Job Discussion Forums

Count_Fathom · Joined: 17 Apr 2003 Posts: 92

Beerdang:

I hate the negative aspects of humanity. China and her culture offers a different angle on these aspects. I complain just as much about the west, as her faults are no less, no greater.

Positive: perserverance, family, "neighborliness", faithfulness to her ancestry. (Many many more, sorry I can't put it into words off the top of my head)

beerdang · Joined: 07 Mar 2003 Posts: 112

American Friend of China · Joined: 19 May 2003 Posts: 23

Dear Beerdang,

Of course I won't portray the negative things about China while I'm in America, because Americans already get the negative stuff from the biased American media, and because I don't want to play into the hands of the right-wing hawks and the hegemonic foreign policy of the Bush Administration. I might like the domestic conditions in America better, but I don't like America's foreign policy. Actually, I hate Bush.

As for your criticizing my returning to America, let me say this: Right now, I don't have enough to offer for China's development except teach English. I don't have enough skills yet. I only have a Bachelor's Degree in Asian Studies. One of my reasons for returning to the U.S. is to get a Master's Degree and gain more skills, and then I would be able to do more to contribute to China's development. But as you criticized me for not staying here and contributing to China's development: it is because I don't have anything that is valuable to China, except for teaching English. Why would a big company or a Chinese government institution hire me to do work that a Chinese person can do? So, right now, my choices are limited to teaching English, which I have already done for 3 and a half years, contributing to the education of more students than I can remember or count. And I want a change. I don't want to do the same job forever.

Also, when foreigners change jobs in China, it is best to return to your home country, and then come back. I've heard that if I stay in China continuously for too long, my market value in terms of salary level won't really increase. Even in the ESL field, I've heard of cases where employers pay more if you come from abroad than if you look for jobs here in China.

And another thing. It is not really about attitude, it is about "xi guan." And for many of us, "xi guan" is not an easy thing, even for those of us who have studied the culture and can speak the language.

And then, there's my wife. This will be a great opportunity for her to see another part of the world, gain more skills, and live in the English language environment. And with an American green card in hand when she returns to China, she will be able to earn a higher salary than she would right now, which is currently only in the 1000-2000 RMB range.

So, the decision to return is actually a very complex one. And I forgot to mention, there's also the issue of my social security benefits and retirement pension. I'm young right now, but eventually, these are things I'll have to think about. And I have to repay my student loans, too.

Linda L. · Joined: 03 Jul 2003 Posts: 146

Gray a "troll" is also a liliputian from Scandinavian mythology who collects the toll at the gate or bridge.

Dave is the ultimate troll here ( although from his picture he looks like a giant ) and the gate is now closed to Panama Teacher.

Bertrand · Joined: 02 Feb 2003 Posts: 293

NumberOneSon · Joined: 03 Jul 2003 Posts: 314

NumberOneSon · Joined: 03 Jul 2003 Posts: 314

Gray000 · Joined: 14 Apr 2003 Posts: 183 Location: A better place

Hey beerdang - thanks. You gave my post a more courteous and thoughtful reply than I really deserved. Sorry to have tied what was a series of general complaints to you specifically. Most of the time I don't consider the pain of being Chinese. You reminded me to think about what it must be like. No, I haven't heard the song and I'll ask around for it.

I gotta tell you, though, I really hate the idea that one should try to ignore the problems of one's own country. I'm not exactly sure what you personally think we should do. Are you advocating giving a fair picture of China to foreigners or a whitewashed (meaning we only tell the good things) one?

I'm sorry I discounted the emotional content of your post. Now that I am making an effort to understand your point of view (as opposed to seeing your post as a collection of arguments) I think I see where you are coming from.

beerdang · Joined: 07 Mar 2003 Posts: 112

beerdang · Joined: 07 Mar 2003 Posts: 112

beerdang · Joined: 07 Mar 2003 Posts: 112

beerdang · Joined: 07 Mar 2003 Posts: 112

Michael T. Richter · Joined: 17 Jun 2003 Posts: 77 Location: Wuhan, Hubei, PRC

Roger · Joined: 19 Jan 2003 Posts: 9138

Dear Michael,

I quit my job of two years just a couple of weeks ago. 35 kids of one class made paper fans as farewell gifts for me. Their teacher and I had had one year of smooth communications and cooperation. I loved her kids, and they behaved like darlings too! Several other classes were much the same.
I left saddened and feeling exploited. Not by this class and her teacher, of course. I felt betrayed and let down by others in this school.

