Job Discussion Forums

[tofuman]

Just finishing up my second school year and planning to move on.

My present accomodations are tolerable. But getting here was not easy. The first place I lived had a little child directly above. I still don't know what he was doing, but the kid made a great deal of noise. It started about six in the morning and went on, intermittently, until ten at night.

This was not normal type noise. It was like someone throwning large steel ball bearings on a tin roof. It woke me up in the morning, prevented me from napping in the afternoon, and kept me up until after ten at night. Sometimes it sounded like a bowling ball was being dropped.

I often would retreat to the school office for some peace and quiet, only in my dreams. The office was used by some local teachers as their living room, since they lived in a faculty dorm on campus. There would often be music, a video on the computer, and a few people laughing and talking in there.

Not having a place of refuge was possibly the biggest stressor for me here. Wandering the streets at night in China is hardly an entertaining past time.

After another FT left, I asked to move into his flat. I had mentioned the noise problem to the FAO several times, looking for a soultion. I offered to buy the folks upstairs a carpet. That idea was nixed.

The strange thing was that the administration would not let me move into the vacant flat. That, perhaps more than anything that these folks have done, indicated to me that they had virtually no concern for my comfort or enjoyment here. I finally just told the FAO that if I wasn't allowed to move, I would move into a hotel and the school could pay for it. Otherwise I would leave.

Of course, I was allowed to move. Friends told me that the problem was caused by the old buildings and the poor sound insulation. They, who live in newer places, said they have few noise problems.

Another university that tried to recruit me offered unbelievable, "rathole" type accomodations in a similar old building. The place was much smaller, no outside storage. I passed.

What have your accomodations been like? Was I just unlucky, or was my experience typical? Perhaps I am more sensitive to noise than others, but when I, a sound sleeper, am routinely awakened by noise from above, that seems excessive.

[hilary]

The school kitchen is directly below my bedroom window, and for the first few weeks I was woken up at 4 am by the head cook, who has an unbelievably loud voice, singing, yelling, hawking (into the porridge?) and arguing with all the other cooks. Same thing in the afternoons. He does seem to have stopped singing now, but has taken to playing bowls with the gas bottles (I think that's what he's doing - anyway, they sound as though they are being rolled from one end of the kitchen to the other).

[tw]

Please describe in detail as to what you meant by "rathole" condition.

At the first school (a junior college), I stayed in a dormitory with just bedroom, tiny bathroom, and tiny kitchen. It was cozy but not roomy. However, it didn't need a lot of cleaning.

At the fourth school (a university), I stayed in an apartment and it was HUGE. We are talking king-size bed, full-size kitchen, dining room, living room, bathroom with bathtub.

It all depends what kind of school it is and if they had a hotel on campus (they call them Experts Hotel).

[burnsie]

My place is a haven of paradise compared to yours. I have a new apartment, sat TV, surround sound stere &, DVD. Quiet and convenient to all shops and nightlife. A small study with plenty of books stocked with language training and business subjects. An oven and good sized kitchen full of goodies from the west. A companion pug dog also included which is friendly and good fun.

My Ayi comes once a day and cleans cooks and keeps everything tidy. Even mends my clothes.

The only problem is I have to pay 3,200 RMB a month in the bank loan.

Also have another apartment at my school across town. Smaller and a bit more noisier but reasonably comfortable.

[Roger]

I have been lucky most of the time.
My very first employer housed FTs in villa-type two-storey affairs that compared rather favourably to the CHinese tenement buildings with their gray interiors, dark rooms and no aircons. We had them, plus western-style bathrooms and CHinese-type kitchens (few cooked as we had subsidised canteens). SOme "problem" was that all students knew where we lived, and there was a constant coming and going, knocking on the door at most impolitic times, and students helping themselves to our telephones. It was getting a little worse when I had to share my two-bedroom apartment with another FT who was seeing even more students and some female teachers - the latter for obvious non-education related reasons. Still, we got along with each other pretty well.

