I wouldnt mind staying in China for good at all. The life over here is good and I am very settled wife a Chinese wife and daughter. We are in process of preparing to buy a house too. But I do have family in Canada who someday may require me to come back to help out. But I would prefer to do that closer to retirement. There are boundless opportunities in China and I plan on taking full advantage. Now that I can speak Chinese I feel very comfortable and happy here.

Japan is a neat place too. I almost wish I had gone there just so I could have continued pro wrestling (yet another thing in common with a jack black movie) One thing though is the cost of living is very high and simple things we take for granted, like fresh fruits and veggies come with a very high price tag. One lady I knew teaching there was paying $10US for a 1/2 head of lettuce. Also another somewhat negative aspect was the insane competitivelness of the Japanese people. She had a student in her class one day who dissapeared, only to find out later this 9 year old was murdered by another students parents out of jealousy because her kid was not #1 in the class. This of course is an extreme case, but all too sadly not that uncommon there. Competition is fierce and the children are a different breed than most we are used to. Here in China I get ot have fun 24/7, and thats right up my alley. Another thing that worries me about Japan is all the damn earthquakes lately. Not sure if you have been paying attention to it, but they have had 6+ in as many weeks.... Makes me a bit nervous.

Don't let me turn you off Japan however, since it does have so many good things to offer too and is one of the safer places for new teachers to get their feet wet, as it were. Plus being in Asia is nice because there are so many countries nearby to visit at a fraction of the time and cost of doing so from home. I can go to Thailand, for example, stay in a 5 star hotel for 5 days and live like a king, for less than it costs me to travel 300km to a nearby city by bus in Canada and stay in an el-cheapo-grande motel. For a week in Phuket with return airfare and hotel I am looking at $300 bucks.... Wonder why I went 2X already this year?

Good luck with it all and I hope you have fun. Model your teaching after jack black and you will be a it. Better yet, learn a little ukulele (super duper easy) and you will be a big time star for the kids and the school.

sirant

Sirant, what part of Canada are you from? Im American, from Boston, but lived up in Toronto for 6 months- Great town! Canada is a great place- I particularly liked my grandmother's home town, Nova scotia...
My one concern about teaching abroud is that the current American president and his disasterous foreign policy has been devistating for America's image abroad- i hope those who don't agree with Bush take it out on teachers who happen to be American....I guess i'll eventually find out...

Nor I....this curious public feud between Donald trump and Rosie proves how petty those two really are...

I am overweight, but even when I'm thin, I don't have a stick thin body. I study fashion though and there are certain models whom I really love. The fascination with thin people is annoying and it does a lot of harm, but there are tons of really thin people that simply have long bodies, great metabolisms, and there are even the "skinny/fat" people. I have layouts of editorials of super thin women that I think are stunning and sure, it's an aesthetic value and artistic vision that I am admiring, but it's an entirely different aspect of creativity that I enjoy exploring. As for thin celebrities...who cares? I don't buy into a film because the actress is thin. The content is important (or most of the time not) and skinny or fat doesn't play into it, I don't allow it to do so. As for the people that do, I wouldn't waste my time on them. You can't help it if you're naturally thin, and you also can't change your natural predisposition or body shape. I don't care that there aren't more pear-shaped women representing on screen. How often does someone say, "oh I totally find small boobs and massive hips really hot"? or more apple-shaped women, with a big tummy and thin legs. The majority just isn't going to be represented truthfully.

my sister lived in japan for a good few years, met and married a japanese guy. they had one child. eventually they separated and came home. she said the schools in japan push the students very hard and there were case/s of students committing suicide, whether due to pressure or feeling a failure i dont know. saying that she enjoyed her time over there and made many friends.she also travelled a lot to places like hong kong, guam and the other marianas islands and the philipines. she had 3 jobs at one point dancing, tutoring and working in a bar.it is very expensive as sirant has already said. i only wish i had taken her up on offers to visit at the time.
talking about making school fun. my son has a young male teacher and since my son has been taught by him has come on leaps and bounds and looks forward to going each morning.he really does seem to make learning fun.for example he has been known to play his guitar in class and to really get the feel for history has been known to dress up as henry v111 in full costume and got the kids to spend a day as tudors, down to the food and the stocks etc slim

I can't stand size zero!

I can't actually believe they stand in front of a mirror like "oh look.. my collar bones stick out.. i truly am beautiful" Yuk!

I'd rather be a size 6 (british size 10) any day!

The runway is different than real life - the current crop of designers want a hanger to wear the clothes, they don't want a body to distract from that.

OK so I'll show my age here but you really don't have to go back that far in supermodel history to the cindy crawfords, elle mcphersons and a few others. Those women had curves - they were thin but they weren't the heroin chic kate moss body types...

I don't really pay attention to fashion magazines, so I have no idea where the trend is now - but I'd imagine waif-like is still in but it might just shift back to curves again... Curves tend to sell lingerie better than sportswear..

it's really a design decision rather what appeals to real people

I am one who really lets the super skinny get to me. I am a singer and I have stopped preforming to lose weight.I feel like the only way I will ever succeed would be to look anorexic. I dont find it attractive, but It seems like most people do. It hurts to think I will never be thin enough unless I destroy myself with an eating disorder. I have become fasinated with it, how and why they do it...I know it doesnt make sence but I want success.I am not going become anorexic I will never be thin enough so instead I will be forever dissapointed.

So guys, what is the definition of "super skinny" or "stick thin" in your minds? I think I am pretty curvy, but I've had people comment that I am getting too skinny and should stop -- so this line of conversation is freaking me out a little, lol. What's too skinny (besides paris and nicole, i have hips, lol, i could never look like that)?

health is more important than weight.
people can be thin and be much less healthy than someone who is a couple of stone overweight.
health is priority
curves will come back into fashion soon im sure .
this stick thiness is just a silly fashion trend that is unfortunately having a sharp impact on many peoples lives.
lets hope its over with soon