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| JUFE (The horrors of) Revisited | ||
| Further Tales from JUFE. (Jiangxi University of Finance and Economics) Well since my original post in March I have received a few enquiries from prospective teachers all curious about JUFE. Last time I attempted to make the point that no-one (with the possible exception of masochists and those interested in researching the nature of torment) should ever venture to JUFE. It seems however that my attempt at brevity ended up being a little vague and I have been pressed for further elaboration. What follows are several extracts from correspondence dealing with specific issues raised by those considering employment at JUFE. Issue 1. Personal safety. I place this first because I believe that it is a concern shared by everyone. During my time spent at JUFE none of the foreign teachers was the victim of any physical violence – a few however fell prey to thieves mainly losing cell phones and wallets. Of concern to the students (and I suppose to any female teachers) would be the attacks upon girl students. I should stress that only one of these is absolutely confirmed but on the other hand one is quite enough. What happened was that a female student was attacked by a small group (7 was her best estimate as she was extremely traumatized) of male construction workers late at night on the university grounds. She was gang raped by them and left at the scene of the attack. The police investigation yielded no suspects (there is such a large pool of mobile labor in the area working on various sites that I suppose candidates were innumerable) and no-one was ever prosecuted for the offence. The school in order to give the girl a fresh start and “compensate” her in some way arranged her transfer to the more prestigious Shanghai University of Finance and Economics or SUFE. As a corollary most female students and indeed foreign teachers are a little apprehensive about going anywhere alone after dark. There have been several other unconfirmed reports of similar incidents since then but nothing proven. Issue 2. Medical provision. The school will provide coverage for medical expenses up to a total of 1000RMB. You should also attend the hospital on campus to receive treatment. The two problems that arise from this are that firstly the school hospital is infamous for its poor quality of care. The students themselves constantly warned me of this and avoid it themselves like the plague. To my certain knowledge the hospital also has a dearth of facilities and services that you would associate normally with such an establishment. I am not talking CAT scanners and remote surgical devices here I am talking wheelchairs and nursing care. Furthermore how far do you imagine 1000RMB can take you? All is peachy if you get a cold or the flu but how about if you develop a serious condition which requires admission? I myself was lucky and never became seriously ill - some of my colleagues did not fare so well. Issue 3. Exit and Entry. The only extant university rule pertinent to this is that all foreign teachers have to be back in the FT compound by 22.30 every night. Afterwards the door is locked and chained and unless you are a pole vaulter you are royally screwed. I never had any trouble leaving the campus. Visitors to the foreign teachers are strictly policed. There are two gatekeepers named Liu and Wang who like to refer to themselves as "ayi" or aunties. These two keep a constant vigil and have been known to deliver inquisitions to visitors upon either entry or exit. I think that the pair of them used to work Checkpoint Charlie but relocated after the wall came down. Needless to say many students are uncomfortable with this, which makes them feel like they have transgressed and therefore avoid coming entirely. Issue 4. Being surveilled. Liu and Wang (sentries with yellowed fangs) are the primary instruments of espionage in the foreign teacher's compound. Their constant presence means that they always know where you are going (they always demand to know), who with, what you will do etc etc. As aforementioned they will quiz all visitors about the nature and content of their conversations and interaction with you. Do not be surprised to return to your cave (remember I did gripe about the housing in the post) to find either or both of them inside having a good old nose into your stuff. Sometimes it is better than that - occasionally they invite their friends over to sneak around with them and cackle together over the obscure westerner's habits. Moreover it is Chinese protocol to rummage through your trash (which is initially disposed of inside the compound where Liu and Wang dissect it). The excuse for this is recycling of bottles etc but it can also yield some juicy titbits of information to be gossiped about. Rest assured that anything and everything that they learn from you or glean from others about you will be rapidly disseminated all over campus. Of course there may be an upside to everyone knowing that you have your period or you prefer ribbed contraceptives but I personally failed to find it. Aside from them the school PC's all contain indelible software which copies all files on the terminal and makes a backup of them. The computer is rigged to a network and these can be retrieved by the school from the mainframe. All Internet access is also channeled through the same servers which according to a colleague who is far more computer savvy than I renders it easy for E-Mails and page views to be recorded or snatched. One foreign teacher was a little too paranoid and was adamant that there were concealed cameras and auditory devices throughout the complex. No evidence of this was ever produced and I seriously doubt the veracity of his claims. In a room composed of 4 concrete walls ,a concrete floor (and yes a concrete ceiling) with no decoration to speak of it is hard not to see cameras if they were there. Issue 5. Accommodation. The accommodation is Spartan by the way. It's like camping inside for 10 months with no insulation. If you are an entomologist however you will be in paradise. There are bugs galore especially roaches (bigguns) and mosquitos. There is a restaurant, which dumps its trash adjacent to the FT's accommodation and I think that that accounts for the volume of roaches (also for the stench) and the stagnant water of the nearby lake breeds mosquitos in vast numbers. Just think of it as being somewhere between "starship troopers" and "naked lunch". I guess that covers it. If you have any further questions don't hesitate to let me know. Josh. Josh Adams August 2004-8-26 Durham, UK. Joshadams40000@hotmail.com |