Job Discussion Forums

[Redfivestandingby]

I agree with MyTurnNow. Your chance of getting this disease is relatively low but you might suffer a lot because of the panicking. My school decided to shut down for about two weeks since few students have been showing up in the last week or so.

My boss has decided to continue pay for the foreigners(keep fingers crossed!) but the Chinese teachers are screwed. They'll have to take mandatory pay cuts until things stabilize.

Also, I'd like to know if anyone is aware of Chinese communicable diseases prevention recommendations that include no spitting and covering your mouth and nose when sneezing or coughing? Chinese will say everything under the sun(wash your clothes, smoke, traditional meds) except these two major ones.

[hubei_canuk]

redfivestandingby
I read that the fine in Beijing for spittinghas jumped to 6 yuan, apparently many times greater than the previous penalty.

[pattyflipper no more]

I don't know what scares me more, SARS itself or the potiential that it has to devastate the country. I have been reading all of the posts on the site about SARS and it seems to be a very different picture then most of the media is painting. The feeling that the government has no control is really scaring me.

I have not bought my plane ticket yet, I have until friday to do that. I am waiting to see what happens. My boss assured me that things in Fuzhou are fine, but I am starting to have second thoughts. I would have to fly through Beijing and then on to Fuzhou. Again, its not really that SARS scares me, its the panic that is getting me.

Are there any other people on this site that are in my position that have postponed their trip due to this??

How would I go about (in a nice way) telling my employer that I want to wait a month or two before I come out because of the health concerns?? Is this an acceptable thing to say with only 2 weeks before they want me to start teaching.
Thanks for everything,
Cody

[luceluceluce]

I'm in pretty much the same position. I'm supposed to start on 19th may but I haven't bought my ticket yet.

The problem is, the longer you leave it, the less likely you are to get a good flight deal....

I'm speaking to my employer on friday to discuss all this, but i know i can't start so soon. I think it's reasonable to ask for a delay. I also think it's reasonable to change the contract for more sars-related protection.

i'm not afraid of the disease, but the reaction to it. there are some wild stories flying around. what's true, what's not? It's a horrible dilemma....

please let me know what you decide.....

luce x

[Peter]

Statistically SARS is a very small blip on a graph as compared to traffic accidents, TB, Malaria and Aids.

Nobody refuses to go to China because of the loony drivers, spitting peasants, mozzies and dodgy sex.

[MyTurnNow]

Patty/Luce,

Conveying your concerns to an employer should be easy...people here are hyperaware of what's happening. A lot of my Chinese friends won't even leave their apartments right now out of irrational fear, even in areas that are still SARS-free.

Simply tell them that you want to postpone to a later date because of all the problems arising from SARS. Plain and simple. A good one will understand this, I think, and if they get hostile then you don't want to work there anyway. Consider it a bullet dodged. There's a million other jobs out there.

Be ready for them to try and reassure you and talk you here against what may be your better judgment. Many people here who hire teachers care a lot more about covering their class loads than they do about your honky heinie. I know- I'm one of them. But at least I am only hiring domestically right now...I would not ask anyone to come here from abroad while this is happening. What you get from other managers may not be the truth, or it may be a truth that has changed by the time you get here.

The madness has not peaked yet. Some teachers and students are still virtual prisoners of their campuses. I'm one of the luckier ones- I'm merely confined to the city. Classes are still being canceled...I just lost a long holiday because (at least) Shanghai has closed IELTS training centers by government decree. Wuxi city's Public Security Bureau (police) has suspended issuing Residence Permits to all foreigners, even those already there in the city. This list goes on and on and on.

Just coming here is a gamble. Coming here now will lengthen the odds a LOT. Please consider carefully.

MT