Teaching posts in Myanmar
- springrain
- I'm on 3000; na na, na na na
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It's a ripoff. I'm not showing off, vlad, I promise, but I worked in Mandalay from 1997-1999, and the salary stated in the post was inferior to what we were able to earn then. That was in a much smaller city and 20 friggin' years ago! In those days it was considered a 'hardship country,' but I never found it that bad. Apart from the Tatmadaw nonsense, it was the noise from the Temples that bugged me the most - loudspeakers blaring out in Pali (not that the language matters, but the point remains that they didn't even understand it themselves) from 5 AM! Power cuts on a shift of either 6 AM - 6 PM or 6 PM - 6 AM didn't help, either.
Not your fault, mate, but the school is a ripoff, I reckon.
Not your fault, mate, but the school is a ripoff, I reckon.
'History is a set of lies agreed upon.'
Attributed to Napoleon
Attributed to Napoleon
True story. Another tenant of that house - a female marketing manager - moved out because the partner questioned her about having her boyfriend stay over. The girl was 30.Stagger Lee wrote:Wow.scobienz wrote:The two biggest regional law firms can't get people to move to Myanmar because of the cost of accommodation. One of them rents a big villa and all the expat lawyers share it in the same way they shared houses while studying 10-20 years ago. The main partner lives next door and the house's security guard reports their activity to the partner. One lad got fired because he was drinking too much at home. That's no way to live as an adult.
As to the young guy who was sacked for excessive drinking, he went to another firm. He was found dead in his Yangon apartment a year later. Suspected alcohol poisoning.
- Petrol Head
- Grand Poobah
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Firstly, yes, on balance you are better in PP if that is what they're paying as a teaching wage.vladimir wrote:PH, have you lived in Myanmar?
I visited twice, completely different in many respects to Cambodia, imo.
I was really glad to get back here and taste food that didn't have a ph of 7.
imho, the 'golden age' for TEFLers in SE ASia is over. Vietnam is the last refuge, and then only for people who can get CRCs and have genuine degrees.
Too many opportunistic new 'international' school owners employing backpackers/ crims/BS artists. And no decent MoE ready to regulate the process and take advice from both locals and foreigners. (why should we consult them?)
Oh well, good while it lasted.
Secondly, for the doubters, If you think I'm lying about the "hardship" thing while y'all sitting cosy with your rooftop ice rinks and Erdinger Weissbier, by all means spend a year here and let's discuss again. If you're as fortunate as I and your Khmer/Thai/Pinoy/Viet/French better half sticks around over that period, I'll buy all the beers, at every meet-up, for the following year.
Random stream of consciousness on the subject:
- I have a 90 minute commute to work each morning because of the traffic - bikes are banned in town too. 2 hour commutes are common enough for some unfortunate bastards.
-There's no 'big mac' index as we're sans McDs so ill use the pizza index. From memory Luigis in PP was circa $9? Pizza of that calibre here will run you about $14 with the tax (service charges are a thing over here).
-Good bread is extremely hard to find, and you can add about a third to the markup versus PP when you find it.
-Beer is cheap and better tasting than Cambodia's Generic Asian Lager offerings. Local Myanmar, Tubourg, Heineken is about 900 kyat per can (~1150 kyat to the USD atm).
-Wages generally (not teaching apparently) are probably the best in the region outside of Singapore and Hong Kong. Expats on formerly good gigs across the world have all come chasing the dollars. Full expat packages and tax free base in USD all possible if you're clever in negotiations.
-The locals are very good people and probably the most honest in SEA, but core competencies are lower than Cambodia in most areas. English is generally poor.
- Laws change frequently and without warning. You must follow these laws as a foreigner.
- There is far more of a collective sense of "society". Locals will and do follow rules. The country does have a sense of direction.
