. SuperCenter Secretary of the State ONLY
For all your Secretary of the State trips (for validation and passport information mainly), always go to the supercenter ones. I don’t know if they are called something different in each state but go to the biggest secretary of the state possible because that is the only one that does validation of things such as your diploma, your police check etc.
11. Get your diploma certified at your school
Maybe this is obvious to some people, but I figure that anyone who was able to certify a document could certify my diploma without issue. The visa service center I went through stated otherwise. You must take your diploma to your college or university and get them to certify it there. I was within a reasonable drive to my school. For those of you who are not, I believe you can mail your diploma in, but I would call your school’s administration building for more information on that.
12. Get copies of your diploma
If you like to display your diploma for all to see, I would suggest getting another diploma because the one you get certified is going to be stamped, written on, and have papers stapled to it. Plus, your company might ask for you to bring the original with you for them to keep.
13. Get a county police check
The police check was especially annoying because there are at least 5 different routes to choose from: Do you get the FBI check or maybe the state check? Or maybe the county check or how about the city police check? The possibilities are endless, but your time to get this information is not. An FBI police check takes a good 12-14 weeks to receive (and if you get told to get a police check when I did then you will know that is not feasible). A state police check takes 2 weeks to receive which is not unreasonable, but the process was tedious since you needed to get fingerprinted and what not. The city police check seemed too narrow so I opted for the county one. It’s about $15 plus you need it certified (which you can get done right where you get the police check).
14. Figure out your living situation
It is likely that when you arrive in China, you will be staying in a hotel until you get yourself settled. Most apartments require you to be in the country to sign which makes it difficult to get a place to live before heading to China. Figure that out and plan accordingly. Most companies suggest you try rooming with the people at your location which helps cut down on your costs and gives you nice company. It’s not a bad idea, but going in blind with a roommate can be weird and turn out horribly.
15. Look up must-haves for China
Life in China is different, as I’m sure you could deduce, from our own. Some things are not as readily available. Now, I am going to be living in a city so what I bring may be different from your own list. Here is a list of things I made sure to bring:
- Deodorant—Apparently, they just don’t have any in China. Maybe the Chinese don’t smell. Or don’t care about their smell? I don’t know. Bring lots.
- Razors --- While, not impossible to find, there isn’t a huge selection like in America so if you have a favorite brand, bring it.
- Perfume --- Especially, if you like a certain name brand. It will likely be expensive to purchase in China so just bring your own.
- Feminine products --- Do the Chinese not have periods? No, but I think they don’t sell tampons in China. Only pads. I’m not sure. So, I stuffed my suitcase full of various products.
- Make-up --- Make-up is abundant in China, but most of it contains whitening products since the Chinese value the pale look. Just bring your own with some extra supplies for when you run out.
- A face mask --- Of everything listed, this may be the most important for your health and well-being. Find a good face mask. Pollution is a serious problem in China. There is an application called Air Quality China (I’m not sure of the Apple equivalent) that will tell you how healthy the air quality is on a certain day. Live on that app. Love that app. Be one with that app. Anyway, I purchased a VogMask since I read that it got some decent reviews online. I have yet to test it out, but I will update with my own review.
- Converter --- China has a different voltage than America. Get a converter. You will need the 110V converter.
16. Be flexible.
Things change on a moments notice in China as far as visa requirements are concerned. So while it may be frustrating for you to have to do more work at the last minute, believe me when I say that your company is just as frustrated and delayed as you.
Till next time.
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