listen mr esl-in-asia me old tomodachi , i don't have and have never needed a "support group" - are you sure that's not something to do with multiple hernia? on one night a week i spend a few hours with an English speaking friend or two, and the rest of the time -due to the nature of my work and the place of birth of my ladyfriend - i am in the company of and see chinese people only. you might be surprised (and perhaps even disgusted) to hear that this doesn't bother me at all. in fact i had never really thought about it at all, much less thought that anybody would consider this in any way remarkable until the wonder of the internet enlightened me as to the nature of your strange mentalmeanderings...

...and before you start - i am not in "the honeymoon phase" (a term that people who say things like "support group" would no doubt also be quite fond of). i have spent many years in asia and quite a few of the most recent 8 in china. i am also older than you.

as regards your comments about salaries and ESL as a career choice, i agree with you in that it would be ridiculous for someone with little or no relevant academic background, little or no relevant practical experience, and no specialised experience specific to the field and to a particular location to seriously consider ESL as a long term prospect anywhere (at least one with the prospect of advancement) until they had started to make a serious effort to accrue the experience and qualifications that serious employers look for;the same sort of thing can be said about architects, brain surgeons, civil engineers and those in any other profession you care to mention.

but then again we are really talking about 2 quite different and for the most part unrelated things, aren't we. i.e. the profession of esl, and what you and paul do. i agree with you, that at 39 and with your attitude there are probably few openings for you in the field, but who knows, there might be hope yet for paul if he gets some solid background and learns a bit of patience.