Two Americans in China – Welcome!

This blog is about the adventures of me and my husband in China. Let me start by telling you a little about us. We met in the summer of 2008, and in May of 2009, I moved to Orlando to begin our new life together. But it was not all perfect. Seth was laid off work in February and was not able to find a new job. When I moved down in May, I had just finished getting my master’s degree in English, but finding a full-time teaching job proved impossible. I was able to find a few part-time jobs, but it equaled lots of hours for very little money. Seth went to school to be a pharmacy technician, a very ‘in-demand’ field, but he could not find full-time work either when he finished. So with no full-time work and mounting debt, the stress was becoming unbearable.

One night, at one of my low points as I was once again searching indeed.com for more teaching jobs, the blubs of “Teach English in Korea,” “Teaching Jobs in China,” and “English Teachers Needed in Asia” kept tugging at me. I love China. I have a minor in Chinese Language and love everything about the people, culture, and history. I can’t have children of my own, so it has always been our plan to adopt from China when we are ready for kids. But I never thought I would actually get to live and teach there. That is a lot to ask from a person. But I just kind of casually threw out to Seth “you know, if we lived in China, we could have much lower living expenses and make more money.” Almost without even thinking about it, he told me, “well, look into it and let me know what you find.” I was shocked. I could not believe I found someone so selfless that he would actually seriously consider moving to China as a possibility. That was in early December 2009. By Late January 2010, we knew we would be moving to China in August and began telling our friends and family.

Preparing for this life-changing event has been about 9 months in the making. I have learned a lot about living and teaching in China that I want to share with others. So that is why I have started this blog. This blog is for two groups of people. 1) People who have no idea where to start if they are toying with the idea of teaching in China. I have lots of information, tips, and tricks to share over the next few posts. And, 2) all of our friends and family who are interested in our daily lives and adventures in China. So feel free to read, comment, look at our pictures, and ask us questions. Please join our mailing list so you can be notified when the blog is updated and when we plan to do our radio broadcasts. Welcome to our journey!