After five years...

My name is Anastasia and I am currently (December 2015) 28 years old.

I had been teaching English as a foreign language for the last five years in my home country, Greece before I came to China. I was a private tutor and my schedule usually consisted of more than six hours per day (including Saturday) of constant teaching in the students' houses. The pay was nothing extraordinary for a country that has the Euro. Add to that the economical crisis that came to Red Alert in the summer of 2015 and leaving was a one-way route in life for me.

Now, I must be honest: my life in Greece was far more comfortable for me than for most of the people in my age. Where they had no future and job hunting was limited to government programs that never paid on time and rarely the total amount, I was sure to have an income which would allow me to pay for my own social life... because I was still living with my parents. And I had no social security, because paying for it would swallow more than 50% of my income.

When the capital controls were imposed during the summer of 2015, I was already in the talks of leaving Greece and going to China to teach. The idea came to be from a friend, who had managed to find a job a year previously. Having already had agreed to teach many students that year, I didn't grab the opportunity immediately; the year was already scheduled for me. But, for the whole school year 2014-2015, I was thinking about it. It was my fifth year of going from house to house with no breaks and no guarantee that my students would even be there when I arrived, because the ballet schedule had changed and the family had forgotten to notify me. Five years of the same routine can take a toll on you. And take a toll on me they did. I longed for something different, even for a little while. The capital controls was the last push and my parents agreed to support me in this decision, even if China was "too far away from home" as they said. It was the ideal time, the golden opportunity that might not appear a second time.

I arrived in Beijing not knowing any Chinese and with a suitcase. Looking back, I don't want to live through the first month again, but also, I know it was worth it. I'm on my fourth month here and I feel secure and comfortable. I have made friends and I have become better in my classes. The totally different educational system of China is gradually being ingrained in my mind and I know that next year I will be a better teacher.

Because I am definitely going to stay for at least another year in China. Maybe even two.

And I know that no matter, I can get a good opportunity because the people in New Life Esl are searching for me. When they first told me "this would be perfect for you!" the cynic in me just shrugged and applied the words to them being what agents usually are: supportive and enthusiastic, so that they will get the money when the job will be done. I went for it out of desperation and longing for something new.

I know now that they know what they are doing and really, they are doing this for me. I haven't paid them anything from my pocket and I would trust them with my future, for their most important qualifications are the ones that should be for any agent worth their salt: knowledge and honesty. They told me that it would be the perfect beginning for me and it was. They told me that the school would get me the working visa and it did.

To the rest of the school year and for many years to come, New Life Esl. I hope we'll continue working together.

~ Anastasia