It’s been a week so let’s see how Brendan is doing. Looking back from the beginning Brendan seems charged to do this challenge. He’s lived in two foreign countries previous to China and by his account it seems he had a rough go of it for some time.
His pay is on par for a 1st year teacher and taking on additional teaching is common for foreign teachers. The two most common types of additional teaching are to take on a tutor, or work in one of any number of private language schools in the city. Another option is to teach at two colleges or universities. The latter isn’t as popular because of the work load, however, the pay potentially is the best.
His diet started off well enough, though if I were family I might comment on his most recent grocery list- peanut butter, oatmeal, and jam. Hmmm…
It does appear he’s eating out most of the time. That’s common among foreign teachers as well. Most of the apartments are outfitted with basic kitchen ware but lack the small things a kitchen needs in order to be a proper kitchen- spices, herbs, prep bowls, cooking utensils, and such. Dining out is inexpensive enough and it offers the added cultural benefit of tasting many different authentic Chinese dishes.
Spending the day, Tuesday, watching streaming video on free internet is certainly one way to avoid expenses. Tudo, Youku, K6, and 56.com are all popular websites similar to Youtube in the US- the content appears to be all user uploads. The bonus is finding feature length movies and other content that would violate copyright law in the US, such as episodes of the Daily Show.
And then comes the weekend- Barbecue is a great snack that sells on street corners but it’s Chinese barbecue- Jessie’s barbecue was a traditional American barbecue, which isn’t as easy to recreate as you may think. In the past couple of years it has become easier to acquire what is necessary, however, that involves two important elements; time in the country to understand how and where to look for things, and increasingly available western amenities.
And then the massage. It is inevitable- the Chinese massage is a must-do for anyone who visits this county- be it for a day or a year. Foot massage and the Blind-man massage are the most popular forms of massage in China.
It can be expensive to live here and totals do add up, but I’m not sure if 142 (actually 87 until he pays Ben back) counts as an expensive day and Sunday- Well, if you don’t do anything it is hard to spend money. And Sunday is a great day to do just that.
Total for the first week:
Depending on how you add his total there are two tallies today. Remember he borrowed 60RMB for the massage so that money hasn’t actually been spent yet. By that math Brendan spent 317.3 RMB in the first week.
If you add in the 60 he will pay Ben back then his total for the week is 377.3 RMB.
That’s a good week. I think it reflects the low end of an average person’s expenses once they’ve established a pattern of entertainment. It will not always be so inexpensive and we still have three weeks to go.
Click to read the extended review with more detailed comments on specific elements of Brendan’s week >>