Riddle me this
I have a roof over my head, a steady job, and enough cash to last. And yet I wish to reject all of this in favour of buggering off to a nice and warm foreign country to teach English. The reason? I can't stand the 9-5 grind. Wake up, go to work, come home, watch TV, rinse and repeat for 5 days and then the weekend is here. Again. Even with hobbies it gets all samey after a while. I'm beginning to reject the whole thing utterly and the only thing keeping me in a job is my pride, frankly. I will not be some dole-bludging hoon. However, to the point. Is being willing to work toward your dream of escaping this frankly dull and cheerless life in favour of something infinitely preferable being a spoiled brat, or someone with their head screwed on (or slightly off) being willing to follow their dream?

Incidentally this is not a "Please validate me and give me attention" post, more a genuine question. I appreciate your answers.
( jim_bob can herd cats., Wed 15 Oct 2008, 16:25, 32 replies)

If I had the balls, I would too
but I haven't. I've got ovaries, a mortgage and a partner who's been made redundant. If you can get out of here chap, do it and good luck to you.
( Captain Wow currently being a cunt in Infamous, Wed 15 Oct 2008, 16:30, closed)

im the same
i think it makes you a man/woman (human!).
(bazmorningstar efil4nat3b, Wed 15 Oct 2008, 16:30, closed)

Man.

( jim_bob can herd cats., Wed 15 Oct 2008, 17:30, closed)

Head screwed on.
I can't see how a willingness to work to achieve something (whether or not that thing is related to the work) can be regarded as 'spoilt'.

Oh, and a click for 'dole-bludging hoon'.
(ThomsonsPier consumes, Wed 15 Oct 2008, 16:30, closed)

I understand totally.
I did the same thing. I had, had enough of the 9 to 5 grind and wanted a total change in life, the pace everything. So buggered off to the slower life of Spain. Expecting afternoon siestas, Manana Manana attitude.. brilliant :)
Thought I'd fit in brilliantly!

Anyway, then I ended up working in Gibraltar.. which is exactly the same as the UK, Except now I have a frontier to cross every day and its a bloody nightmare. But in general I do love it out here and its far better than the UK. Driving past blue sea every day, wall to wall sunshine in the summer. Met some great people. Its awesome.


Im still in a bit of a 9 to 5 grind, but its a lot better than being in the UK doing it for some reason :)


I dropped my job as an IT Manager and came out here with just a couple of grand to play with. Took a one way flight and had a hotel booked for a week. Took it from there. Been here 18 months now. Never looked back, best thing I ever did.
(Miggyman, Wed 15 Oct 2008, 16:32, closed)

It's a means to an end
Assuming you have no other responsibilities (children, incontinent parents that need 24 care etc) then look at it this way: You only get one shot at life and should do everything you can to enjoy it.

If I was in your position I'd save up and go as soon as possible.
(Avalanche - Purveyor of sexual deviancy since 1976, Wed 15 Oct 2008, 16:32, closed)

Hmmm...
The person who called me spoiled gave the reason for doing 9-5 etc is because "Everyone else does". Since when is that a reason?

Also, thanks!
( jim_bob can herd cats., Wed 15 Oct 2008, 16:38, closed)

yeah
No one has to do the 9 - 5 grind. But its the easiest way to get a stable income so that you can look after yourself. To be honest I dont care about being rich. I'd quite happily work part time if I could afford to. But I would never expect to sponge off other people, plus of course I like to treat myself every now and again (deserved due to working). Spoiled people are takers in life and everything they have they expect and have taken. Not earned.
(Miggyman, Wed 15 Oct 2008, 16:41, closed)

9-5 is normal and accepted
Is this person a bit hard of thinking?

