Bringing your family to China?

[gesamom]

Hi, all! I just found this list and wanted to say hello and ask a question. My husband and I are seriously considering teaching English in China. We don't have TEFL cert yet, but we are both native English speakers and have college degrees.

My question is--have any of you brought families to China with you? I know at least one moderator here has his wife and child in country, but I gather that this is a very young child. Our children are 10, 8, and 1. The one year old was adopted from China. We are homeschoolers and our children are very adventuresome. The 10 year old, in fact, is very excited about the idea of learning Mandarin. The older children travelled with us to bring the baby home and we all fell in love with the country.

I would love to hear the opinions of anyone on this board. Is this dream of ours reasonable or ridiculous?

Thanks for your input!
gesamom

[Antonio]

Dreams are never ridiculous!

Well, I'm glad you both hold degrees and are native English speakers from the US. You will have no trouble at all in finding a job in China. You will need to have 2 jobs though in order to support 3 children, especially if 2 of them will go to an international school in China.

I strongly recommend budgetting for an international school for your 10 and 8 year old. To place them in a Chinese only speaking school will be too hard on them and they first need to slowly assimilate into the Chinese way of life and learn the language. Give them about 3 years each in an international school, then consider placing them in a Chinese public school. I think that's the only way.

[ingramml]

I live in Lanzhou and my Parent want to come visit. I don't really think that there is anything that they will want to see. i was really thinking about taking them to xian because its just a better city. Whad to you think of just having them here for a day then taking a train ti Xian.

[waixingren]

I agree with Antonio. You should try for jobs at international schools since they pay better. And if you plan to send your kids to school, send them to an international school where they'll get a decent education.

It is supposedly easy to include dependents on your Z visa (there's a section in the foreign experts certificate for that)--you'll just need help from your employer.