Back home - Unemployed - Bored - No Idea What I want or what to do!
Back home - Unemployed - Bored - No Idea What I want or what to do!
So I’ve been back for well over a month now. Originally I came home with optimism, happy to be back see family and mates, I had a plan, to spend some of my savings from oz and do some fun stuff in europe - ibiza etc.. but now having gone away to asia and oz for 15 months I don’t think its even worth it!
Work wise I still don’t know what I want to do for a career, I’ve had no success in landing a job, I want a graduate job at some stage but don’t want to have to go down south like everyone else. I don’t know what graduate job I want - I just don’t want to do the things everyone else does, ie office - It’s bullshit the graduate jobs market -
I’m thinking about tefl abroad but unsure what country to go to, I’m thinking about going back to oz…
You could say its good that I have loads of options and that I’m still only 23 and have loads of time… but time flies and I don’t want to make the wrong decisions..
anyone got the same problems? any ideas??
Mate I’m 25 still have no idea what career I want to do. and for that reason I’m saving up to go away again. I will be giving tefl a go as it’s something I think I would actually be good at. But at the end of the day will it be a career? Presuming all goes well I’ll be leaving when I’m 26 and coming back at nearly 28.
People are obsessed by careers and work they think they will enjoy but for me it’s not the be all and end all. Think of it as a means to an end at the moment. You can’t travel forever but it don’t half feel like we work forever so get out there and enjoy life.
That’s the thing, since I’ve got back and seen mates and acquaintances and everyone seems to be getting started on real life, you’re right how there’s so much emphasis on career, I just can’t envisage myself in any full time career, especially one that’s office based…
Where are you planning on teaching? my mate is in Korea and the money is good but I bloody love Thailand and wouldn’t mind going back there.
Mate I’m 25 still have no idea what career I want to do. and for that reason I’m saving up to go away again. I will be giving tefl a go as it’s something I think I would actually be good at. But at the end of the day will it be a career? Presuming all goes well I’ll be leaving when I’m 26 and coming back at nearly 28.
People are obsessed by careers and work they think they will enjoy but for me it’s not the be all and end all. Think of it as a means to an end at the moment. You can’t travel forever but it don’t half feel like we work forever so get out there and enjoy life.
Great post. That is spot on mate. A few of my mates moved to London to get high-flying, well-paid jobs, but they don’t seem to be particularly happy.
I value my satisfaction with life much more highly than how much money I make, or what my job is. What’s the point in having loads of money when you are not especially happy?
Right now, I have no office work to do and I teach 13 hours a week here in China. The money I make is enough to be very comfortable and save.
If any of you guys need help in finding an English teaching job in Asia, let me know.
Lunny- How did you manage with the language barrier in China? I have been looking into the TEFL course, but i’ve been a bit hesitant as I only know the basics in some languages.
Did you just pick it up or was it necessary to have a good baseline?
You just sort of get by as best you can. When you first arrive you usually make friends with other teachers who help you with stuff like getting food and things you need. Also, the majority of schools have a foreign teacher liaison person whose job it is to keep foreign teachers comfortable and deal with any issues they may have. That also helps a lot.
Being immersed in the language every day really helps you to learn quickly though. After a few months you can easily ask basic questions in Chinese and complete daily tasks pretty easily.
Cheers Lunny.
Yep London is all well and good the majority of jobs and plenty to do but I certainly wouldn’t want to come here to work. Fair play to those who do but if I was an outsider wow I would imagine it’s a pretty lonely city at times. It also has some bloody shite areas.
Dogpaw - I’m torn between Thailand and Cambodia. Both have areas I love but as with London BKK is just to big hectic and probably pretty lonely for me. PP which is where most of the Tefl jobs in cambodia is less so. Also it appears issues such as visas are far easier to manage. A lot less red tape and a bit more appreciation for your efforts. It seems for expats the LOS is simply a veneer that can rub off pretty quick. Although Esl cafe and other forums do tend to only show the negative side of things.
Without wanting to hijack the thread but…
Lunny what are pay and working conditions like in China? Also China rightly gets a bad press for human rights violations do you see any evidence of this? To be honest it’s the only thing that’s made me not consider it to seriously
Dogpaw - yes I was/is the exact same. I came back in December 2009. It was great for the first few months like you say. Then you wonder what to do with yourself. Well I got a job which I have been at since - though I have changed places as I moved city. But I am going to work a ski season this winter because I want change!
I also said the whole ‘i’m going to do lots of little trips in the UK and Europe’ but it didn’t happen much.
I understand what you mean about age. I was 22 when I came back and am 25 next week - it is over two and half years since I returned which is just crazy!!
