Back to slaving away for a mediocre lifestyle as a hotel night porter, not for me, no thanks. No need for me to go back to being a looked-down upon loser back home when I can snag a good job in China! To be number one.

I agree with most of your posting, partly because most times I never even bothered to prepare lessons at public gigs. I failed to see the point, and the students seemed happier just having free talk/fun in class, or watching english movies. The coursebooks are useless by and large, and they really don't want to learn, just have fun, to most of the boys, English isn't that important anyway!!

The last part of your post that I have quoted I disagree with however. If you were working as a hotel porter on night shifts back in the West BEFORE you left for China, do you really expect that teaching X amount of classes per week is going to help you with your pension/medical insurance/NI/state contributions upon your return? As Silverboy has rightly said, it doesn't help, but is actually a hindrance, and you may even find it hard to resume your former crappy job because you have been out of the loop back home so long. You say to be number one, but if/when you have to return home, unless you have a base setup, I very much doubt you will feel that way.

Happy New Year,
THE LAWYER