Hey,

I visited Kunming 3 years ago and I am now considering finding an English teaching job and moving there for a year.

I highly value the opinions of those who are already living and working there.

I'm keen to know about particular schools you'd recommend or say to stay the hell away from.

Also: I've heard that air quality has deteriorated there, how bad is it now? (I was previously working in Beijing, where it was often really terrible)

Thanks

air got worse, but is still much better than beijing.

send CVs everywhere. and then navigate through the jungle of offers with your gut feeling. which is what i do, and i always pick the wrong place.

if you want a job from HELL, just let me know. i'll hook you up!

Make sure you get a 'criminal record clearance' letter. That is something that is fairly new since 3 years ago.

Magnifico teaches English????

are you stalking me now?

There must be hundreds of teaching jobs all over the city. Some are good, some are bad, like anywhere else in the world. It might behoove you to get to know the school first, or even pay them a visit one day and stay in Kunming for a week or two and get a feel for it.

Kunming is a pretty charmless city. But it's okay.

Charm removal began some time ago and has been intense since Automobile Civilization and Modern Development really got underway about 6 years ago. However, it's still a pretty laid-back and friendly place.

Thanks, guys. I appreciate your comments.

Hard to get it all isn't it?

good location (which Kunming struck me as) AND good job.

sorry about the negative smartass remark. it's irresponsible to talk you out of it with a flippant remark.

just go for it. take a leap of faith. the weather is oustanding. it's january and i was out in shorts yesterday.

you mentioned it's only one year, so even if the job isn't the greatest, one year is not a long time and you can relocate to a better job somewhere later.

and you might have interesting experiences... you might meet the love of your life. life is mysterious so it's impossible to classify things sometimes as good or bad.

go for it!