My first year there was almost twelve months of sunshine and mutual respect. From day one to the last day in my first year, it was like a holiday season with pay. I actually looked forward every Sunday to my lessons on Monday.
If anything ever troubled my mind then, it might have been the too-frequent presence in my classes of media people and photographers! BOth the TV and a couple of newspapers were invited to report on me. I demanded that the TV crew make a VCD of their report, and they obliged. This VCD is a selling point in my CV. However, I do feel schools are taking their liberties too far in using pictures of expats to promote their school.
Anyway, the school even invited me on a holiday trip in the summer holiday season. I got paid for twelve months. In sum, I was treated almost exactly as a Chinese. The only difference was - my Chinese colleagues put in more hours per week than I ever did.

The second year started off to a poor start, and in week two I told my waiban that I was definitely feeling unhappy there. She did not ask me why. The main reason was that the principal was dawdling over my visa, putting enormous psychological strain on me. In addition, they were trying to recruit a second expat!
I shared an office with three teachers. When the school finally had a second expat, she was moved into our office. Believe it or not, but one of the three girls that had worked with me for over one year demonstratively moved her desk out in displeasure over the hiring of another expat. She was later ordered to move her desk back in. That expat was a young English girl, and nothing was wrong with her, except the fact that she was on loan from a training centre, and inevitably, there was a falling-out between her and her employer. We had to hire another expat through the same agent, with the same result within one month. Finally, a third expat was hired in just 5 months.
These teachers cost the school a lot more than myself, of course.
Gradually, I began to feel that the school was trying to scrimp and save maos and fens at my expense. At first, I had to remind my waiban that several VCD's had disappeared, and I needed replacements. I was promised them, or rather, I was promised that she would tip our principal off. In two months, nothing happened, I had to improvise lessons without those VCD's. I finally forced my waiban to own up, and she did own up: No, she said, she would never request our principal to buy new VCD's! Why? Because the girl had had a run-in with the principal herself many months before: she had suggested that the school buy certain books from a Hong Kong publisher. These books were pretty expensive, and turned out to be useless in our school. The principal then was angry with my waiban, and my waiban did not have the guts to face her boss over a suggestion from me. In other words: I had to buy those VCD's at my own expense, in my spare time, and I did!
Finally, I was told I was using the office computer too often. While nobody in my office ever used it between 8 a.m. and 9 a.m. - when our first classes began - the girl that had moved her desk out of our office when the second expat arrived found fault with my habit of surfing on the Internet. The computer was eventually moved to a larger room to which I was not allowed entry.
Well, I had to while away a full hour before my first lesson, due to the whims of bus timetables.
When the heat began to be unbearable (with our office facing right east), the remote-control of the aircon was missing. Later I knew that girl was hiding it in one of her drawers. I brought a remote control from my own home and turned the aircon on before everybody else.
A new tactic now: That girl would enter our office and leave the door wide open, then open the window too so the heat from outside could penetrate into the office.
If I was however briefly absent, she would switch off the aircon and leave the office. By the time I was back there it would be stiflingly hot and humid.

Now would anyone know how to deal with Chinese colleagues like her? I did not know what to do, whom to contact about it. I certainly did not expect my waiban to take sides with me against her colleague, and I could not seek redress through the principal either. Suffice it to say that a small circle of like-minded people eventually succeeded in making me feel so utterly helpless and isolated that I threw the towel.

The reason I advanced for seeking an early exit was that the visa I had expired before my contract expires (next month). I also have to get a new passport. The visa issue has a lot to do with their muddling at the beginning of the school year.
Instead of accepting in good faith my notice of termination, the principal got angry and highly vindictive.
At first she tried to cut my salary by one month and airfare for the last two months (prorated and added to my monthly pay). We negotiated it down to a cut in my pay for three weeks, the same three weeks that I walked out early.
In addition, she deducted an exaggerated amount of money for the purchase of those VCD's that had gone missing earlier. I asked why they made me pay ONE YEAR AFTER THE FAIT ACCOMPLI, and they said because I was leaving them.
A principal that does not take revenge is not a principal!