Job Discussion Forums

[Non Sequitur]

Bud clearly has worked at superior schools.
If you are not signing on for another year, be vague about your fly-out date i.e. beware of creating a pinch point for yourself. And/or withhold final marks until you see your refund i.e. create a pinch point for them.
In the latter situation, your students will be clamouring for their marks and if they approach you say: 'It is in the hands of the FAO'.

[Aristede]

[CHINOISE]

came to beijing a month ago today

costs so far

food and taxi 500$
stuff for apartment 400$
bed 500$
flight 800$
visa+ med +docs 600$
hotel 600
apartment deposit 1200$
6 months rent 7000$

I'm getting close to 12000 usa dollars

School just reimbursed me 6000 for housing though

still need a bicycle, alarm clock and toaster

[OhBudPowellWhereArtThou]

[Aristede]

[wangdaning]

Hope you are making a boat load of money from the job. That is outrageously expensive. I made my first month on 500 USD, ticket was around 800 USD at the time. Luckily, the person I lived with before I left did not make me pay my part of the rent the last few months. Really nice guy.

No way I would be blowing that kind of money to come here and work.

[Jmbf]

[sonnytron]

Can I ask you guys a question?

Is it weird that I'm waiting for the FAO to approve my visa but I haven't talked to anyone at the actual school since my first interview?

I want to ask logistical questions like:
Will I be able to move into my apartment as soon as I arrive?
What's the day that I should plan to be in the city before my first days of class (October 1st)?
Can I purchase and use the meal card immediately after my arrival? (It's a 300 rmb meal card that lets me eat at the dining halls for all my meals)
Will the person who picks me up at the airport be an employee of the school or just some dude driving a cab?
Will said person also take me somewhere to get a sim card for my phone? Or convert some currency?
Are they going to give me a lesson plan to follow or do I have to prepare my own lessons, will I be given a goal structure for the year?

My recruiter was on my ass to get my medical done, get all my documents ready because she needed to submit them to the school for the FAO. Ever since then, she's just been like, "Let's wait for the FAO to send the visa documents" to whatever I ask her. No matter what I say, she says "Don't worry, you don't start until 10/1, wait for the FAO".

But I don't want to wait until a week before I fly there to figure out all the hiring details.

I asked my friend who's an NIT student to connect me to a teacher there and he did. The teacher gave me the number to the foreign teacher master and she also gave me the name of the person in charge of hiring foreign teachers. Does it look bad if I go over my recruiter's head to speak to these people? Should I just chill out? Is everything I've said is happening very common during a recruiter hire?

[sonnytron]

[Non Sequitur]

That's why I always advise newbes to opt for school-supplied accomodation.
The cost of rent plus bond is too much of an unknown and of course you have
hotel cost until you get settled.
For BJ it seems from posts I've seen to be triple cost and hassle.
Sonny re your lack of contact with school. I agree it's a worry and I appreciate that you don't want to go behind someone's back.
BUT until you do, what proof do you have the the school is actually working on your offer?
I'd say use the contact route you outline.
Don't arrive too soon before teaching start date.
The heating in your apartment and the student dorms won't be on until the last minute.
Unlikely you'll get much in the way of guidance - maybe a text book.
You'll get a roll and you should enquire whether percentage or ABC marks are required. Likely percents which is a difficult arrangement for oral English. How do you separate an 89 from a 90? It's such a subjective mark.
Also ask what proportion of final mark should be classwork and how much final.
PM me if you need other start off stuff. Other people probably don't want to read my blather.

[buravirgil]

[Non Sequitur]

Thanks
I've seen so many beginner teachers put off in those first few weeks by some unforeseen issue that I don't mind repeating myself although probably better to do it by PM.
A lack of support in the classroom coinciding with your first bout of Delhi Belly and it sours people who really could make a contribution.
I would much prefer ABC. Often for bigger classes you need to assess across two weeks, so is the 73 you gave last week the same as this week?
I also like to align marks across all of my classes if they're doing the same material.
All up I agree - done well the Oral English uni or vocational classroom can be challenging.

