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Fri, 2004-11-12 19:36 — Anonymous

I'm currently teaching in Thailand and considering applying to move to Hong Kong as a mature student at the City University.

I would be grateful if you could give me a bit of advice so I can work out my finances. How much would a small flat cost per month close to the University and what kind of daily allowance do you expats allow for yourself. I accept I'll be living quite meagerly.

How easy could I pick up English teaching work for a person with 2 years teaching experience and suited qualifications? And how much could I expect to receive based on an hourly rate?

Thank you for your time.

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Mon, 2004-11-15 14:12 — Mr Tall

Good questions . . . .

Hi Paul;

Those are good, practical questions -- but to answer them accurately I think we need to ask you a few more.

First, how 'close to the university' would you need to be? CityU is located in Kowloon Tong, which is not a cheap place to live. If you'd be willing to commute to and from the Uni via subway/suburban train (i.e. MTR/KCR) you'd have a better range of affordable choices.

Also, how much time would you have for teaching? Are you talking about doing casual hourly tutoring or working in a for-profit English language school, or would you be looking for something full-time?

For day-to-day expenses, well -- I would think you could by very cheaply, if you're willing to go to local wet markets, and/or concentrate on the locally-sourced fresh foods in the supermarkets (which in HK are generally pretty good). It all depends on how much you want to go out, and the kinds of places you want to go to. The range here is enormous. My guess is that if you're associating mostly with other students and teachers you'll be introduced to lots of affordable going-out options.

Be sure to check out this article on our site as well, if you haven't already:

http://www.batgung.com/articles/food.htm

Mr Tall