Coming to China was one of the biggest life changing moments I have ever had. I was 21 years old and had just finished university, I had some travel experiences but mostly western countries that have a similar culture to my own. I was not really prepared for the little daily differences I was coming across. I will easily admit that I was uncomfortable at first until I took the time to embrace the differences and “go with the flow”. I have lived here in Guangdong province for more than seven years now and in that time I have met my wife, became a father, and found a career in something I am truly passionate about.
     My whole teaching career in China has been with this organization. I had some experience in the classroom in Canada but I can honestly admit I was not prepared for what I was walking into. Not having the ability to speak the language I was a little intimidated when entering the classroom. The training and help I was given during my first few months here was very helpful and informative. With a lot of help I slowly got comfortable in what I was doing and began to truly enjoy the experience.
     If you are really interested in working in China, I can give CIEO my recommendation. The experiences I have had here in the past seven years have taught me a lot and allowed me to grow as a person. It is a great experience and a chance of a lifetime!

Overseas applicants please contact
Warrick at waz@cieo.com.cn
Tel: +61(0)422066795
My name is Waz and I am responsible for the recruitment of teachers for CIEO. I currently live in Sydney, Australia but I have previously lived and worked in China for CIEO for four and a half years so believe me when I say that CIEO is not only a great place to work due to its people and culture but also due to the career prospects offered by the company – something truly unique in this industry – should you wish to make your home in China. Also, CIEO truly stands out in the way its teachers and staff are treated and trained, something experienced ESL teachers point out when joining us.
I am the first point of contact for any person interested in joining CIEO and I will answer any queries you may have about our company. I will also guide you through each of the steps involved in our Application process up until we pick you up from the airport.
So please, if teaching in China is something that you are interested in doing do not hesitate to contact me.
Regards,
Waz

Greetings,
My name is Adam Choi and I am the Foreign Educational Manager at the headquarters of CIEO.  I have been here for over four years and I’m here writing to you to tell you what you can expect when arriving and working in the heart of Guangzhou, Tian He business district.   
CIEO with five international kindergartens and with over seven international training schools, Tian He which is the headquarters is located in the new downtown business district in Guangzhou.  Having a rich cultural heritage with quite a few tourist attractions Tian He is continuing to grow as a hot commodity for foreigners to choose to teach in Tian He district.
Living and working in Tian He makes it convenient to go explore the vast areas that Guangzhou has to offer. With four subway lines extending from one end of the city to the other, Guangzhou is constructing another three lines by the end of 2009.
Tian He English training centre has great recognition throughout the city and has good co-operation with many surrounding Chinese public schools. Come and live a life where you experience culture, learn a language that is so useful around the world and have a profession where you make a huge impact on one child’s life here in Guangzhou.
If you need any other information please contact me at 86 13632261983 or the school 020 86 3887 0204. 
                                                                                                            Sincerely yours,
                                                                                                                   Adam

    Living in China is a truly unique experience, and it’s virtually guaranteed to be absolutely different than anything you’ve imagined.  Initially I planned on a six-month trial period living here, but six months became a year which then became five years before I even had come to terms with the idea that what I was doing was building a life for myself here.
     I started working for CIEO as a trainee in May 2004, and it appeared more daunting than any other schooling or career move I’d previously made.  I found myself out of my element more completely than I ever had before, and I was more intimidated by the job ahead of me than any other time I can remember.  I was living in a country I didn’t understand doing a job I hadn’t considered doing before and it scared me.
     As is often the case with intimidation, the largest part of it was having built up the task to be something far more difficult than it actually was.  The staff at CIEO helped me to train with people that I was likely to get along with, and who had expertise in the areas that were going to be my weaknesses.  Throughout my training process people were there to encourage me (even at times when I probably didn’t deserve it) and to help me see my shortcomings for myself.  I still carry a lot of affection for the people I met early on in China both those who have moved on to other stations in life and those that I still see regularly.
     It can be easy to get lost in culture-shock and gaps in customs and behaviour, and it’s in this area that life in China can be most difficult.  The Chinese staff has always made an honest effort to understand why I am the way I am relative to my culture, and as long as I’m reciprocating that effort my time at work is smooth.  This applies to life outside of work as well – as long as I’m actively trying to understand people, I find that more often than not people are willing to meet me half-way.  Life in China is not ever going to be exactly as it would be in your home country, but there’s no reason that the gap has to be overwhelming.
      One of the better parts of having been with CIEO is that I’ve always found the staff to be generally respectful of whom I am.  At times when I’ve wanted to be involved in the community of CIEO I’ve been accepted readily, and at other times when I’m more interested in being withdrawn I don’t feel pressured to become involved against my will.
      Living and working in China has been a great success for me, and many others like me.  Teaching kids can be rewarding in a way that very few other things can – when you see your students making progress it’s a great feeling.  My lifestyle is very comfortable, and I spend a lot of my time doing things that I enjoy.  I’ve met a lot of people that I have become very close with and done a series of things I might not have otherwise had the chance to try.                                                                                                                                                                                                          Thanks
                                                                                                          Paul Kozyn
                                                                                                     kozynpm@gmail.com