[mattyko40]

I stand by everything I said and really find some of you odd and lacking any logical sense what so ever. Some have now changed their tune a bit, but now it seems I said there were godless hordes destroying the province. Care to show where I said this? No probably not just insert troll. What I said is riots are a concern and should be a growing concern given current conditions. Until recently the government spent more on the riot squad then national defense, but don't worry some guy said he didn't see a riot. By that logic - I haven't seen a murder in the USA, therefore there are no murders in the USA. Brilliant!

Riots are just one of a multitude of issues that could arise forcing you to go home. There is way to many to even list. What's important is having enough to get home, and if you're worried about buying $5 in advil it doesn't sound like you have much of a fund. In the future, if you ask people for advice on how much to bring maybe tell them how much you have and or could get. I did give you straight answer on what to bring.

The tone of my posts is negative because I'm pointing out what could go wrong and why you need money. What bothers me when I'm in China is having to talk to Chinese who after saying " oh you real teacher" tell their stories of all the other teachers. They come there on tourist visas and or no money. It makes Americans look bad and it is a loss of face, and if something happens to them then our embassy has to waste time and money on clueless people traveling to the other side of the world with no way to get home. It's disrespectful to the USA and China. I said have enough to get home preferably a grand(gas prices will go up and plane tickets) and a credit card. If you do then fine. You kind of say you do but you're worried about advil?

OP you misquoted me and misstated what I wrote earlier now, besides the silly attitude about riots, you seem to have 5 points you wish to make towards me. 1. You haven't said how much money you have. I said bring a grand and credit card. You make it sound like you have barely anything, if you have enough to get home then say so and disregard what I said as it refers to people with low to no funds. 2. Knowing a local is good, but expecting to rely on him is unrealistic. Not many people who have lived in China for ten years have more than 2 reliable Chinese friends. 3. "There haven't been any anti-foreigner riots in Nanchang" When did I say this? There are riots in Nanchang. There is xenophobic attitudes in China and a history of it. Please quit misrepresenting what I write. There was a riot at a college in Nanchang, which I bet you had no idea it happened. That is not really being prepared, as it takes two seconds to google this stuff. I don't know how many or care, but some of the videos had cars overturned and burning. Again, this is just the footage that has escaped from an authoritarian country with strict media controls. 4. Relevance? "I know how to fit in, and most importantly, how to not be noticed. " You know nothing! You will stick out like a sore thumb the fact that you think you won't is rather troubling. What are you gonna throw your hoodie up? 5. Again quit misrepresenting what I said. "I spent last year in China. I'm certainly not an expert," That is what I said and instead of questioning my "education" maybe work on your reading comp skills. You are also in much less danger in the USA. Violent crime is not the only danger in China, it's not very big if there isn't a riot, there are countless other dangers. What's important is that in the USA you have people you know to help , people who speak your language, government agencies that will help you... In China you're on your own. You could fall and break your legs and 10,000 people will walk right by you or run away from you. And if you do get to a hospital they don't work for free.

You sound incredibly na�ve, and now you're already having problems. More than likely you won't have problems that require you to leave, but you should be prepared for them. China is not war torn Syria, but was Syria always war torn and do you actually think it can't happen because it's China? Faulty logic. So, hope for the best and plan for the worst.

As you prepare your loling at the crazy godless hordes rioting in China idea, I will leave you with a quote.
"Violent crime is not common in China; however, violent demonstrations can erupt without warning. Some of these have been large-scale and involved criminal activity, including hostage taking and vandalism. The vast majority of these incidents are related to disputes over land seizures, employment, social issues, or ethnic tensions.

In 2014 and 2015, violent attacks, including knife attacks and acts of terrorism, have resulted in several dozen injuries and deaths in public spaces throughout China, including train stations and markets. Although neither U.S. citizens specifically nor foreigners generally were targeted in these attacks, such incidents pose a random threat to foreigners. The U.S. Mission often does not receive timely confirmation or details from local authorities when such incidents occur. The Embassy urges U.S. citizens to pay attention to their surroundings when traveling in China and report any concerns to the local police."

[mattyko40]

You're so well prepared that you actually know what your country list's as a safety concern when traveling to a place on the other side of the planet. Hey don't worry some guy on the internet said he hasn't seen a riot....... lol blend in laowei.

[hdeth]