Job Discussion Forums

[Arlis]

Hi All! I'm a new poster who'll be arriving for my first stint of full time teaching in the PRC near the end of August 2004. I don't really want to get all tangled in people's hair but wanted to ask for some aid and advice in EFL in China. Or rather, the somewhat sticky, frustrating, and sometimes enlightening foreign vs school scene.

Situation is: I've obtained a year contract at a University to prepare their students for the listening and written portion of the Band 4 English Exam. Further to this, I'll also be teaching a 'catch-all' Postgrad class that's all inclusive in a 16hour per week schedule (yes, light load).

Question is: I'm arriving 2 weeks before my first classes start. I thought this would be suitable to allow myself time to settle down and ensure that my private life won't drastically interfere with my teaching (homesickness, frustrations with language, vaccines, heat, etc.) But the vibe I'm getting is that this may be coming in too early(?!) as some of the new teachers are planning to arrive the weekend before classes begin.

I have already booked the tickets on an unmoveable date (can't postpone to a later time) and it has all been paid for. So my real question is what do I do with the time I'll have before classes start (2 whole weeks of it). I don't want to appear as a loafer/tourist just in it to travel the city and then jump ship (I think that's the bad vibe I'm feeling from my employer). I seriously doubt that I could stand a greater proportion of those 2 weeks devoted to lesson planning. I fear I'd fall asleep at the sheer incredulity of planning first semester exams without seeing what the students are really like.

It may just be my fears let loose on a saturday afternoon at Flemington, but I seem unable to catch them at this present time. So I seek help and advice on what to do, who to see, and what to ask about!

Do I bother the university about plans & books? Should I really sit at my apartment doing nothing? Or should I really not care about what the school thinks because they're just going to judge me on their own hidden agendas regardless of what I do ( )?

[Norman Bethune]

You will have plenty to do before your classes begin. Two weeks getting used to a place before teaching is what you need.

Don't worry too much about lesson planning in advance. You can't know your students needs until after the first class, so why plan so ahead in advance?

You will need two weeks to get your flat cleaned so it is fit for human habitation.

You will need those two weeks just to get the lay of the town where you are living.

You will need those two weeks to realize the contract you signed actually entails holding english corners and any "other assigned duties as directed by the university". That means you will be working more than 16 hours a week.

You will need those two weeks to be banqueted by your new employer, and at least another week to recover from the Bai Jiu hangovers.

You will need those two weeks to get used to employer/employee relations in China.


You are not coming too early. You should be here already.

[Ace]

It's numbing...start now! Look for games...simple, kids birthday party games...in the end, that's the only way to make them happy.

Make a local map and see if you can get someone to translate the streets nearby into Pinyin...demand to be shown where and how to buy:
shaobing and baijimou

The only reason the school would be worried about you arriving early is the thought that you might be bothering them with questions or demands...just make sure you have your addess written down in Chinese and keep it in your wallet, you'll always be able to get a taxi to bring you home (oh! and make arrangements for when you lock yourself out...putting a stick-on hook on the door for your key will help you see it before you leave, but still, expect to find yourself locked out...) Try to make friends with poor people nearby...take them treats (bring foreign smokes, other small gifts) because you won't be able to pay them, but they'll be the best and most helpful people you find.

The school won't help you after the first two days anyway...mobile phones will be "power off" and other phones will be answered by people who don't speak English and hang up on you.

[Roger]

When I came to the PRC for the purpose of earning a living here, I arrived several days (why not two weeks...?) early.
Our plane touched down on Shanghai Airport, and my girlfriend and I put in some time staying there, before taking the train to Guangzhou.
In hindisght it was a good decision as it allowed me to arrive refreshed, with the jetlag a thing of the past.

[Arlis]

Thanks for the info. I feared coming 2 weeks early was some sort of cryptic faux paux that i've stumbled on! I thought it'd be ok since some programs like JET allow a whole month to settle in. The tone of my employer seems to suggest otherwise...

[joe greene]

The problem may have to do with the fact that it's a university. Many university FAOs are now closed for the entire summer and will be completely unstaffed until the week before classes begin. I know a lot of FAO personnel that bolt out of here the day after exams finish. So if you arrive a week earlier than everyone else, someone may have to cut his summer holiday short to meet you and let you into your apartment.

[Arlis]

I had thought of that option before, until a string of e-mails from his office address in the middle of the summer break arrived in my inbox. I thought that perhaps he was working all summer too.

If not, it's one studious FAO that I'll have to apologize to for cutting into his vacation! Anyone know of a good gift to placate him ?

[oprah]

Chinese do things at the last minute, so I would not be surprised if you were left alone until the last minute. I was told to return to school at a certain date in August as the senior middle school students would need classes. There was not a student or teacher in site till two days after the date they told me, and then they called at ten pm to say I had a classes the next day. You never know what to expect in China.

[cheekygal]

Arlis, I think you mentioned you were going to Qingdao. Well, you'll find yourself busy running down the beach and participating in all sorts of events
May be your employer is afraid that if you are here early it is because you are using him to come to China and get a better job on the spot

[Roger]

I realised just now that I hadn't read your first post carefully enough; however, yours is the typical predicament awaiting virtually all EFL teachers at public schools.
Don't forget: you are being hired not as a teacher but as a white face; you will be attributed your classes in the last moment, and you will be given cursory introductions.
Don't take your job too seriously, man - I mean well!

And, by the way, there is no need for you to bribe your FAO into a good humour! It's his job to answer your questions, and if he fails at this critical moment then so be it.
Once you have settled into your new environment you will notice they always muddle through every crisis!

[ContemporaryDog]

The earlier the better is my advice. Due to my job in England etc, I actually came to my job in Wuhan about 2 weeks late.

The school told me before I came that I would get a couple of days to settle in, but in fact I was thrown straight from a long journey (12 hours to China then a few more on to Wuhan including connection etc) into classes the next day!

I was unbelievably knackered.

If you can, come now. Do not delay any longer. It is essential to get those two weeks to relax, prepare yourself etc.

[Chris_Crossley]

I was actually quite fortunate in not having to teach my first class for a few weeks after I joined my first school in China. The reason was that it should have opened two days after my scheduled arrival, but then the opening was put back one week, then it was put back again another week. Hence, all I was doing was basically engaging in the odd publicity drive, while the Chinese sales staff was doing most of it, and being taken around the city.

Not everyone is in the position of joining a school which is about to open, but I certainly would suggest coming as early as you can in order to get yourself fully orientated to wherever you will be, so you can know about where you can enjoy yourself at the end of the days when you will be spending a lot of time in the classroom. Your peers and staff will help you to adjust to life in the city, though, if you need advice, you know which forum to log on to!

Good luck with your new job!

[Yu]

I now am 6 days away from departure.
I think I am arriving about 2 weeks early, but as I have not been informed of when classes start, I dont know how early I am.

I was contacted by the school to see if I would need their housing. I declined.
I was told they would pick me up from the airport, and let them know the flight info.
I said I would arrive on the 18th, and got an e-mail back saying not to come to the 25th.... Well I already booked a family inn type of temporary housing for a week until the 25th, and during that time I am going to find my own housing. So I kindly said I already made arrangments, pointed out what a pain in the arse it will be to get me at the airport, and got the contact to agree to reinburse my cab bus fair to downtown area.
Anyway, I would rather not meet school people until I have some time to recover from jet lag.
I should also mention I am moving there with my Chinese husband and son so some of the language adjustment issues will not be my responsibility to figure out.
Good luck