GETTING serious?? Wow, your pay grade is sure higher than mine!
I was fortunate to land a teaching job in Hong Kong where they pay exceedingly well. The trade-offs are that you live in 700 square foot apartments and it's bloody humid, and bloody crowded and relatively polluted - not bad for Asia but nowhere near as good as Vancouver Island Canada which is where I come from. There simply isn't work in Canada - there are 11 teachers for every 1 full time job so you have to be a sub for many years working 2-3 days a week and of course no work in the summer or Christmas etc so you'd be lucky to earn $25,000 a year in Vancouver (where the average home is over a million dollars) so you will live in poverty as a sub. At my age then 38 I had to explore alternatives and they held job fairs in Ontario, Vancouver and I believe San Francisco and New York.
The interview was quite difficult. A 20 minute timed essay on a choice of three topics. An interview with two principals asking pretty targeted questions and in teaching - when you sub you are not often going to pro-D days to stay up to date as much as a full time teacher - miraculously I said the right buzzwords and got the job. Without it I would never be looking at this kind of gear. As a public servant our pay is listed on the government website so it's not exactly a secret as to what teachers earn here.
http://www.csb.gov.hk/english/admin/pay/42.html
They pay the salary plus $19,000 a month living allowance to cover apartment, phone internet, electricity, gas, etc. You can pocket the difference if you're frugal. Teachers would start here based on their experience in their own country. You must be a qualified teacher and with no experience I believe the start point is 19. 10 years experience they would start at 29 (plus the $19000+ a month living allowance) and they get 5% additional bonus if they sign a second two year contract and another 5% if they sign for a third contract. And a 15% contract completion bonus on the total salary paid over the two years.
I am in my 4th year and each year I have been here we also get an additional 4-6% per year Cost of Living increase. Man in Canada teachers have to strike to get 1% - here the Government has automatic riders based on the prosperity of the private sector and it's a built in calculation - no one strikes because it's fair and it's tough to argue with a cost of living raise.
Further You absolutely don't need a car here - indeed a car will take you longer to get anywhere and be far far more expensive and LESS convenient. I was paying over $500 a month in Canada for a modest car, insurance, gas etc. I pay $2 a day to get to work and back. Maybe $10 on the weekend. That alone allows me to spend on audio because there is nothing else to spend it on.
There is no tax either - in Canada if I buy the $10,000 amp I have to pay PST and GST on it which is something like 12%.
But it's not a place to raise a family IMO - you have to make priorities and in all seriousness - the money HAS to be there or they wouldn't keep people here - living in a small place, more pollution, very crowded, brutal humidity from May through October, are some big drawbacks. I lived in Wenzhou China for a year and I would FAR rather be a homeless man living in a tent on Beautiful Vancouver Island than live as a millionaire in the dirty arse dive of a city. Ones mental and physical well being is ultimately far more important to me. Fortunately Hong Kong is rather good. It's probably the easiest city in Asia for anyone who wants to travel to Asia but is worried they will have a tough time getting around. Virtually everything is in English and virtually everyone speaks and understands English. And it's a great jumping off point to other major Asian countries like Japan, Philippines, South Korea, Thailand which are all I believe under 4 hour flight times.
