Hi!

I'm moving to Kunming in August, hopefully somewhat permanently, and I'm trying to get my TODO list in order... and figure out how to do each part.

(1) Tying up lose ends here in France
(2) Getting a job here (teaching would be great)
(3) Getting a work visa
(4) Figuring out social security and retirement savings
(5) Sending my stuf from France to Kunming

The HOW-TO:

(1) should be easy or at least I can easily get information from the MOFA.

(2) & (3), as they go together, is a bit more difficult. I've applied for a several jobs, am starting to get replies, but most want a face to face interview and demo teaching, which can only be done after I arrive... Should I come on a tourist visa and see? Or insist on a Skype/QQ interview and get the work visa before I leave? Is that even possible? What about the medical examination?

(4) is more about choosing the right option. I can choose to keep paying into the French system (which has several options for expats) or look into the Chinese options or something else entirely. Is there a mandatory social security for foreigners in China? Basic health insurance? How do you deal with this?

(5) French companies seem to only provide services to Beijing or Shanghai. Postal services (Post, UPS, DHL) are much to fast (delivery within a week) and expensive for my needs. Any international company that can ship stuff from France (Paris) to Kunming cheaply (by ship + road/train)?

Anything else?

Thanks!

Ansi

Pour être prof, tu n'as qu'à être blanc et avoir les cheveux et yeux clairs pour être sûr d'avoir un boulot en tant que prof d'Anglais, même si tu as un fort accent ou un niveau médiocre en Anglais. Et si tu n'as pas de diplôme, l'école utilisera son guanxi pour fixer ça. Ils s'en foutent de tout ce qui est compétences pédagogie.

Pour la sécu, c'est mieux de garder une option en France. Au mieux, tu peux t'enregistrer avec une compagnie étrangère à Kunming. Tu dois juste être conscient qu'ici, il y a a de fortes possibilités pour qu'ils utilisent toutes sortes d'excuses pour ne pas te payer.

Pour l'expédition, si c'est vraiment impossible d'envoyer directement de Paris a Kunming, est-ce que tu connais quelqu'un à Pékin ou Shanghai? de là-bas tu peux utiliser le service ferroviaire (China Railway Express). C'est pas cher et ils délivrent directement à ton adresse.

Look for the big international relocation companies in China. See if they have offices/agents in France.
Asia Express
Pickfords
Santa Fe.

Try google [relocation france china]

If you are confident that you can teach, and will pass an interview, push for a skype demo class. They only want to see if you can teach. You will need paperwork from the school and local government in Kunming, in order to apply for your visa.
Or
Make sure that they will pay for your visa run to HongKong, as you need to leave China to get a work visa. Make sure that HK will process 'Z' visa for your nationality.
Or
Consider those jobs, that are slightly lower paid, that pay for flights and provide accommodation. This us usually in the public sector, or for bigger franchises like EF. EF can be a crap place to work, as they are franchises, and some franchisees can be awful, but some are good. And it will get you here legally with paperwork.

Beware, some bad employers will tell you it is ok to come and start work on a tourist visa. This is bullshit, and illegal. If a company will pay your flight, they will usually cough for the visa costs and the visa run to HK.

To check out a specific employer, see if they have been red-flagged on daveseslcafe.com China board. This is uptodate info, and also has a jobs board.

Merci pour ces infos, Yankee!

Mon niveau d'anglais n'est pas trop le problème : j'ai donné des cours particuliers pendant plusieurs années et j'ai les résultat TOEFL et TOEIC pour le prouver... Je n'ai juste pas la nationalité d'un pays anglophone ni de diplome d'enseignement de l'anglais. Et avec une maitrise, ça passe pour le visa... Bon, j'ai pas les yeux clair ^^

J'ai quelques réponses qui arrivent sur mes candidatures (que je viens de faire ^^), ce qui m'inquiète c'est le visa. Tu conseillerais de venir avec un visa de tourisme et changer sur place ? Ou d'insister pour avoir le contrat à l'avance ?

Ok pour la sécu, je comptais de toute façon m'enregistrer à la CFE pour les cotisations retraite et l'assurance chomage.

Pas de contact à Pékin ni à Shanghai à priori, mais bon, avec les amis d'amis, je peux peut-être trouver. Après tout, c'est comme ça que ça fonctionne en Chine !

Thanks Tigertiger!

I'll look for those companies. There are a few French companies which haven't replied yet so I'm waiting on those too.

I'm quite confident that I can teach, not TOEFL/IELTS training as I am neither a "true" native speaker nor a professional teacher, but I have tutored students in English before, even my own classmates ^^. I'll try to push for a skype demo class.

Actually, I'm not trying to get rich doing this. As long as it covers my living expenses and social security, it is enough. I want to do this for 4 reasons: living in China (a long-time dream), leaving the big cities behind (hate those), make sure I like being a full-time teacher (the career path I have always hesitated with) and get my professional qualification at last.

I'm definitely not going to work on a tourist or a student visa, there are enough stories around of foreigners being incarcerated and/or deported for visa issues, don't want to become one. And it would definitely compromise my career, whether as a teacher or an actuary...

Actuary.
I assume you can teach mathematics.

There are many schools here with special programmes that are crying out for mathematics teachers, and the pay is much higher than language teaching. Typically 2-3x as much money.

Remember that math is always math, irrespective of the curriculum. Look for the schools offering A'Level, International Baccalaureate, ACT, GED, or other international programs.
You often do not need to be a certified teacher for these programs, you just need to be able to teach math effectively.

Yes, I can (and have) taught mathematics before... I have applied for two jobs advertised here and am waiting for a reply. I'll try to look for other schools. If you know of some, could you tell me their names?

Thanks again

I might have a problem though : I'm apparently too young to be a math teacher in Kunming. The few ads I found all require the teacher to be 25 at least, and most of them want licensed teachers only...

(4) Figuring out social security and retirement savings

Yeah right!! haa

La chinne cest le bordel corompu au maximum, ils sont tous des escrots.

Here are three that I know of, not sure if they are recruiting. It think the first two have a longer academic year that starts in June.

American International High School.
GED/ACT centre Kunming.
Kunming No1 High School A'Level program