Hi there, google after a few twists and turns pointed me here.
I'd been teaching in Thailand/Vietnam for a couple of years, during which I met my girlfriend (who is from Hefei and a Mandarin teacher, currently working in a Hefei bank). I am currently in Australia on a Working Holiday Visa, working as a farmhand near Perth.
My Australian visa runs out in around 6 weeks, and I had originally intended to do the second year and save a big chunk more money, but I miss the girlfriend far too much. Nothing makes you miss someone more than being in a very isolated rural area I can tell you.
Anyway, Hefei sounds like a paradise compared to Shanghai, and from the brief descriptions I've read seems similar to a few of the towns I've lived in in Thailand/Vietnam, so I think the wisest thing to do would be to come to Hefei.
I'd be hoping for language centre work, but I'm worried that I've left it a bit late for finding a school and getting a Z-visa lined up (I work out bush 2 hours north of Perth, with next to no phone signal, which slows everything down unfortunately). I saw that 'Kaibo' was interested in staff a few months back, although I'm not sure in what capacity.
I'm just curious how feasible it would be for a NES British 26 year old to find work. If it turned in to a one month holiday and I went back to Australia it wouldn't be the end of the world, and my Chinese would certainly improve, but I would like to be earning (and hopefully working legally) if I can.
Anyway, any opinions, criticisms or directions would be handy.
Regards,
Richard