Job Discussion Forums

[voodikon]

[tom selleck]

Mark, sorry Mark, I, too wasn't paying too much attention to your post. Your the Father, not the Mother. No one said I was the most intelligent poster on this forum.

If it has to be the relative Sichuan area, Chengdu has it all over Chongqing. Chongqing is a city on a tall hill, some say mountain, that is wreathed in unsightly smog. Yuch!

I've gotta go to class right away. I'll try to remember to ask my teacher if there is some silly regulation about age and attendance. I doubt it.

I firmly believe that this is the best option for your daughter. Believe it in my heart of hearts.

Zai Jian

[tom selleck]

Mark:

Just got back from class, and the teacher said there isn't really any hard and fast rule regarding an age requirement for attending at the local University. The locals really call it a college; the sign says it's a Uni.

The second semester starts in March. Tutors can be found fairly easily.
SouthWestern Minorities Uni. isn't the most famous place, but it is fairly pretty.

My teacher basically said the same thing as the other posters on this thread. In any area of China, all the teen-agers are studying, locked in their dorms all day. She's not likely to make friends her age. The only friends she'll have will be other students in class, perhaps her tutor, and people that she/you have met in the expat bars. She automatically said the young lady best stay in Australia to continue her schooling. I said I agreed, but I think Papa has already decided.

Outside the West gate of the University, a small expat community of Americans, complete with their families lives in a vast apartment complex. By their families, I mean, 2 & 3 year old kids. Most of them study and travel. I just ran into a group, freshly returned from Tibet! Staring isn't a problem in this area, since the locals are now somewhat used to laowei.

I looked at one of the suites. It was beautiful and spacious. Rented out at Y1600/m. One of my classmates brought his family of five in total; they rent their apartment at Y2500/m. The nicest flat I ever saw in Chengdu was Y3000/mo. It was a virtual palace. The lousiest place I ever saw, well, I used to live there; it was Y1000/mo. Cheaper can be had. It doesn't mean it has to be worse than the oilpan I used to live in. It was just expensive because I lived right downtown.

If your daughter takes to Mandarin, it may be quite a legacy you're planting for her future. When I used to live in Canada, in my old life, like all Canadians, I watched a lot of hockey. I noticed something. All the Russian and Eastern Europeans who would go up to the broadcast booth for between period interviews spoke varying degrees of English. Those who got drafted into the NHL at very young ages spoke English practically like a native speaker, even though their first languages were Russian or Czech. Those that were drafted into the NHL at 21 or later in age always sounded like Eastern Europeans who speak a little English. Larionov still lives in Vancouver (I think) and speaks English with a very heavy Russian accent. Fedorav came to the NHL at a much younger age, straight to Detroit. Sergei Federov speaks English with hardly any accent.

What I'm trying to say is, it's a lot easier for someone your daughter's age to learn a language than it is for someone my age. That is, if she's got the motivation.

If you need any more details you can write again or e mail me... I'll be leaving Chengdu in March.

[Mark Beckman]

Its OK Tom I've been called Mother before - although there was an aditional attachment!

Thats great information and taken in, thank you for taking the time.

She picked up Japanese at school classes quite easily and as you say the earlier the better.

I will inform you here next week as to our placement as you may have an opinion being 'local'.

Thanks to other posters too and wishes of luck !

[beck's]

A few years back my wife and I taught in Korea for a year. Our seventeen year old son was with us at that time. He did one year of high school through the distance education department of our Canadian province. We helped him a lot and he was reasonably successful. He made a few friends but spent more time than I would have liked MSNing his buddies in Canada.

I would suggest that you teach in a university. Chinese university students are similar to 14 year old western kids in their interests and maturity levels. They love the Backstreet Boys, for example. I think that she would make friends easily on a university campus. University campuses here are closed, gated communities and in their spare time the kids are always out playing basketball, football and ping-pong. I think a campus would be a great place for her to be for a year.

[Long ai gu]

You may find some humid bone chilling weather in the winter-December to Feburary, so get some warm clothes. You may not see the sun or moon for quite a while, Chengdu has a low sky, they say the sun shines 20% of the time. Hope you like spicey oily food and don't mind if the waitress does a loud horking sound and drops a big lugey on the floor just after she brought you the food--past experience. They open all windows and doors in the winter so you'll be in your gloves and hats and warm coats as you eat in this restaurant-fresh air I'm told--there is no fresh air in China. You won't find a beach for many kilometres in Chengdu. The horking sounds never seemed to stop from morning til night, have a strong stomach and get use to it. I found some of the dirtiest stinkiest washrooms in Sichuan. As far as China goes, Chengdu people are quite friendly and the English level is good for China. They speak their own dialect of Chinese, like everywhere in China. It's good to learn the Beijing Poo-tong-wa, it's the standard dialect in China. There is also a fair number of foriengers there so that will be a help to your girl. Good luck, I'm trying to get back to Sichuan for my next teaching semester--I liked the place.

[Mark Beckman]

After all your efforts on Chengdu for which I'm grateful, it looks like we are actually going to Chongqing after speaking to my friend today there.

My Wifes best friend (Australian and the reason we even considered this in the first place) who works in Wulong 3 hours east of Chongqing, stays in Chongqing in her spare time and shares an apartment there with her friend (Canadian) who happens to work for a placement agency so hopefully we are getting the "its not what you know but who you know" deal and she says she can do something a little better there.

Apparently Chongqing has some good for Westerners like take away if you dont like the local spicy food (as mentioned by Long ai gu) and even a 'Walmart' is coming!

So please feel free to add coments now about Chongqing as well

[always_angel]

Hey Mark it's Wanzhou not Wulang

[Mark Beckman]

Hey !

See posting here doesnt hurt a bit does it ??

[always_angel]

Only when you have a broken finger like i do. I hope you are getting some useful info here. Just remember that everyone has a different opinion.(i can hear you saying yeah i know)