Perhaps they are just jealous because they can't do it or maybe there's a more sinister reason behind their comments.
(Avalanche - Purveyor of sexual deviancy since 1976, Wed 15 Oct 2008, 17:08, closed)

In a word, they are
However, I have spoken to them only rarely since. And he's too stupid for Facebook.
( jim_bob can herd cats., Wed 15 Oct 2008, 17:22, closed)

no no no
If Mummy and Daddy gave you lots of money to go gallivanting around the world, then you'd be spoiled. But going and getting a new job and a new life under your own steam - of course not! The person who said that is silly... and probably jealous because they don't have the guts to do it themselves.
(Binary Solo loves a bit of algebra, Wed 15 Oct 2008, 16:42, closed)

as others have said
if you can do it - no kids or other dependants - then do it. Getting a TEFL is meant to straight forward and not too hard.

The only issue is of course you might not like it. So having an escape route back might be a good option - renting your house out, possibly getting a sabbatical from work - it's no different from maternity leave, is it ?

And it's probably less of a culture shock to go to Europe rather than the Far East. Depends on how much travel you'd done in the past.

I'd suggest making this a six-month plan and getting ready to go out in the spring - the Med. is cold in the winter.

But yes, do it - we only go round the board once, this is not a rehearsal, etc etc etc
( I_Was_Mordred, Wed 15 Oct 2008, 16:49, closed)

I've been wondering where I'd flee to if I could... Perhaps a decent off-topic topic...

According to Lonely Planet here are the worlds top cities (albeit touristy):

Antwerp (!)
Beirut
Chicago
Glasgow (!!!!)
Lisbon
Mexico City
Sao Paulo, Brazil
Shanghai
Warsaw
Zurich
( whenanimalsattackhumans clad in global hypercolour, Wed 15 Oct 2008, 16:57, closed)

Oh yes and my mate always goes on about Canada and theres the obvious option of Australia as well.. Who knows..
( whenanimalsattackhumans clad in global hypercolour, Wed 15 Oct 2008, 16:57, closed)

I just saw that too
don't knock Glasgow!
(Holy Cremola Foam Batman will be back on, Wed 15 Oct 2008, 17:01, closed)

Being from a small town on the North coast its just far too scary for me lol!

Too many neds :( For some reason always felt safer in Edinburgh..
( whenanimalsattackhumans clad in global hypercolour, Wed 15 Oct 2008, 17:06, closed)

That's it
I'm going to quit my job, sell my house and move to Glasgow NOT.

I think the Lonely Planet randomly pick places to provoke debate.

I hate people who travel anyway, some of the most boring tossers you could ever accidently end up stuck having a conversation with. Whereas I'm interesting me, I go to work, come home, feed the cat, get pissed. Wankers.
( stopmeandslapme Cometh the hour, cometh your mum, Wed 15 Oct 2008, 17:42, closed)

I smell
A troll.
( jim_bob can herd cats., Wed 15 Oct 2008, 18:38, closed)

I smell
a stalker.
( stopmeandslapme Cometh the hour, cometh your mum, Wed 15 Oct 2008, 19:23, closed)

Well...
Glasgow wasn't too bad - lived there for nine months and quite liked it (apart from the rampant racism).
Zurich sucks donkey balls unless you're earning £100,000 a year or more and the people look like they're bulldogs licking piss off a nettle.
( Colonel Boris "...a desperate Buzzfeed imitation...", Wed 15 Oct 2008, 18:34, closed)

A word of warning
Teaching English abroad can be good, but it can also be rather soul destroying. My advice is try to keep it freelance: private tutoring or company contracts, or attached to secondary schools as part of a programme can be reasonably well paid, somewhat rewarding and with a bit of flexibility.
I don't know what country/region you're thinking about, but do some homework before considering one of the big language school chains.
In any case, if you're doing regular shifts there's no avoiding the daily grind feeling, even in an exotic location. And this is made far worse by having 20-plus conversations with students each week along the lines of "My hobby are eating and sleeping, what is yours?"
(cheez is feeling ergophobic, Wed 15 Oct 2008, 17:07, closed)

I fully accept that
I have been researching this, and my plan is to save up enough to fly out, get a course at a school in Thailand (I'm thinking Phuket), and have enough for basic living expenses to get me up and running, and some left by (about £1000 in an account here as a startup fund) if it goes tits up.
( jim_bob can herd cats., Wed 15 Oct 2008, 17:20, closed)

Do it
Hi, if your thinking about it then do it, it wont go away that easily. Ive been away for 4 years now and its a damn sight more fun than the daily grind.
here are the pros v cons as I found them...