My second home away from home started out as an illegal rooftop structure on a 12-floor 2-star hotel. The room was converted into a bedroom from empty space on the top of a stairwell. Next to my room were staff quarters and I had to use their communal bathroom for showering and you know what. It was bearable but a bit cramped. I had aircon, though. What I didn't have was - insulation to prevbent water from seeping in. There were two memorable downpours in April of that year that forced me to abandon ship, oops: my room in the middle of the night as the floor was flooded, the bed was dripping and my books were threatened with getting ruined.
Later, my boss moved me to a brand-new 2-room flat - one large living-room, one decent bedroom; no aircon, a kitchen and a western-style bathroom. IT was cosy living there, next to Shenzhen's famous Xianhu Park (very green, good air!).
The downside was that the house was under permanent construction; this lead to power outages and water cutoffs without prior announcements. Sometimes you couldn't take a shower in the early to late evening, sometimes you had to burn candles, sometimes both of these... In summer, this was most inconvenient.

My next pad was a flat I rented by myself. I had a one-bedroom apartment in a 26-floor high-rise. It was very crowded in there; the janitor was nosey and would occasionally sneak up to spy on me and the goings-on when I had female students on a visit. I also received several police on their mission to flush out II's (it was during the heady days prior to Hong Kong's return to Chinese rule!).
The house stood in the downtown area, lots of traffic noise and lots of unsavoury elements in the neighbourhood. Inside the house, some neighbours were loud too, some were not. There simply were no house rules.
One thing that irked me a lot was that if you didn't pay up your utility bills in time they would post the flat numbers and amounts due on a poster and hang it on the lift doors for anyone to read.
Paying late cost 2% a day, doubling the amount within a month... And yes, I was once late. Cost me an extra 270 kuai!

I also lived on campus of a normal school in a smallish town west of Guangzhou; while the interior was initially raw and in an ugly blackish gray, the school did a lot to make it more homey, installing a nice bed and an aircon. The premises was pretty basic but I was made to feel rather comfortable. Only problem was the squat-style toilet. LUckily, I knew places.

My current on-campus accommodation is rather comfortable: 2 bedrooms, one living-room, 2 aircons, one telephone (I have always had telephone, but this time I am allowed to make free long-distance calls!). I have all the household slaves you need, and they work.
Again, nothing is perfect. In this case, I am a little unhappy about the traffic noise from the nearby thoroughfare (it gets shielded off a little by a high-rise between our block of flats and the road). The drabness of the area with its numerous ungainly gray structures is another downside.

[Babala]

For the new teachers,

One thing to keep in mind when you are thinking about accommodation is that if you choose to live on campus, there may be rules which you will be required to follow. Some of these rules may include
- a curfew (sounds crazy but some schools require their teachers to be in by 10PM)
-no overnight guests (not even family or friends)
-no members of the opposite sex in your room/apt at all

Many teachers complain about these conditions. If any of the rules I mentioned would bother you, I suggest asking the FAO ahead of time or seeking off-campus housing.

[tw]

It is alright to have someone of the other sex visit you if

(1) The visitor is accompanied by someone else

(2) If possible, the front door is left open and everyone sits close to the front door in full view.

(3) If asked to, sign a record of visit sheet.

[kev7161]

I traveled to Suzhou yesterday to sign my contract. As per negotiations, I will have an apartment off-campus. I asked to see the apartment, but the FAO said that someone else was currently living in it. *sigh!* However, she did take me over to the complex - - a short distance from the school, yet far enough away to feel like I'll have a seperate, non-school life once I leave for the day. The grounds seem nice. There's a little shopping area for snacks and stuff along with clothing stores and DVD shop and so on. I imagine that, once I get to look around, I'll find a fruit stand as well. There's a Bank of China ATM and a couple other banks there, etc. etc.

The good news is that it's only on the third floor. I can easily handle that! Also, she told me it's a two-bedroom because, usually, the apartments are shared by FT (crafty me, I made sure to negotiate my own place - - the extra room will make a cozy little study/reading room, I'm sure). The bad news, I'm right across the hall from the principal of the school! Yikes! Not that I plan on any loud parties or engaging in a lot of "sinful" activities, but still . . .

However, I'm hoping that if it's good enough for the PRINCIPAL of a private school, it will just as good for me. I get to move in on July 1st.

[wonderd]

There's all kinds of things to think about when choosing where to live in China. I would personally recommend getting your own place. That way it's your place, your rules.

If you live on campus, there will almost certainly be rules that you need to follow.

If you live in a company provided apartment, then there is a good chance you will have rules as well.

Some of these rules can be no overnight guests, and I've even heard of no cooking and curfews.

I'm lucky, I have a girlfriend who does the housing shopping for me when it's time to move.