Job Discussion Forums

[Photograffiti]

This is just a warning for anyone who is thinking about this small school in Handan, Hebei, China. DO NOT COME HERE. In the past two years the school has employed 7 teachers and four of them left because of the poor working conditions, and poor treatment. If you were interested in this school, and I have crushed your hopes and dreams of coming to China, just find another school.

[ContemporaryDog]

Places like Henan and Hebei seem to be two of the Provinces that I read the most negative reports about schoolwise.

There is some poor sod on the job info journal on this site who went to a school in Henan where he was not allowed to leave the campus AT ANY TIME!!!! He wasn't even allowed to go to the shop!!!!!

[TEAM_PAPUA]

Not allowed to leave the campus!?!?! Serious? That's insane!


T_P

[Roger]

And what might be your cedentials, dear photograffiti? How can we trust you? Maybe you are the owner of that other outfit you so eloquently wish to push...

Seriously, I am equally sceptical of braggard training centre operators as I am of disgruntled newbie teachers who want the whole world to know how unhappy they are because two ants tickled their shins.

So long as no crime has been committed by that school you wish to ostracise it is as good a school as any. A newbie who chooses to live in Handan of all places must be aware that this place is not for glamour-seekers.
Foreign teachers that end up in off-the-beaten path locales normally get a more royal treatment than they get in posh places such as Shanghai ort Guangzhou.
Whether social fabrics or modern lifestyle - you choose before you actually settle there.

[Roger]

And what might be your cedentials, dear photograffiti? How can we trust you? Maybe you are the owner of that other outfit you so eloquently wish to push...

Seriously, I am equally sceptical of braggard training centre operators as I am of disgruntled newbie teachers who want the whole world to know how unhappy they are because two ants tickled their shins.

So long as no crime has been committed by that school you wish to ostracise it is as good a school as any. A newbie who chooses to live in Handan of all places must be aware that this place is not for glamour-seekers.
Foreign teachers that end up in off-the-beaten path locales normally get a more royal treatment than they get in posh places such as Shanghai ort Guangzhou.
Whether social fabrics or modern lifestyle - you choose before you actually settle there.

[ContemporaryDog]

[TEAM_PAPUA]

...so where do I sign up for that gem of a position?


T_P

[Photograffiti]

Okay, so dear Roger wants some credentials, and more trust. Why don't we just shake hands, exchange cigarettes, and then say we are best friends, as that seems to work for everyone else here. Just kidding, I have read a lot of your posts, and your full of useful (and some useless) information. True that I am a newbie, and I didn't really know anything about China, much less Handan, before I came... It was one of those friend of a friend hookups. I definitely wish I had found this site before I had come, oh well, too late now.
So, the usual contract breaches have occurred. Overtime worked no money seen at the end of the month, vacations that never happened, promises of safety while being put in a taxi with a driver who has been in 3 small accidents with the other foreign teacher (hit a woman on a bike, brushed the side of a transport truck on the highway, and hit a pedestrian), failure to mention that the driving time to about 1/2 of our classes would be longer than the class itself, and just the intolerable business principles that effect the way everything is handled. You know, the normal stuff you find at too many schools in China. Of course they see none of this as "breeching the contract", but the second I show up 5 min late for class I am ushered into the office and told that I am the one breaching the contract...
Anyway, like I said, it's just a warning so that you don't get stuck in the same position as me... but, if you choose to come anyway, then I am okay with that, as it would make my class load a bit lighter... you choose.

[drakis]

Word has it that some people will be hosting a Christmas Eve dinner for all the foreign teachers in Handan, Hebei. This won't be a cheap dinner by the sounds of it and the mayor will likely attend as well. Keep your schedules open for the 24th. E-mail me for details.