Yep, the time is quickly approaching. I have reached that magic age and am now pushing my luck to stay in this country much longer. Here, the retirement age for men is sixty and for women, 55. Up until now, Wuhan has been pretty good about renewing our resident permits and visas, despite the fact that a handful of us at the school have just passed the sixth decade. However, the powers-that-be are starting to crack down. Us “old” folks have been told that next year will probably be our last. The pasture is calling!
But it has been a good run and we will have had over five years in China, once it is over. As an international teacher, the pickings are pretty slim as far as finding a job somewhere else for two or three years. And I wouldn’t want to do it anyway. There are very few schools in the world that will hire anybody over sixty. In fact, many Asian countries don’t want any ESL teachers over 35. They want to have young, white Caucasians in the posters and online pics. It’s good for business!
So it looks like the next stage of life will begin in another year or so, retirement. We are already making plans to move to Thailand. After doing lots of research into all the possibilities to move to, Thailand is still coming out at the top of the list. And as far as going back home to Canada? Forget it! It is too cold and too expensive! I have got used to the no taxes, no tipping and no snow! As one of my friends once said, “I want to retire in a place where I can live for less that $1000 per month and grow bananas year-round!”
Looking back over my teaching career for the last three decades is an eye-opener! Over 6000 students, five or six different schools, three countries and, God knows, too many administrators to keep track of. All I can say is I am glad I took a ten-year break away from teaching to work in the art world. How people teach for three decades straight is beyond me. And China is a great place to spend my last couple of years; a wonderful school, great students and a talented staff of professionals.
If any friends out there want to visit us here in China, you only have one more year to get your ass over here before we move on to our next location!.
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