- You need to have about 4 alternative restaurants/bars on a night out in mind. Frequently your intended watering hole is shut for some reason. Expect to waste about 1 hour sorting this. Bars are supposed to shut by 10pm, there are exceptions, but don't expect Hanoi style mockery of rule.
- You better like golf, because other than golf, there's nothing much to do on weekends. Most professional networking seems to resolve around golf / golf courses.
- An Indian meal in the Sher e Punjab class with entree, main and bread or rice will cost you $17.
- The NGO scene is small but getting its' claws in - beardiness is following in its' wake. the other week I made the mistake of meeting at an embryonic beard nest that took a principled stand against service of beer (I'm not joking).
- The internet is not fast enough to stream movies. I pay over $100 per month for "fast" internet.
- Gym fees are $80 per month.
- The "Bangkok Shuffle" at the airport Friday night is a sight to see - Thai airways runs a 777 at capacity with those making the weekly exodus.
- Currency is extremely unstable. Fluctuations from 1100 kyat/USD to 1300 kyat/USD and back occurred in the last 12 months.
- Coke Zero is a luxury and cannot be taken for granted; it appears and disappears without warning.
- USD absolutely cannot be stamped, dirty or torn. Unusable otherwise.
- If you can find a steady supply of genuine Jack Daniels in a shop, I'll buy the beers.
- Snail mail letters take a month to arrive.
- People smoking in movies is blurred on Myanmar TV. So is cleavage. The word "Cunt" is ok.
- It's the most buddhist country in SEA.
- Lucky Strike smokes are a thing.
- Beef, even local beef, is a luxury that cannot be taken for granted.
- The local Oktoberfest is excellent.
Haha - my money’s on Playboy
In other words, unless you love beer and golf, there is fuck all to drink and fuck all to do?
- Falcon Randwick
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There's always JJ Entertainment City...
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- vladimir
- Feminist Watch List
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Wow, lot of good info, thanks, guys.
Tbh, I couldn't go, a university here told me they would be hiring me for the new semester FT, and on that basis, paid for my WP and back-dates. Obviously we agreed that I would pay that off when I worked for them.
They offered me 4 hours/week when the new semester started.
I never saw a receipt for the amount I was billed for the WP, only one for the normal fee. When I found a much lower-paying job and had to get my WP from them, they charged me $20 for a 'visa fee'. Yes, for a WP transfer, not even a charge from MoL, but from the university.
They are now holding my passport hostage.
Anyway, back on topic, I could put up with all the hardships, I spent 10 years in boarding school, but I'd like to be able to save more to make the hardships sweeter.
Hopefully someone can benefit from the advert.
Tbh, I couldn't go, a university here told me they would be hiring me for the new semester FT, and on that basis, paid for my WP and back-dates. Obviously we agreed that I would pay that off when I worked for them.
They offered me 4 hours/week when the new semester started.
I never saw a receipt for the amount I was billed for the WP, only one for the normal fee. When I found a much lower-paying job and had to get my WP from them, they charged me $20 for a 'visa fee'. Yes, for a WP transfer, not even a charge from MoL, but from the university.
They are now holding my passport hostage.
Anyway, back on topic, I could put up with all the hardships, I spent 10 years in boarding school, but I'd like to be able to save more to make the hardships sweeter.
Hopefully someone can benefit from the advert.
ירי ילדים והפצצת אזרחים דורש אומץ, כמו גם הטרדה מינית של עובדי ההוראה.
- Petrol Head
- Grand Poobah
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Basically.logos wrote:In other words, unless you love beer and golf, there is fuck all to drink and fuck all to do?
Haha - my money’s on Playboy
- Starving Pelican
- I am a Special Snowflake !!?!
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- Location: Cat Food Paradise
I agree with PH. I went to Yangon and then PP a few weeks after. Yangon would be a tougher place to live for expats. Mostly crap accommodation, few expat bars, nothing else really catering for expats either. Shitty traffic which seemed to be far worse than what I experienced in 2013. I'd only go there for big coin.
