Job Discussion Forums

teachfortoday · Joined: 21 Jan 2011 Posts: 48

I recently saw an ad advertising for a foreign teacher for Tongling Middle School #3 in Tongling, Anhui.

It reminded me of my horrific experience there.
The house for the foreign teacher was impressive from the outside, but the inside was covered in black mold and dog hairs, and smelled terrible. The furniture and appliances were all in disrepair. The house was across the alley from the Chinese teachers apartment building.
The CT's frequently gave me grief about how I lived in the large house, but I would much rather have lived in one of their small and clean apartments than that filthy house.

Neither the FAO nor the head of the English department spoke English, so everything had to be translated through one of the Chinese teachers. I had only 10 classes a week with wealthy students that were supposed to be prepared for going to university abroad. They were also assigned supposedly the very best Chinese teachers for their other classes.

No books or curriculum for my classes other than being told to "ask them about their hobbies". I have my own lesson plans, so I just used those.

The first term was ok, but over the Spring Festival holiday most of the Chinese teachers were replaced with other teachers due to the demands of the students.
The new head teacher was also their Chinese English teacher but he could barely speak English, and often refused to speak to me. He told the students that oral English was a waste of time, and that they could do as they pleased in my classes.
So, I now had 35 students that were very difficult to manage in class. When I commented to another teacher about the problem he told me that I was "too sensitive".

A message was passed along to me from the principal that I was not allowed to have any visitors or Chinese girlfriends. I was told that I should look outside the city for any companionship. Tongling is the "real China" of stares, shouts, name calling, and harassment.

One of the female Chinese teachers from a different school befriended me, but there was a man that followed us almost everywhere that we went.

I completed my contract there only because the salary was 8,000 a month for only 10 hours a week.
Living there was such pure hell that I felt as though I was selling my soul, and could not leave that place fast enough.

Just a warning to anyone considering this school.
It may have changed over the past couple of years, but I doubt it.

boksic · Joined: 03 Sep 2016 Posts: 2

I worked at that school too and I've posted a review. It's complete hell!

Blistering Zanazilz · Joined: 06 Jan 2018 Posts: 180

Non Sequitur · Joined: 23 May 2010 Posts: 4724 Location: China

We seldom get the whole story and there could well be completion perks.

rioux · Joined: 26 Apr 2012 Posts: 880

Modernist · Joined: 03 Jan 2016 Posts: 72 Location: Routing

I read the original 'epic' on this topic (well, I skimmed it, anyway). The reality is that no one should be so dependent on a job as to deal with those sorts of things. Especially in China. If you get that sort of behavior from a boss, you need to be ready, financially, to bolt. Screw the school. Maybe they'll learn next time.

The 'low hours' nature of the job, as supposedly appealing, of the original post was odd to me. 8000 for 10 hours, yes, but you were in Tongling! What good does all that time do you in a backwater of backwaters like that? You think you'll get privates? Work at a training school? What?

I agree with others here, Anhui may be one of the most, if not THE most, xenophobic provinces in the whole country. Even Hefei is pass-through only. The outer places, ie Tongling? God, no. Who in their right mind would move to a place like that? No culture, no food, no money, no landscape (no, Yellow Mountain is not enough), no proximity to other better things. Why would you live there?