Pro's
Weather
Food
Drinks
Beaches
Generally non violent societies
Different perspectives/cultures etc etc
Stuff to do that you can't do at home, often cheaply.
Learning other languages (when you can do it, its amazing, like opening a secret portal)

Con's
You'll miss your friends/family (initially ALOT)
Language.
Theiving gits who spot your not local and tap you)
Career progression in your old job.
British TV, culture (?)
Language.
Oh, and did I mention that learning other languages is pretty difficult? especially in a short time frame, and you may need them to get the better jobs)

I'm currently in Hong Kong, pay is good, 20 quid tax bill last year but its quite a culture shock from Europe.

Good luck!
(orangejuicejohns, Wed 15 Oct 2008, 17:45, closed)

Hmmm...
To weigh up the cons

Language- I'm a fast learner, so I should be fine
Thieving gits- I'm a tightwad, so hopefully won't be too much trouble.
Career progression- HAH!
British TV/Culture- I need a break from all of that.
Missing friends/family- Nothing I can do about that, but I can always come home if it gets too much.
( jim_bob can herd cats., Wed 15 Oct 2008, 18:32, closed)

Teaching English as a Foreign Language can be sheer exploitation
and really crap once the novelty of being abroad wears off. A lot of schools will just try and rip you off as they know foreigners don't know the local labour laws and don't have the contacts with the police to get their rights respected (and that's if they know enough of the local language to make themselves understood to the authorities, who won't necessarily fall over themselves to help foreigners). It's not beyond schhols to lie through their teeth over the phone re accommodation, workload and pay, then muck you around once you arrive and you're thousands of miles from home.

Some of the worst horror stories are here:
teflblacklist.blogspot.com/
(lolwhites, Wed 15 Oct 2008, 22:09, closed)

Thanks for that
I was wondering if there was a site around on the net that had that.
( jim_bob can herd cats., Thu 16 Oct 2008, 0:57, closed)

I don`t know how old you are, or if you have a degree, but...
If you do, you should check out the JET programme and come to work in Japan. It`s ace. I`ve been teaching in a local Junior High School for 4.x years now and it`s brilliant. You don`t need a TEFL, just a degree (in any subject), the weather is pretty good. Though too hot/humid in the summer. You can live comfortably, save money, and have 2 - 3 holidays a year... Oh, and I`m currently writing this from work wearing shorts, a t-shirt and flip-flops (my favourite thing about this job).

My kids aren`t the brightest, and have little interest in learning English, but when you can get through to them it`s one of the most rewarding jobs in the world.

Also, my contracted hours are 8:30 - 4:15. I live a 10 min bike ride from work and although I could go home at 4:15, I like to hang about after school and play football/basketball/the drums because it feels like being paid to be a professional sports man/musician.

Seriously, fuck the corporate world.
(Bifta, Thu 16 Oct 2008, 1:28, closed)

Indeed!
I do have a degree but I can't find my certificate anywhere... suggestions?
( jim_bob can herd cats., Thu 16 Oct 2008, 8:39, closed)

"dole-bludging hoon"
I don't even know what this means and it made me laugh + clicky.
(TDub Nunc id vides, nunc ne vides on, Thu 16 Oct 2008, 5:07, closed)

Dole bludging hoon
It's an Australian expression (which I nicked because I liked it) meaning to be one who wilfully lives off welfare and actively tries to avoid getting a job.
( jim_bob can herd cats., Thu 16 Oct 2008, 8:34, closed)

*STAMP*
Validated.

Next please?
(EffinDoubt is breaking glass on, Thu 16 Oct 2008, 11:30, closed)

Good question..
If it's your dream, go follow it.

Me, I need to do the 9-5 thing. At least until I can find something that will enable me to work less than 5 days a week, but still live in a nice area, have a decent social life and the rest of the time do things that create or benefit society but don't actually generate any money..
(EssY, Thu 16 Oct 2008, 12:19, closed)