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- vladimir
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I really disliked the food. Oily stodge, tasteless.
The city is much cleaner than here, better planned, traffic less insane, imo.
Architecture typical of colonial Britain, the local sports club looked like a clone from S/N Rhodesia, as did churches and apartment blocks.
Hotels/guesthouses stupidly expensive.
I could deal with the boredom, catch up on reading/writing, but the border trips every 70 days? Screw that.
The city is much cleaner than here, better planned, traffic less insane, imo.
Architecture typical of colonial Britain, the local sports club looked like a clone from S/N Rhodesia, as did churches and apartment blocks.
Hotels/guesthouses stupidly expensive.
I could deal with the boredom, catch up on reading/writing, but the border trips every 70 days? Screw that.
ירי ילדים והפצצת אזרחים דורש אומץ, כמו גם הטרדה מינית של עובדי ההוראה.
- Phuket2006
- The Internet is my Friend
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its only a 70 minute flight to Bangkok PLUS nice to have a weekend there for shopping and....
I like Burma not so much Yangon, just another city and if i was 20 years younger and knowing what i know will happen, a great place to start something now
Amazing beaches down south and only 4-5 hours from Bangkok by road, the north, the temples, rivers, the people.
I like Burma not so much Yangon, just another city and if i was 20 years younger and knowing what i know will happen, a great place to start something now
Amazing beaches down south and only 4-5 hours from Bangkok by road, the north, the temples, rivers, the people.
"We are turning into a nation of whimpering slaves to Fear—fear of war, fear of poverty, fear of random terrorism, or suddenly getting locked up in a military detention camp on vague charges of being a Terrorist sympathizer." HST
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- Making Khmer girls cry since 2003
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Have you tried going to your embassy and truthfully reporting your passport as lost/stolen/inaccessible based on the fact that it is in the hands of third party who won't return it?vladimir wrote: They are now holding my passport hostage.
Let's say my friend asks to see my passport to look at all the cool stamps and visas. I hand it to him. He then refuses to give it back and gets all stabby and says he'll sell it to me for $1000.
I'm quite confident that if I walked into a US embassy anywhere in the world and told them this story, they would issue me a new passport. I'm curious about what your embassy told you.
Follow my lame Twitter feed: @gavin_mac
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- I need professional help
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Are you suggesting vladimir might tell his embassy this tale outlined above (that his friend got all stabby etc) even though vladimir knows his passport is being held hostage by an unscrupulous seat of learning ??gavinmac wrote:Have you tried going to your embassy and truthfully reporting your passport as lost/stolen/inaccessible based on the fact that it is in the hands of third party who won't return it?vladimir wrote: They are now holding my passport hostage.
Let's say my friend asks to see my passport to look at all the cool stamps and visas. I hand it to him. He then refuses to give it back and gets all stabby and says he'll sell it to me for $1000.
I'm quite confident that if I walked into a US embassy anywhere in the world and told them this story, they would issue me a new passport. I'm curious about what your embassy told you.
- Falcon Randwick
- Damn, I just saw my Internet Bill !
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The best thing about working there were the fully-paid four day long weekends in Bangkok every 10 weeks. All hotel and visa costs were paid by my employers, plus a per diem on top of my salary. Whey hey!vladimir wrote:I could deal with the boredom, catch up on reading/writing, but the border trips every 70 days? Screw that.
Also, thanx for pointing me in the right direction in the first place all those years ago, Vlad. Much appreciated.
This job posting, however, sucks a big one by comparison...
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- Making Khmer girls cry since 2003
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Ni, I'm saying the situations are analogous. He no longer has his passport. He needs a new one. The embassy should give him one.Stagger Lee wrote: Are you suggesting vladimir might tell his embassy this tale outlined above (that his friend got all stabby etc) even though vladimir knows his passport is being held hostage by an unscrupulous seat of learning ??
Follow my lame Twitter feed: @gavin_mac
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