Dear friends:
     My name is Mimi, Shao. My husband, Daniel and I are both teachers in Canadian International School. We have been working here for nearly six years. We really enjoyed every minute of it. During the past six years, we witnessed our company’s growth and great achievements. And it was the most wonderful times of our lives.
     My husband and I both had passion for teaching, and the company truly provided us a great opportunity and comfortable environment to realize our dreams. Our Director AJ was truly a source of inspiration to help us become excellent teachers. He showed us the best way and the newest concept of teaching children English. Together we worked as a team, and grew as a happy family. Through a lot of hard work and practicing, today, our school is one of the biggest and most successful English training centers in China. Our Chinese Director, Winnie, is also a very nice person. She is a good friend of all the teachers. She always helps us to sort out life in China and takes care of us through difficult times. So that we can feel comfortable working in a foreign country.
     Since we came to Canadian School, we met many good teachers from all over the world. Together we worked with thousands of kids to help them getting interest and confidence in learning English. Every teacher here have different experiences and teaching styles. We can learn from each other to improve out teaching skills and quality. Every class we teach is new and interesting for us and the children. We always have much fun playing games and learn well at the same time. Kids just love coming for classes in our school. And feel happy speaking English. At the end, they can truly improve their English skills in a natural way of learning.
     Being good teachers for the next generation, to be able to help our children grow up happily and prepare them for a brighter future. We will continue to improve and do our best for the children. If you like being with children and have much love in your heart to share. Please come to China and check out our school. You won’t regret it! This will be a wonderful opportunity for you to see China, to learn and discover new things in your life. It’s worth trying also very rewarding. Good luck to you all, and looking forward to meet you in the future!
                                                                                                                 Love to all,
                                                                                                                        Mimi

Hello or Ni hao,
My name is Theresa Aiken. I am from Ontario, Canada. My background education is in Children and Youth Counselling. Currently I am teaching in Shenzhen.I really love children and have grown to care a lot for the children that I have been teaching over the past few months. It is fun to teach the children here because the teaching method is very active. This makes it fun for both the children and myself. I must admit though it can be difficult to think of new, fun, creative games to play with the children at times! The staff here in Shenzhen are also lovely. They have been friendly and helpful to me and the other staff. 

 I have been in China for nearly three months now. This is my first time overseas and so far it has been a positive experience. The culture is very different in comparison to Canada, which can be challenging at times. I am more comfortable with it now and am constantly learning new things about China and about people in general. The food here is also good once you get used to it! My time here has been one of many memories and opportunities to truly build character.

Hi there!
My name's Heather and I have been teaching English here in Guangzhou for 6 months now.  Some days it is really challenging, but those are the days that help you grow and expand what you thought you were capable of. 

I am pleased to be the new foreign English teacher for the Pre-school class.  I love the kids in my class so much. They are all very smart and learn new things vary quickly. We want them to have a good foundation in the basics so that they can excel in the future. The class will be moving on to primary school next year so we will prepare them for that transition

I am from Calgary Alberta Canada. My favorite sport is hockey. I look forward to helping Canadian Intertional Kindergarten develop their hockey program to be the best in the region. I have five years of experience working with kids and teaching. Last spring I graduated from college. I have two children of my own and my wife is pregnant with our third. I have lived in China since the middle of August. Our family loves it here very much even though it is really hot compared to what we are used to.  

Dear Friends,
It’s my great pleasure to introduce myself and CIEO. I hope this letter would be helpful for you to get a clear understanding about us.
I started to serve in Canadian International Education Organization since 2006, and I was working as a teacher assistant in Shenzhen for one year time, had cooperated with Mr. Jody Cardinal (who is now CIEO’s foreign teacher manager) and Mr. Ryan Teeling (who is now the head teacher in CIEO Agile Kindergarten). Both of them are very good teachers and got promotion after a period of teaching.
Here I want to let you know, if you are good and hard-working, you will have a chance to get promotion at CIEO. Say myself as an example, I got a promotion to the head office as well, my position is CEO assistant at present.
CIEO has been founded in 2000 for more than 9 years. Now we are running 5 international kindergartens and 7 Kids English Training Centers in 3 different major cities in Guangdong Province, China. Our teaching is confirmed by all the parents for their kids’ achievement and improvement. Therefore I want to thanks all the stuffs and teachers’ good job past and present.
Feel free to contact me if have any question, and you will catch me with the mail – asst@cieo.com.cn, and office number +86-20-28855372-613, and MSN – cieo2009@hotmail.com, Yahoo Messenger – cieo2009@yahoo.com for an instant message, I will be available during 9:00am-6:00pm Chinese time.
Welcome to CIEO, and here with my best regards!
Sincerely, Eve.