I have been trying to teach English here in China for the past 2 years. I’ve encountered a range of problems and found it difficult to keep employment. Once school fired all the teachers, ripped us off then went bankrupt. Other schools have kept me on for a few months and then turned around and found a better teacher because they don’t like my teaching style. The latest company let me go because they were restructuring and downsizing. I was the unlucky one who didn’t have a relationship with the boss so I was the first out the door. The alternative was only a couple of hrs work each week – changing me from full time to barely part time.

So, I have given up on teaching. I think I’m OK but not good enough to maintain a decent career out of it. ESL teaching is difficult to earn money in. Now that I am married, I want a better, more stable job and a different career at home. We were both planning to move back to Australia to live.

Here’s the problem. The latest firing has pretty much made my wife lose all respect for me. She’s saying really nasty things and I think her mindset is starting to become like this: http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index;_ylt=ApxlE10r_YqloAeAMeCr5N_B7BR.;_ylv=3?qid=20090127092441AA0P70V

She has said some really hurtful things and has been withholding the sex like she doesn’t want to be with me anymore. I’ve questioned her and she tends to close up and when pushed, says she’s not happy, she’s bored. I get upset, she sees that and says that we will be together forever and that she still loves me. I doubt it though by the way she looks and acts now. She told me to be a man and go back to Australia and set everything up (we were only 3.5 months away from moving back).

I’m reminded about how at this time I cannot afford the diamond ring. Also, despite my wages being enough to pay for everything and give us enough money to go out, it hasn’t been enough to save for a honeymoon. We only got married last month. I told her that my work prospects are so much better in Australia but she finds that hard to believe – I didn’t have it in me to change enough to grow and become a good teacher so apparently that reflects on my ability not to change overall.

A bit of history about my working life in Australia: I graduated uni about 1 year before coming to China. I worked for 4 years in a supermarket and became a manager. They wanted me to stay and become a trainee department manager. I had a lot of potential. But it seems that I lost all of that potential when I came here to China. She has just seen all of my failures and compares that against her own successes and the successes of other foreigners who have done well here.

It’s really hurting me to see her become so scathing and nasty and unloving. I told her that it’s worth banging my head against a wall with these jobs for a few more months so that we can still be together (albeit not much because she is busy with her overseas work) and leave the country together. She says that if she had more money and was more successful in her work, she’d leave with me tomorrow. But thinks I should give up the struggle of teaching and just go back and set things up. I’m about to do that. Three months is not long.

But I still feel the sting of her disappointment in me. It’s like something has changed and she can’t see the good in me at all anymore. So I think what’s the point of going home and getting established if she no longer has any feeling for m? She might turn around and refuse to come in a couple of months time. Already I think her mind is definitely changing. She’s not interested in the wedding and when I asked about us going back to see her family one more time before we leave, she said she said I wasn’t welcome in her home anymore because I stay there and get fed like a king instead of working hard. That I should give something back to her family…

So, she is bored, disinterested in me and behaving like she wants me out of her life. Should I return home and get established and forget about her? This is not the departure I had hoped for. I think she kind of resigned when I said I found more employment here and could be earning more than the last school. She’s already told me my teaching is at ground level and I’m a loser – meaning no good at teaching.

It’s really cruel for her to say these things and feel so disappointed as far as I’m concerned because I stayed on longer and pushed through because I wanted to be with her. I could have left about a year ago…My parents wished I had and set myself up with a job and car. Instead, I either leave now or find work here. Last night I had a dream about her being romanced by some other guy. She was really into it. She’s not being intimate with me and looking down upon me.

Seek divorce?? Yes it’s not fair on her to have a husband without a stable job. But I thought she woul

Technorati Tags: 5 months, australia, boss, china, diamond ring, esl, full time, honeymoon, mindset, money, nasty things, part time, prospects, qid, question index, relationship, stable job, unlucky one, wages, yahoo

I am an Australian that lived in the US for 10 years and while I was there I managed to rack up K in credit card debt through a series of bad luck events (medical expenses for cancer treatment, job loss, loss on sale of a house).

I moved back to Australia at the beginning of this year because I couldn’t find work in the US and have been trying to get back on my feet. I have been thinking the best option for me is to just file bankruptcy in the US and have my credit card debt go away, but that was before I was considering returning to the US!

Now, I am thinking I’ll probably want to come back to the US in the next few years and I’m keen to get my debt situation there resolved ASAP so I can start paying for my mistakes. I just ran my credit report and have a credit score of 591 with a Charge Off status on one of the credit card accounts.

