Interview with Amber Rollins currently teaching in China with her husband
 

Where are you from Amber?

America. I've spent most of my life in North Texas, mostly in the Fort Worth area.

Where are you teaching or where did you teach? 

I teach at ShengDa Trade and Management College in Zhengzhou,
Henan Province, Peoples' Republic of China.

What do/did you like most about living and working abroad?

The students I've had in China are wonderful. They're sweet, friendly, study hard, and appreciate and respect teachers. What I like best about living abroad is it's so much more peaceful than in the U.S. Life in America is very stressful; it seemed like all I had time to do was go
to work at a job I hated, eat dinner, and watch TV. Here, I teach great students and have a job I love. Then spend my spare time reading, writing, drawing, doing tai chi, playing tennis, listening to music, and spending time with my husband. We go shopping at a fresh vegetable market where vendors remember us instead of a big, impersonal grocery store. We can sit outside the small snack shops and drink
tea and chat with people.

What do/did you dislike the most? 

When other foreign teachers are rude and demanding, or act like everything about their country is right and other countries are wrong.

How did you get started teaching abroad? 

I have a degree in English and went through a teacher-training program at my university. I taught in public and private schools for a few years, and then got into computers. I worked for a web development company for two years. Then the economy went bad and I was laid off. I
wanted to get back to teaching, but it was difficult since I hadn't for some time. I also decided I wanted to specialize in either special education or English as a Second Language. Both my husband and I like to travel and are interested in other countries, especially Asia, so we thought we'd look into teaching overseas. There were so many good teaching jobs in China, we decided we couldn't pass up the opportunity.

Do you have any back ground in teaching English, if not, how did you learn? 

Oh, yes. I majored in English, with a minor in education. I had to study both English and teaching methods and theory for four years. I had to intern at a public junior high school for five months, and then
student teach at a public high school for four months before I could
graduate.

How long have you been teaching English?

In the U.S., I taught young children for two years, high school and junior high for two years, and adults for one year. In China, I've already taught for one year and have started on another.

Do you feel teaching English overseas is a good way to make a good living?

It depends on where you go and if you are doing it purely for money or for satisfaction. I don't make that much money in China, if you convert it to U.S. dollars. But it's plenty for me to live on comfortably while I'm here, and I also have a spacious apartment rent-free and
utilities paid by the school. My husband and I both teach, so between us we manage to save about half our salaries. Plus, I'm happy. Overall, I have a much higher quality of life teaching overseas.

Can you give some good advice for someone thinking about living and teaching English abroad?

Do your research and find out everything you can. Look into more than one country. Find out the visa requirements. Look at yourself and think about what kind of teacher you will be. Think about the kind of person you are and how that will fit into the teaching atmosphere of the country you want to go to. For example, China is much more informal than, say, Japan. Some people like this, and some people prefer a more structured teaching environment. Know that you are going to another country and they will do things
differently than you are used to. Yes, the schools have a responsibility toward you, but the onus is on you to adjust, not them.

Can you describe what it is like living and working in country you're in?

There are many places to teach in China, from language school to middle and high schools, to universities. This is just my experience; others' can be quite different.
My husband and I live in an on-campus apartment. The school provided us with furniture, a microwave, a TV, a gas cooker, a refrigerator, a desktop computer with Internet access, phones, and an air conditioner in the main bedroom.

We teach two or three classes a day, with each class being two periods of 50 minutes each, with a five-minute break in-between. Most of my classes have been non-English majors, such as accounting, marketing, international trade, and Chinese. Chinese classes can be big; most of mine have over 60 students. Thus far, I have always taught oral English, although some teachers have classes in writing and English through film. Our school allows us to decide our own curriculum and plan our own classes. We also write our own exams, although these have to be turned
into the foreign language department for approval.
Food in China is very cheap. Two people can eat at a restaurant, get three dishes and two bowls of rice, plus a kettle of green tea, for around 20 yuan, which is about $2.50 U.S. (there are 8.27 yuan in a
dollar). We can buy enough fresh vegetables (and tofu) to last us for a week
at the fresh vegetable market for 15 yuan or so - and I'm a vegetarian!

Chinese cities depend on their bus systems, so there are buses everywhere.
Trains go in-between the cities. Very few people have cars, but this is changing.
The traffic in China is insane! China is a huge country, so there are many places
to see, and bus fares are inexpensive.

Chinese TV leaves something to be desired, but DVDs and DVD players are not at all expensive, and you can get pretty much any movie, and quite a few TV shows, for a very low cost - 7 or 8 yuan.

Do you have any warnings for people considering teaching English overseas?

Don't trust anyone who wants you to come into the country on a visa you cannot legally work on. For example, I've heard of people being asked
to come to China on a tourist visa and then "we can change it later". DON'T. There's no reason any reputable school would do this.

Take with a HUGE grain of salt anything a recruiter tells you.

Double and triple check everything.

Ask for emails of former teachers of any school you are considering, and email them with questions.

Remember - you really can't be too careful.

If you could do it over again, what would you do differently? 

I would have done it sooner!
Is there a way for someone to contact you for more information? 

Yes: amberrollins@netscape.net