> You know, at times when I'm between jobs, I have occasion to give
> serious thought as to WHY I ever got into the @!%& ESL business
> in the first place. What factor, other than the titillation gained
> from foreign travel, ...

For me, that foreign titillation got me into the ESL game in my early 30s. I did a BA, did a CTEFLA, took some money I had inherited and left Australia for Latin America. I have been teaching here since 1995; I would have left long ago but at the same time I have also acquired a family.

Why continue in ESL? Because I am pretty much trapped in it. I hope to have enough money one day to buy my family a home, to buy a decent car, to have my own little business, to take my family to visit Australia and New Zealand. But on the wages I get here it is not possible.

I have saved enough to make a start elsewhere, but by myself. I hope my family will join me in the near future, but for the moment we have to live apart. English teaching abroad is a great deal for singles, but for a family man it can easily become a trap.

Still, I generally enjoy the job, and there are many people worse off than I am, although by the same token there are many more far better off tham me.

So for the moment, at least, I continue in this game.