I would say while you still have no commitments get out there again. Why don’t you work a ski season this winter?
Well, I sound very similar to fghammer in this respect.
I returned home in March 2010, having been travelling for a year and I didn’t have the slightest clue what I wanted to do as far as a long term career was concerned. I still don’t. As a result I almost fell into a job very similar to the one that I left beforehand. It’s a secure job and it’s okay, but if i’m completely honest it’s not something that I would be happy doing for the foreseeable future and as fghammer points out, life’s too short for regrets so as a result, i’m leaving again, at the age of 28. I have no real commitments stopping me and I still have the option of a second year working holiday visa for Australia sitting idle, so that’s my plan.
When I get back i’ll be 29 and effectively starting again. Does that worry me? Yeah, a bit. I’d be lying if I said otherwise. But at the end of the day I asked myself one question:
Which would I regret more:
a) Missing out on a year of work. Or;
b) Missing out on the experiences that only travel can offer while I have the opportunity.
There was only one answer for me. The expectations of society also annoy me a little in this regard as well in the fact that we’re almost *expected* to have done and achieved certain things by certain points in our lives, as if we’re all the same, with the same plans and apirations. Who is it that signposted our entire existance to such an extent that this could and should be dictated? Do what makes you happy is my opinion on it. No regrets.
Back to my current situation and personally, I see it as an opportunity not just in the travel, but also my long(er) term future because leaving my comfortable, safe, if a little boring job has/will force(d) me to re-assess. I plan on using that as a springboard to decide, finally, what I really want to be doing with my life, and where.
Without wanting to hijack the thread but…
Lunny what are pay and working conditions like in China? Also China rightly gets a bad press for human rights violations do you see any evidence of this? To be honest it’s the only thing that’s made me not consider it to seriously
Pay and conditions vary wildly depending on the job. If you have a degree plus some teaching experience you should be able to get a top job.
I can save a lot of money with my current job. Though the cost of living in China is rising slowly, it is still very cheap if you live in a smaller city like mine. I can save 300 - 400 quid a month at least, and that’s without trying.
The human rights violations you talk about do not affect foreigners and I haven’t seen anything myself. I do know for sure that the situation is constantly improving for Chinese people, though progress in that respect is slow.
Thing is, should we really be so pious just because we come from the west? Are we really models of fairness ourselves? A debate for another thread, perhaps, but let he who is without sin cast the first stone.
Indeed if England was perfect would I be thinking of uping sticks and leaving, almost certainly not.
I have a degree and will have a tefl so I would have thought that would do to earn enought to save some money a month.
All that on 13 hours a week you’ve definitely landed on your feet with your job. Congrats
This is going to be me next year!
My flights and everything are now booked for 4 months travelling Oz, NZ and SE Asia. I have absolutely no bloody clue what I’ll do when I get back.
I live at home with family still, and there’s a huge part of me that wants to move out when I come back, and also a huge part of me that wants to learn again because I just went from school to working in dead end office jobs. So I thought, University! Perfect! I can learn, and also move out. But how am I going to know after travelling if I’ll still want that? And if I don’t arrange it before I go, and still want it when I get back, I’ll have to wait another year.
It makes me want to explode!
I’m glad to see that there are a lot of people here on the same situation!
I left home in the Canary Islands last september to come and work in the UK for a while. I’ve managed to save a lot of money so I’ve decided to travel for another year arround the world. The thing is, I don’t consider a “coming back”, because going back to the canaries would be ruin my life! (No jobs, no money, no carrer…). So I’ll be travelling without a clue when and where I’ll stop traveling, and what I’m gonna do…and If I don’t find anything on the way, I would end up in London, with no money, no home, no family here, no job, no planns! scaring!!!
The expectations of society also annoy me a little in this regard as well in the fact that we’re almost *expected* to have done and achieved certain things by certain points in our lives, as if we’re all the same, with the same plans and apirations. Who is it that signposted our entire existance to such an extent that this could and should be dictated? Do what makes you happy is my opinion on it. No regrets.
God yes, I’m not going till near the end of next year when I’ll be 29 and a half and I’ve had the what about a mortgage, what about starting a family, what about a career stuff like I’m on my death bed or something! Most understand but some people are almost stunned when I say I have different plans to the “norm” and it does piss me off a bit.
On the subject of this thread, I’d just get any job I could find, save some cash and go away again!
All that on 13 hours a week you’ve definitely landed on your feet with your job. Congrats
Yeah, especially considering the job is totally fun and stress-free!
Wow, reading this thread is quite depressing.
I have nothing to add to it other than this will most likely be me in a year or so’s time ... GAH! :’(
