Job Discussion Forums

[mw182006]

As the title states, this was my first year in China and first year teaching. Spent the previous 10 years in a cubicle doing banking and mortgages. I found this gig through a local expat forum and after some slight hiccups with the visa process I finally made over in October of last year. These are simply my thoughts and experiences as a first timer.

The college is located about 30 minutes east of Chengdu in Sichuan province. I assume it's named an 'International College' due to the association with Pivot Point, which is some kind of beauty academy in the US. As such the main vocations are health and beauty related, with other departments including Management, Architectural Design, and of course Foreign Languages. The campus is also an officially designated tourist 'resort' which adds some charm and nice scenery. As far as the actual job goes...

Pros:
- No office hours, meetings were rare
- Freedom to teach classes as you see fit
- 4 day work week, 1-3 classes per day
- Little to no micromanagement from the administration
- Timely direct deposit every month
- Airfare, travel allowance, insurance, housing w/util. provided

Cons:
- Majority of students are low-beginner(?) level, but there are a handful of decent speakers in each class. Some classes are much better than others.
- Classroom tech is lacking. Each room has a computer and projector but they don't always work consistently. Apparently language classes will be in the new building next semester which may alleviate this.
- Provided textbooks were not very useful, I gave up on them a few weeks in.
- Class sizes vary widely. In the first semester my 3rd-year classes were 60-80 students because they decided to combine 4 classes into 2. For some reason, the two freshman classes had 20 and 40 students.

Location:
- The name of the town is Tong'anzhen (Yanguanshen) which seems only to exist due to the satellite campuses in the area. Other schools include Sichuan Uni, Chengdu Uni of IT, and a nursing school.
- Cost of living is cheap, most of my meals were ~10RMB and you can find all-you-can-eat BBQ or Hotpot for ~40RMB.
- Bus ride to Chengdu is 8RMB, but the bus service stops early (like 7pm) which means you're either paying 100RMB for a private taxi back home or booking a hotel in Chengdu.
- There is virtually no expat community here that I saw, other than my colleague who's an older guy that's been here for years and spends most of his time playing mahjong.
- Most locals are friendly and I had no problems during my time here.



All in all my first year was pretty meh once I got adjusted, but my expectations were low and I kept the 'first year is the hardest' saying in the back of my mind. The late start wasn't ideal either but what can you do? It was a bit of a shock walking into classes the first time and being met with thunderous silence and/or incomprehensible responses. I think I will have to work on my entertainer skills a bit. There were other quirks along the way but nothing that bothered me enough to mention it here. Despite the challenges I thought it was a good experience and I'm looking forward to moving on to a bigger uni IN Chengdu next semester. If you're still in need of a job, like small-town living and want to put your classroom motivation skills to work, feel free to pm me and I can put you in touch with my dept head.

www.polus.edu.cn

[toteach]

Late start date? When does the school begin in the fall?

[drjtrekker]

Sounds Peachy

[Shroob]

[mw182006]

^ Yeah, contract began Sept. 1, didn't arrive until Oct 9. Immediately tasked with make-up classes while my head was still spinning!

[Hermosillo]

Sounds moderately easy. What about the pay?

[mw182006]

It's rather low (4800) but being in the sticks allowed me to save most of it anyway. OT brought it closer to 6k in the first semester. If you're qualified you can negotiate higher as my colleague is getting a bump next semester.