u/GuitarTabsThrowaway

I’m 21 and moving to China for my first teaching job. I’ve got two kindergarten offers and can’t decide.
Nanjing is 23k a month, 8–5 Monday to Friday, with 15 days annual leave. Suzhou is 24k before tax including housing allowance, 7:40–4:30, with 3 weeks winter vacation at full pay and 7 weeks summer at half pay.
I’m mainly looking to have fun, meet people my age, go out on weekends, and explore China while saving some money. Nanjing seems better for nightlife and meeting people, but being able to visit Shanghai regularly from Suzhou sounds pretty appealing too.
I’m also considering doing a year in Nanjing and then moving to another city, probably Chengdu, whereas I’d likely stay in Suzhou for two years.
Which would you pick? Is Nanjing actually that much more fun, or does being close to Shanghai make Suzhou worth it?

Got an offer from an EtonHouse, Eton kids, whatever kindergarten for 22k RMB after tax in a tier 2 city. I’m a new teacher with a TEFL but no teaching experience.

Interview went really well and I liked the principal and staff as well as the possibility for daily overtime, but I’ve seen some mixed stuff about EtonHouse online.

Anyone worked for them recently? How was the workload/management and would you take this as a first job?

I’m deciding between a cheaper option in Germany and a program in Prague (Charles University).

If I go with Prague, I’d likely end up with around $20–25k in total debt. I’m fully aware that part of that cost is for the experience of living there, not just the degree, and I’m okay with that to a point.

The Prague option feels like a much better fit for me overall, and I’m a lot more drawn to spending two years there. At the same time, I know the financially “safe” move is to take the cheaper option.

So I guess my real question is:
is this actually a reasonable decision, or am I being dumb and just talking myself into it?

For people who’ve made similar choices, did you feel like it was worth it, or did you wish you’d minimized the cost?

I’m deciding between a cheaper option in Germany and a program in Prague (Charles University).

If I go with Prague, I’d likely end up with around $20–25k in total debt. I’m fully aware that part of that cost is for the experience of living there, not just the degree, and I’m okay with that to a point.

The Prague option feels like a much better fit for me overall, and I’m a lot more drawn to spending two years there. At the same time, I know the financially “safe” move is to take the cheaper option.

So I guess my real question is:
is this actually a reasonable decision, or am I being dumb and just talking myself into it?

For people who’ve made similar choices, did you feel like it was worth it, or did you wish you’d minimized the cost?

I’m deciding between a cheaper option in Germany and a program in Prague (Charles University).

If I go with Prague, I’d likely end up with around $20–25k in total debt. I’m fully aware that part of that cost is for the experience of living there, not just the degree, and I’m okay with that to a point.

The Prague option feels like a much better fit for me overall, and I’m a lot more drawn to spending two years there. At the same time, I know the financially “safe” move is to take the cheaper option.

So I guess my real question is:
is this actually a reasonable decision, or am I being dumb and just talking myself into it?

For people who’ve made similar choices, did you feel like it was worth it, or did you wish you’d minimized the cost?

I’m deciding between a cheaper option in Germany and a program in Prague (Charles University).

If I go with Prague, I’d likely end up with around $20–25k in total debt. I’m fully aware that part of that cost is for the experience of living there, not just the degree, and I’m okay with that to a point.

The Prague option feels like a much better fit for me overall, and I’m a lot more drawn to spending two years there. At the same time, I know the financially “safe” move is to take the cheaper option.

So I guess my real question is:
is this actually a reasonable decision, or am I being dumb and just talking myself into it?

For people who’ve made similar choices, did you feel like it was worth it, or did you wish you’d minimized the cost?

I’m trying to get a sense of the general vibe of a few German student cities and wanted honest opinions from people who know them.
The cities I’m most curious about are Bonn, Potsdam, Tübingen, Mainz, Mannheim, Osnabrück, Bremen, Magdeburg, and Frankfurt an der Oder.
I care most about things like:
how pretty or enjoyable the city feels day to day
whether it has a strong student atmosphere
whether there’s decent nightlife or at least enough going on socially
whether it feels too small, boring, or isolating after a while
and just the overall vibe
Basically, which of these cities feels the nicest to actually live in as a young person, and which ones would you avoid?
Brutally honest answers welcome.