Wow ... this forum is still here!

I haven't logged in for years. What's up guys?

yup.. still holding the fort but not sure how long..

welcome back

What's up with the place?

How many active posters do we still have?

Is China still a decent place to teach English?

Sadly, we've got very few active members.  If we could just get a few more, this place would look a bit less like an empty shopping mall.

Regarding teaching, the bad news is that demand for FTs is lower than it used to be.  The good news is that there are far fewer candidates running around to compete with you when you're looking for a job.

Was hoping to get in a few years of teaching as a semi-retirement job after age 50. Is there a lot of age discrimination for the jobs? Would mainly be looking to break even on salary.

I pop in once every few months, it would be nice if it was still active. People used to write a lot of content, I think that Raoul (RIP) used to write loads of guides and that is what brought people in. But also Google doesn't work anymore so I don't know how people would find the place.

There are still jobs in China, it's not recovered fro COVID fully and it's never going back to when they paid you for being a laowai, but there are still a lot of jobs

Was hoping to get in a few years of teaching as a semi-retirement job after age 50. Is there a lot of age discrimination for the jobs? Would mainly be looking to break even on salary.

Fewer competitors for the positions will probably make many employers less picky.  No more crazy qualification lists like "Must have a masters degree, 6-8 years of experience, and be no more than 24 years old." 

Sadly, we've got very few active members.  If we could just get a few more, this place would look a bit less like an empty shopping mall.

Regarding teaching, the bad news is that demand for FTs is lower than it used to be.  The good news is that there are far fewer candidates running around to compete with you when you're looking for a job.

Could we maybe promote the forum on Reddit or somewhere?

Sadly, we've got very few active members.  If we could just get a few more, this place would look a bit less like an empty shopping mall.

The issue, as I see it, is primarily 2-fold:-
1) We are all getting old(er). Past our prime(?) and with much less than our original joie de vivre
2) Many / most of us have moved out of PRC and therefore have a severe lessening of our interest in China and her happenings.




And ...
3) Jefe died. 

Yeah, all 3 of those hurt, some in more ways than others. 

Still, getting some more of our old archaic decrepit longstanding and highly experienced members to post occasionally would make the Saloon more attractive to potential new members.

Could we maybe promote the forum on Reddit or somewhere?

If anyone active on other social media wants to drop mentions of the main saloon URL or links to some of our content, that certainly wouldn't hurt our chances of finding some new members.

in my case, I am definitely getting older. Oh, I am still 19, as I have been for half a century now, but it's getting harder to prove. And this spring (in a few weeks, actually) I'm moving to Canada. Settling my family down, getting the youngest into school, and learning to breathe clean Canadian air. I hope it doesn't hurt my lungs too much. The next time I come to China, it won't be for work. Fuggedabowdit. I'm due some foreign tourist time next time.
And so, as much as I value the friendships and everything I have gotten from the saloon, there just isn't that much that I have left to give. Or anticipate having to give in the future. I will still lurk like a villain in the shadows, because over the years this has been a special place for me. But I'm certainly not in the vanguard any more.

Even though you may not be able to relay new info about being in China, that doesn't mean you have nothing of use to share.

For example, I keep finding out about great new offshore movies and TV series a couple years after they come out.  The Cabana has threads for movies, TV series, and books.  Help a poor old Lunatic (and others who are lurking inside of China) out with occasional updates about English language entertainment.