Job Discussion Forums

[tarzaninchina]

I first came over to China in July `03 and came straight to Taiyuan, where I've been for the past year and a month (so far). For all the years of my life to date, this past year has been the one where I've learned the most.

First up, school blacklist for the city. Modern English doesn't have permits, oftens gets shut down, and doesn't treat foreign or Chinese teachers all that well. Gao Xi Jie has been known for ripping off anybody who works there in the thousands of RMB. The public middle and high schools aren't too bad, but they pay VERY low and have bad materials that, in all honesty with every foreign in the city agreeing, teaching their will turn a great teacher into one that's barely mediocre. The Shanxi Normal University's English department (which is privately owned and not technically a part of the university) will not provide housing or much in the way of upholding any contract clauses.

O'Smart, the first place I worked, is mostly illegal and will short change you at every turn and 80% of what they do is illegal. You can find most of my problems as well as those of other teachers on the www.englishschoolwatch.org/notebook.php

The Taiyuan Mercan School will pay you what they owe you and on time, but everything else is up in the air. Also, the boss is a control freak and will seek to control most aspects of your life. If you're looking for a first-time teaching position and don't want too much of a social life (with the usual Chinese BS), go here.

Then there's the city itself. It's been in the top 10 of the world's most polluted cities in the world for the past decade at least. Black stuff will come out of your nose most times. If you smoke and live here.... It's dirty and an accurate rule of thumb specific to this province (which is agreed to by Chinese) is to never trust a Shanxi businessman. That's not me saying that though.

Why am I still here? Same reason why everybody else here is. Friends and social relations. For what you'll have to put up with and in an effort to maintain your health, choose another place. Even if they treat you badly, you'll still be breathing in much fresher air.

Right now I've signed on with the local Teachers' College, which I know from past foreigners who've worked there is an ok place. You can get great experience unless you're not much of a teacher, but the pay is low. I'm saving up to leave.

Any suggestions for a decent-paying place wanting a good teacher in a cleaner part of China (not including Shanxi province)?

Tarzan in China (@yahoo.ca)

[Louis]

Just for the record, some people are doing ok in Taiyuan. Namely, wo. Do your research, just like anywhere else.

[tarzaninchina]

Here's an update on a number of schools in Taiyuan, so this supercedes my post a year ago in the job information journal. Everything posted is in addition to that.

http://www.eslcafe.com/jobinfo/asia/sefer.cgi?display:1101454561-39762.txt

Taiyuan Mercan School
- very little new here
- completely different staff from when I was there as they all quit due to bad treatment from the boss, maybe this has changed in the past year
- offers more money than before, so is one of the highest paid jobs in the city
- apartments are scattered along with their campuses, so transportation at your leisure is still an issue
- still the same BS from what the new foreigners there tell me, so ok for 1st year stint if you want to kick off a TESOL career of more than one year I guess

Shanxi University
- located on the edge of the core part of the city (hefty 20+ minute bike ride to anywhere including good stores)
- low pay
- have been known to offer more than oral English (i.e. drama, culture) to those with backgrounds in the like
- apartments known for not being so great

G-Maple
- not much is new here
- still high turnover and non-renewals

Modern English
- has been closed and foreign teachers have left (I think all, but have yet to confirm two)

No. 10 Middle School
- posh school
- renouned poor treatment of foreign teachers there
- uncertain of anything else

No. 1 Middle School
- only hires parttime (no apartment, health, airfare, travel bonus)
- about 5K/month

Shanxi University of Technology
- VERY small hotel room for apartment with poor appliances
- extremely low pay with no health, airfare, or travel bonus
- no Dean of English Dept. because nobody wants the job!! (leads to a plethora of problems), so lots of problems that can't get fixed (including uni not giving much money to the dept.)
- they say they have 10 because that's in all their ads, but at most they have 6, which leads to problems with the uni's reputation

Shanxi University of Finance & Economics
- located right by Shanxi U, so a long ride in
- decent pay and for the full 12 months, not just 10 or so that most will give including the usual extras
- very nice apartments
- do not want you to have guests over, or leave the campus for BS reasons (i.e. live under their thumb)
- low health coverage
- any with business qualifications are preferred
- uncertain of working conditions there

Shanxi University of Science & Technology
- not far from the train station
- uncertain of conditions there, but friend may work there, so will provide update

Gao Xi Jie
- same despicable school

O'Smart
- not much new here, but a few teachers have returned
- I've heard rumors that the school's reputation is so bad that they might be relocating or opening a branch in sichuan

EF
- refer to other threads as this branch isn't so great and may be closing?
- lots of Euros here

