Flipping Big Macs in the West or teaching English in China are both crap jobs. I think being on the dole is a better option than either jobs. The way to go is to get yourself in a positon where you don't need to rely on teaching English or working at Macca's.

Seem to be options of despair. Why don't you find yourself a teaching position in the west? If you're not qualified, put your shoulder to the wheel and get qualified. In order to do that a few years in 'macca's may well help sustain you in the process. All qualifications are is learning and remembering information; most of us can do that, if we stop whinging and get on with it. On the other hand, an itinerant teachers job in China seems to me to be a wonderful life- but not for a whinging pom. I would say that the cut off age for embarking on a new career is about 55. We do have age-discrimination laws in the west. Just do it, mate.