I could try to negotiate the credit card debt down as I have access to some cash from my parents to pay off my debt, but only have K in cash and K in debt. I have no assets in the US, only this debt so I don’t have a lot to lose at this point.

What is the best course of action? Should I just file bankruptcy or should I try to negotiate with the creditors? It’s a lot of money and my credit is already wrecked!!

Any advice would be appreciated but please don’t criticize my previous actions – I can’t change what has happened, I can only make improvements from here.

Thanks

Technorati Tags: 10 years, assets, australia, bad luck, bankruptcy, cancer treatment, credit card accounts, credit card debt, credit report, credit score, creditors, debt situation, improvements, job, medical expenses, money, parents

How big of a change is there that GM will go under? I’ve only caught bits an pieces from my family.

But if they do, is it likely they will start sending people back to the U.S, from places such as Australia?

Technorati Tags: australia, gm

A few months ago I took out a ,000 loan for my Father. I declined the first four times he asked. He kept on asking & it got to a point where I felt I was forced to apply & sign the documents because it was someone I had to do for him. He has poor credit & had already maxed my mother and sister out -s o I was next. It was hugely ignorant & immature of me to do so but he insisted it was for business & to "move the family ahead". I also had pressure from my mother and sister as my Dad is very convincing when he wants people to "move the family forward".

Anyway, long story short is that since then his drinking (he has a problem) has spiraled out of control over the past few months & he blew all the money whilst also making our live hell. Finally the entire family has seen the light & he will be moving out by next weekend & we will be getting on with our lives.

My mother is in 150K debt & she has no choice but to go bankrupt (see has been the one earning money over the years but unfortunately she hasn’t seen a cent & she has been forced to sign loan and credit card applications under duress). My sister is a teacher & is well paid so she’s fine. However I’m a full time student & only work 2 days a week & I can’t afford it. It was a huge gamble I took on my Dad’s character in hoping/expecting he’d do the right thing by us & it looks like it’s going to cost me more than I could afford.

Is there anything I could do so he’s accountable for the loan? (I live in Australia BTW) His credit rating is shocking so I can’t transfer it across. Legally is there anything I can do regarding signing under duress? He actually submitted the applications & made most of the phone calls himself pretending to be me (he’s my Father so he knows all my private details). It’s just without his support now the family will be very tight financially & I also have a younger brother who is still in school that needs looking after.

I’m not looking for anyone telling me how naive I was because I’m already well aware of this. However all other replies would be MASSIVELY appreciated!

Technorati Tags: australia, brother, credit card applications, credit rating, dad, do the right thing, earning money, full time, hell, light amp, mother and sister, poor credit, private details, signing under duress, time student

I want to go backpacking next year, Im from Australia, And Ill be getting the all around the world ticket, which only means 5 countries..
I will be trying to also get casual jobs while im in that country. But wanted to know how much would I need to take with me? to ensure I wont be bankrupt when Im there?..

Technorati Tags: all around the world, australia, casual jobs, world ticket

How can 4 coleges go bankrupt? Sounds impossible, but it just happened in Australia. Strangely, most of the students in these Australian colleges are either from China or India. Was this a huge Australian scam to get money from foreigners?

http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/china/2009-11/09/content_8930197.htm

Technorati Tags: australia, australian colleges, china, foreigners, india, money

How big of a change is there that GM will go under? I’ve only caught bits an pieces from my family.

But if they do, is it likely they will start sending people back to the U.S, from places such as Australia?

Technorati Tags: australia, gm

True, America has given the world more in terms of scientific advancements, military protection, etc., but what about day-to-day life? They don’t have job lock because their insurance isn’t tied to employment, they have freedom of speech, assembly and religion…and, yes, you can own a firearm in Australia —-look it up instead of listening to propaganda! They have a high per-capita income also and a reasonable tax rate, no one goes bankrupt over medical problems….so why do so many Americans say that their country is the greatest on Earth when Australia appears to be a pretty great place as well? Some could argue that it’s actually greater.
So, Australia is not the centre of the English-speaking world and they don’t have the bread basket that America has, what good are those two things if you’re not doing well in America? So what if Australia isn’t the centre and doesn’t have a fertile interior….we’re talking about day-to-day life of an Aussie versus a Yank, and from what I am reading, it sounds like the average Aussie has it better these days. Flame away with ignorant comments about the "poverty, fascism, illiteracy, violence and socialism" of this foreign land and how much they suffer and all want to immigrate to America. Australia’s great.

Technorati Tags: aussie, australia, bread basket, earth, fascism, freedom of speech, illiteracy, insurance, job, medical problems, military protection, per capita income, poverty, propaganda, religion, scientific advancements, socialism, tax rate, violence, yank