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Are the Chinese the problem?
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BeijingBill



Joined: 10 Jan 2013
Posts: 59

PostPosted: Thu Jan 24, 2013 10:46 am    Post subject: Are the Chinese the problem? Reply with quote

I just got out of a job in Beijing, and everything I read about the Chinese is somewhat true. I will say that the strangest people I have come across were the westerners. Just at my school you could make a damn reality show on. Is this the norm at ya'll's schools?
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lemak



Joined: 19 Nov 2011
Posts: 368

PostPosted: Thu Jan 24, 2013 4:07 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

When in Rome blame the Japanese!


....or at a pinch the Xinjiang people.
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MisterButtkins



Joined: 03 Oct 2009
Posts: 1221

PostPosted: Thu Jan 24, 2013 10:51 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Quote:
I will say that the strangest people I have come across were the westerners.


Yeah, this is true. A lot of loonies tend to end up working in China. Not all the FTs are like this, but the crazies are certainly around.
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johntpartee



Joined: 02 Mar 2010
Posts: 3258

PostPosted: Fri Jan 25, 2013 3:10 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Quote:
Not all the FTs are like this


Thank goodness. I've been very fortunate at my present position. I've seen nine teachers come and go here in the last year and all of them were pretty cool. Some of them had their little "quirks", but not a real clunker in the bunch. Definitely the exception, percentage-wise.
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cormac



Joined: 04 Nov 2008
Posts: 768
Location: Xi'an (XTU)

PostPosted: Fri Jan 25, 2013 3:18 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

It's comes down to luck and where youre meeting people I would guess. I've met plenty of crazies of both Chinese and foreign oriin in bars/clubs. Outside of those places, they're more rare but not Impossible to meet.

If we want to be fair though the ratio tends to balance out considering the sheer number of Chinese meet compared to the smaller number of foreigners.

As to the type of foreigners I find that tourists are more dodgy than those that stay. Also first year foreign teachers often go a little crazy with all the options for self-destruction on hand. In regards to the Chinese, I would say that by far the largest number of loonies were girls, but usually those that had past experience "dating" foreigners.

But overall I would say I meet far less crazies in china versus most western countries I've lived in.
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Javelin of Radiance



Joined: 01 Jul 2009
Posts: 1187
Location: The West

PostPosted: Fri Jan 25, 2013 9:09 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

The only sane ESL teachers in China are to be found right here on Dave's ESLcafe. Don't settle for anything less !
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wonderingjoesmith



Joined: 19 Aug 2012
Posts: 910
Location: Guangzhou

PostPosted: Fri Jan 25, 2013 10:55 pm    Post subject: Re: Are the Chinese the problem? Reply with quote

BeijingBill wrote:
I just got out of a job in Beijing, and everything I read about the Chinese is somewhat true. I will say that the strangest people I have come across were the westerners. Just at my school you could make a damn reality show on. Is this the norm at ya'll's schools?
I can relate to this observation. Locals appear to be more natural than the westerners, especially the ones that've been here for longer periods of time.
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darkcity



Joined: 23 Dec 2008
Posts: 54

PostPosted: Sat Jan 26, 2013 7:15 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

In the first place, it takes a weird person to drop everything and move to a country that doesn't speak your language for work.

I've met a lot of alcoholics in this industry, as well as many who are unhireable in their home country or are escaping something (child support, bankruptcy, etc).

So yeah, lots of weirdos, myself included.
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Denim-Maniac



Joined: 31 Jan 2012
Posts: 1238

PostPosted: Sat Jan 26, 2013 10:01 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

darkcity wrote:


So yeah, lots of weirdos, myself included.


I think I prefer the word 'quirky'. I've met a lot of quirky people here, and Ill include myself in that. If I think of the last roster of FT's I worked with, and probably even the roster before that ... no-one was really odd / dark / dangerous or weird, but we certainly were quite a diverse and quirky bunch.
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it'snotmyfault



Joined: 14 May 2012
Posts: 527

PostPosted: Sat Jan 26, 2013 12:49 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Double post

Last edited by it'snotmyfault on Sat Jan 26, 2013 1:00 pm; edited 1 time in total
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it'snotmyfault



Joined: 14 May 2012
Posts: 527

PostPosted: Sat Jan 26, 2013 12:50 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

In my experience people who like describing themselves as being different to everyone else...I'm crazy/wacky/quirky etc

Are usually just a bit saddy
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Miajiayou



Joined: 30 Apr 2011
Posts: 283
Location: Nanjing

PostPosted: Sat Jan 26, 2013 4:17 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

At my current school, it has had both extremes for westerners. My first year, I worked with well-socialized people around my age from ny home country. It was really fun. This year, two of the teachers have textbook symptoms of not very serious but very annoying psychological problems (anorexia and social anxiety) . It is a total bummer. But, we have no real WORK problems. ALL problems beyond social niceties come from your Chinese employer. If they can't manage people properly, it is their own fault. Not yours, and not your crazy colleagues'. Working with crazy people sucks, but blame needs tobe put in the right place for a workplace to operate effectively. Crazy people are everywhere .
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kev7161



Joined: 06 Feb 2004
Posts: 5880
Location: Suzhou, China

PostPosted: Sun Jan 27, 2013 2:39 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

We had a teacher this year (note I said "had") who came in as a replacement short-term teacher due to another having a serious injury and would be out of commission for a while. Almost from the beginning, he exhibited those personality traits many of us have seen before - - complaining, ranting, yelling at students, coming in hungover (or not showing up at all!), etc. I suggested to the director of the department about a month ago that maybe it would be better if the school asked him to leave and other teachers could fill in his classes until the upcoming holiday.

The director told me, "no, he'll be gone soon enough anyway". About two weeks before this holiday, he missed two days and was interrupted in his drunken, beauty sleep by admin. He claimed he could teach (although, from what I was told, he was certainly slovenly and seriously hungover), but the school THEN determined it was time for him to go.

Now the returning teacher is going to have his hands full restructuring the classes this other guy was . . . "teaching".
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twilothunder



Joined: 09 Dec 2011
Posts: 442

PostPosted: Sun Jan 27, 2013 3:45 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Yeah, nice one Kev, suggesting to a boss that a co-worker (who hasn't actually done anything to you) gets fired?

Would that be "acceptable behaviour" in whichever country you come from? I doubt it very much.
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kev7161



Joined: 06 Feb 2004
Posts: 5880
Location: Suzhou, China

PostPosted: Sun Jan 27, 2013 7:06 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Yeah, "twilo" - - you weren't there, how do you know what transpired? How do you know if this teacher came into my classroom most every day, ranting about this or that (sometimes between classes when the kids were around)? Yes, he did, so now you know.

How do you know if I (and others) had to cover his classes when he was "sick", er, hungover? Yes, we did, so now you know.

How do you know if I (and others) walked by his classroom during his lessons and heard him calling his students "boring" and "lazy" and "worthless"? Yes, I did, so now you know.

How do you know if this "teacher" came to me almost every day because he couldn't figure out his textbooks and how to teach properly from them? Yes, he did, so now you know.

Quote:
Would that be "acceptable behaviour" in whichever country you come from? I doubt it very much.


Yes, it would, so now you know.
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