No 2 Foreign Languages School
- absolutely terrible!
- broken contracts
- worst student behavior I've heard of anywhere (and the school supports this)
- had one of the worst school reviews for the past academic year for the city
- only hire part-time now (so no health, airfare, apartment, or travel bonus); may hire full-time but that's speculation based on desparation to get teachers
- former head of foreign affairs left to become no.1 middle school's VP or something, so they gone hardcore Chinese in poor approach with foreigners

[Drizzt]

Hey Tarzan,

Hang in there bro, I spent a semester teaching in Linfen, just south of Taiyuan, and I can say the pollution was terrible. I never forgot the first day I would see everyone on their bikes wearing the surgeon's mask hehe... Like yourself I made really great friends there, but I prefer the big city so I got out of there as soon as possible. I was only in Taiyuan once, but to its credit I remember the city was very beautiful at night, very lit up.

[amandabarrick]

I visited Taiyuan once last year, it was scary... People still riding their carts pulled by a mule down the street, lots of crime, extremely polluted, I wouldn't go back there.

AB

[benno]

i lived in taiyuan for about a year
hell its very polluted, once was third most polluted city in the world!!! but the local government have tried their best, its no way as bad as it used to be, but still inside the top ten, probably...but what can you do...beijing gets all its coal and fuel from taiyuan

i found the people in this city were fun, and friendly
the food was nice (shanix noodles and vineger are tops in china), and , if you knew where to go, the nightlife was great

i enjoyed my stay in taiyuan

the Op listed about 10 bad schools....i mean if you are a mug and new to TEFL...maybe you will get screwed...but i worked for a few schools in taiyuan and never got any trouble...makes you wonder how people get themselves into these situations!

if you like all mod cons...your kfcs...and wal marts...stay out of shanxi...hell just stay at home in america or elsewhere...china is an adventure.....always remember that

[tarzaninchina]

It's that time of year again and Taiyuan has been changing (at the usual fast-paced rate in Chinese cities). Compared to the two previous posts I have listing schools, I'll only mention the things that have change (i.e. are prevalent in the current situation).

O'Smart
- did close down, relocated in the same city
- very few teachers, but, as always, good for a visa if you're in a bind of any kind (never had to make use of that, but anyway)
- have yet to see an FT here with a red book (foreign expert certificate)

Mercan
- totally different w/staff and teachers
- now they have a night club a stone's throw from the main campus
- still great contract w/benefits for the city
- new manager for classes (previous one left a while ago), so I've heard things are running smoother
- owner seems to be pretty light on foreigners now

G-Maple
- recently laid off a bunch of foreigners through breeches because of the recent law in Shanxi where privates can no longer hire out their FT's to primary and middle schools (or whatever), so they lost 3000 students!
- pretty much the same, highly questionable employment opp where you can expect the contract to be broken if anything goes bad for the school
- problems with utility payment where foreigners received a monthly allowance of 100RMB but the school billed them every few months so in that 1 month where they were billed, the 100RMB was applied yet they didn't get the 100RMB for the other months, leaving them out-of-pocket

Shanxi U of Tech (Li Gong Da Xue)
- I've heard their salary might be getting lower

Zhong Bei Univeristy
- this is on the outskirts of town (30+ RMB one-way from downtown)
- financially supported by many industries, so they can pay fairly well for a public insitution
- uncertain about benefits or housing offered

Teachers' College
- are expecting to change to a new campus sometime in 2007 (although that's speculation, could easily be much later)
- have been frightened of FT's by the name of Robert as they've had some bad experiences with them
- want young FT's that are controllable and gullible to lord over other foreigners to lower pay and benefits among them all
- still refuse to chop contracts (i.e. the official seal)
- the key here is: laissez-faire and few troubles will be had and the problems will be fixed within a fair timeframe
- stabilized hi-speed internet connection on campus LAN to the FAO building
- bathrooms don't stink to high heaven any more

The City Itself
- new mayor from Shenzhen who's big on progress, e.g. he improved the city heating system and coal distribution for the better (very noticeable actually)
- pollution is decreasing, but still don't think of doing much aerobics here

[Genghis K]

I spent the last school year in Tai Yuan at the U. of Finance and Economics. Tai Yuan was fresh air and sophisticates compared to Datong, a few hours to the north. The school was better paying than most public universities. I had English majors and taught things like drama and film. No major problems with the school, nothing out of the ordinary for the "China Universe".

I loved the food in the city. Nightlife wasn't terrible.

I moved because I wanted the warm weather of the south. I told the school there was nothing they could offer me to stay. I was happy with the school, just not those snowy winters. I am much happier with my life in Guangdong. I am done with life in "real China".