|
||
| Taiyuan Schools Questionable at Best | ||
| Taiyuan Teachers' College - this is where I'm at now - OK for a one-year stint and they'll usually provide a reference letter - the dean of the English Department has no tact and expects everybody to obey his orders, hence his general dislike for questioning foreigners - getting materials and the like can be problematic (at best) - apartment bathrooms stink like a Chinese public WC (no joke) - students are great and you'll teach oral, literature, or writing - contracts often go without a chop, even after hounding - any contract amendments are verbal or they don't happen at all - the main heating is nowhere near hot enough to keep the apartment warm, even with 2 electric heaters - furniture in disrepair, also the bedsheets are too small for the bed - phone bills are never paid for, so get a cell - anything after the contract is signed won't be done unless it's a light bulb or something similar - water is a pain to order without a Chinese friend with know-how - you are informed of changes and events no earlier than 3 hours beforehand - it's in downtown Taiyuan where everything is within a 12-minute bikeride - water is shut off at 11pm and comes back on around 6am - the campus internet is shut off at around 10:20pm and is back on around 7:50am |