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| Re: YANG-EN NIGHTMARE | ||
| With all due respect to Mr. Grant who I have never met and who I have never corresponded with prior to reading his posting, I want to use his posting as an example of culture shock (or Bitter Westerner Syndrome to be exact) due to ignorance and failure to mentally prepare oneself before coming to China. I will not comment on statements about the school owner's alleged criminal past and characteristic. But there are various things that I have come across in other postings that many people never seemed to have commented on. > Majia is a noisy, dirty, dusty, polluted place As compared to Vancouver (where Mr. Grant is from), I would say most cities in China fit that description. > And don't believe a word of what their website says. These people > are some of the best spin doctors around. Think about it: if they were to tell you the truth, how many people would actually want to come teach at that school? Most ads online are either lies, misleads, or truths stretched to beyond imagination. > You will be picked up late on arrival Being late is a norm in China. Many people have no concept of being on time or showing up early. Also, don't forget such factors as traffic jams. > There will be no phonebook, no long distance, Telephone books are a rare novelty in China. People just call 114 if they need to get a telephone number. Long distance calls? Did you ask about long distance telephone cards (IP cards)? You didn't actually think that the school would let you make long-distance phone calls for free did you? People in China pay their phone bills based on the number of minutes of phone calls they make each month, unlike the flat-rate system in Canada and USA. That is why maky parents despise their children yapping on the phone all day. > Earshattering fireworks at dawn and late into the night. Chinese people love their fireworks. They have them even in the middle of the afternoon to celebrate a wedding or the opening of a new business. > The villagers even have a firwork amplifier nearby! In China, the louder, the better. > Motorcycles roaring by the building as early as 5 a.m. People in China wake up as early as 4am to go to work. Not everyone lives a 5-minute walk away from work. Imagine living next to the airport and listening to pairs of fighter jets taking off at 10pm from the near-by navy base. > You will have to pay all visa and resident permit expenses Something you should have asked the school about BEFORE coming. > 100+ students in each class Can't be oral class you are teaching then. Must be just giving lectures. First-year classes in Canada are the same with hundreds of students in the lecture hall, remember? > You cannot use your own materials or do anything creative That's the Chinese education system. Now think of how much time you save from having to research for lesson ideas and planning your lessons. > No speaking about religion or politics anywhere in the place That is the case everywhere in China as you should undoubtedly have seen on your contract. This is a country run by a political party that is atheist. As for political discussions, the last thing they want is another Tiananmen Square embarrassment. > Your movements are monitored by guards at gates Maybe they are worried about your safety. You are the school's investment and property. They maybe also worried that you are having personal relationships with female students. > The place is like a fortress with gates and guards everywhere with > various weapons to quell any disturbance caused by anyone. The Chinese would look at this as keeping proper security for the safety of the staff and students and to keep the students disciplined. > They tell the students what to do-even how to dress and cut their > hair. Many schools have dress codes -- even universities and colleges. > You cannot have any students in you apartment ANY students, or any FEMALE students? Did you try to ask about private tutoring? > Chinese teachers must be in their apartments by 10:30 p.m., and > they all sign 10 year contracts with hefty withdrawal penalties. Now why would THIS be of any concern to you? You are the foreign teacher here. Just do your job and keep your nose out of the Chinese teachers' problems unless you want to get into some big trouble. > The stench from open sewers, the village, and the surrounding lake, > is all perversive. The lake is the waste dump for all sewage from > the university. It will kill you if you go in it! Again, failure to do any homework before committing yourself to go to that school will result in some rude awakening and shocks. > Most of the wealthy students are here to "buy" a degree and don't > put in any effort. Just fail them. > They cheat on tests and spend their time sleeping in class. If they cheat, tear up their test paper, give them a zero and report them to the school and then watch them wet their pants. > Once I had over 30 students asleep in the class! That's because either they found the lesson too boring or they were to tired. Hey why do you care? You just focus on the students who really want to learn from you. No matter how good of a teacher you are, you can never have a full class of students -- especially if they are in that class because the school told them that they had to be there or because they want to get some easy credits. Sleeping in classes is common in China and it beats students talking on cell phones in class! > If they fail a course, they get 3 more times to pass it! That's the case everywhere in Chinese universities and colleges. > The so called "Foreign Teaching Experts" are some of the worst > peole you will have the misfortune to meet. They belong in asylums. > They come here because they have nowhere else to go and they will > do anything to keep their well-paid jobs by Chinese standards. Making these general remarks about your fellow workers shows you lack maturity and make you look worse than they are. > Many are here for a good time:drinking, eating and smoking. Beer is cheap in China so I myself enjoy a few beers too at night. Is there a sin in eating? After all, often one can never find many of the food in the Western world. I don't see any evil in enjoying a nice delicious Chinese meal just as long as one doesn't waste too much of the food. Smoking? Many people smoke in China, what's your point? > They couls care less about the needs of the students. They have no > morals and principals. They are the scum of the earth that has > floated up in China Tsk tsk tsk. Not nice generalizing ALL foreign teachers. While yes there are many alcoholic chain-smoking obese dirty old men teaching English in China, there are also plenty who are the complete opposite. > An alcoholic male Canadian teacher who nearly died during the > winter vacation, was shipped off to another town to take his > sickness to. Of course, would you want him working for you? This shows that the school does care about its image and reputation. Otherwise, it wouldn't have cared. > You will find many teachers like him who bring their diseases and > sicknesses to YEU. All foreign teachers have to pass a medical exam. If there is anything as bas as you have mentioned then they would have been out of China a long time ago because they wouldn't have been given a Foreign Resident Permit. > The satellite tv is rarely in service and the BBC is almost always > cut off Censorship is a part of life in China. > There's no hot water in the kitchen. Very common in China. The plumbing system in China is not as sophiscated as in North America. > It gets very cold in the winter with poor insulation and concrete > floors. Wear extra layers of clothes and don't go bare feet. > There's no heater supplied There is centralized heating system. > 5 students live in one small dorm room with communal shower > facilities. Five is nothing, try 8 or maybe even 10 in some schools. Paid public on-campus bath houses are a part of life in China. > Their electricity is turned off at 11 p.m. All public schools do that to prevent students from staying up too late and also to save electricity. > I went there to teach, to travel a little, and to learn something > about China and the Chinese culture. Now you have learned something from me. Thomas Wang Dalian May 25 2004 tw@canada.com |