|
||
| HEBEI NEW TIMES INT'L….REALLY GOOD PEOPLE | ||
| Though I have only been in China for 2 months I have seen both sides of the coin.I came out here from a military background.But having done some TEFL courses I really wanted "THE CHINA EXPERIENCE". The company that I came out here under is called Hebei New Times International.The company is run by an extremely friendly,honest and professional man called Mr.Dou Songlin.His office is based in a city called ShiJiaZhuang(3 hours south of Beijing). Basically what happened me was this.Mr.Dou's company is a rep for schools,both private and public,looking for teachers.Within 24 hours of my arriving in China I was on my way from his office to a city in ShanDong Province called Laiwu.The school I was to work for is run by a really dodgy guy called Mr.Dong.He is the typical cowboy that you will find over here.Having promised me the sun,moon and stars I ended up living with 3 Chinese teachers in a fairly grotty apartment.I have lived in some crappy places over the years so it wasn’t all that bad.However I knew that my boss in this school was going to be my problem.He insisted that I sign a year long contract."It isn't possible to sign for six months".This is complete bollocks.Unless you are 100% sure that you want to stay in a particular school, never sign for one year.On Christmas Eve last week I got talking to 2 English girls who came here straight from college and signed 1 year contracts.I think they are 3 months in and they aren't too keen on the following 9. So anyway.I never signed a contract with this Mr.Dong,due to the fact that he was"processing" my passport.Originally it was to take 10 days.10 days became 15,then 20,then 1 month.All I ever heard was"NO PROBLEM,NO PROBLEM.DON'T WORRY". After 3 weeks I contacted Mr.Dou to inform him what the hell was going on,only to discover that DONG had sent the passport back to Mr.Dou as he had no idea how to process it for a visa.Things were not looking great for his new school and I was now hearing stories of atleast 4 other teachers who had left his school.Its not worth going into detail but after receiving my 5 weeks pay(5000RMB)I jumped on the next bus out of town.Never once did I sign any contract. From the moment I informed Mr.Dou of what was happening his people were extremely supportive of me.Mr.Dou informed me that no other teachers were going to be sent to DONG'S school.I was a bit cagey of this at first but low and behold,he didn't.I happened to be in the office the day that DONG called to get another teacher and heard Mr.Dou decline.Since my return to ShiJiaZhuang I am living alone in a beautiful(and very warm)apartment.I am enjoying the work very much and can safely say that I will be in China for the next year. I am writing this for those people thinking of coming to China.There are so many schools and companies out there just looking to take advantage of you.They are EVERYWHERE.In the past 3 weeks I have seen about 9 teachers come through Mr.Dou's company and onto good schools with good contracts.Hebei New Times will take care of you from the moment you contact them.They are well worth talking to if you are thinking of coming out here.As for "THE CHINA EXPERIENCE".Its whatever you make it. If you wish to contact me feel free. DATE:12/27/04 E-MAIL:pat262133@hotmail.com ShiJiaZhuang,China |