DoS
- 2004-06-21
Whilst I certainly won't argue your points, I do think that you are focusing on the negative points. For the money, well yes the pay won't get you very far in the west, but 5000 here will get you by very nicely. The apartments are usually paid for so you have very few bills and everything (well most things) are a lot cheaper than in the west.
Lots of people don't come here just for the money anyway.
Naby directors don't have a degree, maybe, but as long as they can run a business, so what? (Of course many can't run a business to save their lives, even with a degree!)
> Jim read the China article in the ESL resources/links section. Many
> deceptions. Salary offers are so low in China and foreigners still
> get charged more/conned for a lot of things. I was in Beijing last
> year and even the tour guide was stealing from us. There are also
> many health issues to consider.
> The ESL industry in many countries is not about educating children
> but about opening a school and making quick money. Many directors in
> Korean/Japan/China cannot even speak to you in English and they have
> no teaching degrees, sometimes no degree at all. You will have a
> better working experience overseas if you look before you leap and
> examine the pig in the poke.
> I am being honest (from experience) and direct so I will not say
> "Sorry" for telling people these things.
connie
- 2004-04-05
That bit about the currency isn't actually completely accurate. If you have less than 6,000 rmb you can take it out without declaring. I wasn't even asked at all when I returned in Oct. from Harbin. I know they indicate that in a lot of the "official" notices, but the above is correct info.
Budda
- 2004-03-23
Mike
Thanks for that valuable information. It sounds like what I have heard and read from many many other sources. Conditions in China are tuff. Did you stay with the one-year contract or leave early? There were a few things you could have done like.....
1. Buy your own heater and heat your own water and the room.
2. Collect your supper and a friend's while he pours the hot baths back at the dorm? I imagine there was no bath (right?), just a shower. In a case like that you have to buy the largest plastic bucket you can find.
3. Cafeteria food is not the best the world over. You have to supplement with your own purchases. I have less diarrhea when I cook for myself especially in the warm season.
4. When lied to you make a stand and get the agreed terms or stop teaching. That is business, service for pay. Many employers think they can abuse the foreigner after they arrive in China or Korea. They can and do if you let them. Passive or active, man or mouse, always a choice.
Personally I would not yet teach in China. The pay offered is way too low. They can use their own teachers. They have all along.
Mike
- 2004-03-22
If you are looking for a job in China, I would recommend that you avoid Cixi Experimental Middle School. I was there just over three months and it was a nightmare. Contract items were ignored, we were lied to repeatedly, especially about obtaining a work visa for us, life in dormatory was intolerable ( hot water for only one hour a day 5:00pm to six pm..which was also dinner time...shower or eat ???, went for two weeks with no water to flush the toilet, frequently had no water at the sink, could not get room any warmer than 12*C even with tiny heater that was provided going 24 hrs a day on highest setting) frequent electrical power outages, most of the food in the cafeteria was very poor quality and almost always cold. I could go on more but I think you get the idea now. I should mention that you can not send money out of the country if you only have a visitors visa and when you leave you have to have a receipt for foreign money that you changed into RMB when you went into the country. Currency exchange at airports there will only let you change same number of RMB back to dollars when you leave.
Budda
- 2004-03-18
Jim read the China article in the ESL resources/links section. Many deceptions. Salary offers are so low in China and foreigners still get charged more/conned for a lot of things. I was in Beijing last year and even the tour guide was stealing from us. There are also many health issues to consider.
The ESL industry in many countries is not about educating children but about opening a school and making quick money. Many directors in Korean/Japan/China cannot even speak to you in English and they have no teaching degrees, sometimes no degree at all. You will have a better working experience overseas if you look before you leap and examine the pig in the poke.
I am being honest (from experience) and direct so I will not say "Sorry" for telling people these things.