Going through the same thing now, and sometimes I have to wonder if its worth it.
OK, that's probably just the separation anxiety talking, just had one of those long meandering not getting anywhere skype conversations with someone I miss. But yet...
The job search is getting tedious. One job I'm applying for is a temporary contract (how long is not specified in the ad, so that will one of many questions I ask if I get as far as an interview). If you convert CDN$ x 5.8 to rmb, it pays almost exactly what my last job in China paid. It's on the outskirts of Toronto, where the public transportation, cost of housing/rent and COL is much higher than Dalian, and DL is not cheap for China. That's for a 40 hour/week positon. Even with office hours and extra classes, I was doing well under 30 at my old position.
The rules of the game seem to change as it gets played. We've been discussing the big move for several years (as long as we've known each other, almost) and every time we get serious and start the process the rules have changed from the last time.
Maybe its just the people I've met, but Canada seems to have changed, and changed for the worse in the last 10 years. People seem to have lost the sense of optimism, the sense that with a little effort and luck and perseverence things can be made better. Now I can read a newspaper as well as the next person, I understand that the N American economy has been in a prolonged funk, but there seems to be more to it than that. There seems to have been a profound shift in the national mood. Well I haven't been back that long, so ICBW; hope I am. Negative energy sucks. I'm trying to avoid it, but you know what they say about draining swamps and alligators.
We just have to hang tough. We're doing this for the people we love. they're worth it.