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| I Second That, Renshou Review | ||
| I also have just completed 2 terms at a Renshou School. I taught at Renshou Middle School, formerly Renshou Teacher's College. This school is not to be confused with Mr. Scott's school, which is Renshou No. 1 Middle School. I really enjoyed my first term at Renshou Middle School. The other teachers were friendly and welcomed me, even though they could speak very little English. The students were enthusiastic and eager to learn. I taught Junior 1, Junior 2 and Junior 3, and 2 Normal School classes (from the former teacher's college)as well as some Senior classes. They were all great, except for one Junior 2 class, which I had again the second year as a Junior 3 class. The school itself is very primitive, with no resources to help you. My salary was above average, until it came time for airfare reimbursement, and I've left the school, and Renshou, with less money than what I put into my venture. I agree with Mr. Scott that Renshou is a dirty place, with the only virtue being the hills around the town, but I was able to forget that when confronted with all the kind people I met. If not for the air pollution in Sichuan and the tricks my school pulled at the eleventh hour, I would probably still be there. If you can handle the cigarette smoke, the air pollution, the open-sewer smell of the "canal" that winds its way through the town and school grounds, you'll do fine in Renshou, but beware Renshou Middle School when it comes time to pay airfare or any other end of contract payment. Beware of the English teacher, Mr. Zhang, who's responsibility it is to procure foreign teachers and then hands off all problems to an associate, but who will re-appear at contract end to render a whole new interpretation of the contract in order to allow his brother-in-law, the headmaster, loopholes that will keep you from getting paid what you're owed. And all of this is done within days of your departure, so there's no time, after the surprise and shock have worn off, to do much about it. I managed to speak to an officer at the Foreign Experts Affairs Department in Chengdu, but when he phoned the school to question them, the stories he was told differed 180 degrees from what their explanations were to me. I'm still in email contact with a lawyer in Chengdu, to see if I can wring any money at all out of this school. They agreed to pay my airfare, we discussed it and shook hands on it, I made my travel arrengements, and then they refused to pay me anything, and I had no time left to pursue legal avenues. I've read very bitter posts in this Journal and I'm trying hard to present a fair picture of my experience. I had an excellent rapport with my school the first term, but wish I had not returned for a second term. The rapport I had with them made it all the more shocking what they did to me in the final days before my departure. My advice to anybody thinking of coming to Renshou, or even China in general, to teach, is what I've read over and over, but didn't think would apply to me. ALWAYS keep in mind that you are in China. The people for the most part are very friendly and helpful, but ALWAYS remember that the morality we learn in our Canadian upbringing IS NOT part of the Buddhist ways. In my experience, the Chinese have perfected "Look out for No. 1" to an art form. It is socially acceptable to lie here, if it means you'll make more money. Contracts are new to most small business people here - they are now allowed to enter into contracts and go into business but they do not have the experience or ethics to go about honouring them. Because of the air pollution and Renshou Middle School, I will not go back to Sichuan, but my experience hasn't dampened my wanting to go somewhere else in China in the future to teach again. I'll just be more careful of what's in my contract and how it's worded. And, although my sense of fair play has been totally outraged by what Renshou Middle School has done, I can only say that what goes around comes around. Norma Grafe February 5, 2004 dudette5555@yahoo.ca Kitchener, Ontario, Canada |