Job Discussion Forums

[7969]

i accepted a job at this college in north/central china at end of september. i arrived here a week later and started working after the holiday. put up in temporary accommodation till my flat was ready. no hot showers (only available with students every second day), english tv, internet, or private toilets in this accommodation, but it was comfortable enough and close to work.

have been waiting from early october till yesterday for my apartment to be ready. i saw it when i arrived and it was empty and freshly painted. i was supposed to move into it a few times recently but still not ready. finally i was told i could go there to live (i've wanted to get my place so i can organzie my life in town, the campus is a 35 minute bus ride out of town and its boring out there at night.

among other things, the flat was dirty, the balcony door doesnt close properly (two inch gap when closed), no heat (only in mid november will it come on), the cable didnt work, no internet as the technician got married recently and is on holiday, many of the standard items in foreign experts apartments were not there and i have no idea if and when they will be purchased. no shelving units in the nitchen, no gas cooker (a single electric cooking plate was provided), i have an extension cord crossing the room at waist height in the kitchen because something wasnt thought out beforeand, only one wooden door with one flimsy non-dead bolt lock to protect me, my laptop and my $2000 of camera gear. one kitchen window is broken (hole in glass), no table to prepare food on or to put the cooker on.... the list goes on a bit more.

the school has told me repeatedly this flat would be ready on different days. yesterday, i finally thought it was, but it's not. i've had three jobs in this country now and this is clearly the worst place i've seen a foreigner put up in yet. there is little communication, i call and ask when things will be ready, i called and asked for a meeting at the flat today with the FAO and the guy putting the place together so we could all get on the same page and sort it out. meeting was in order but noone called me back and noone did show up till i called FAO back 4 hours later. at that point another teacher showed up, looked at my list of items i considered essential... was told by her i dont need a heater since its not cold yet (night temps now are below 10C and flats with no heat at night in that temp are cold). i insisted on a heater. i called the FAO and said i was buying a floor heater and expected them to pay for it. call from FAO to other teacher to me, heater approved for no more than RMBXXX. was thankful to hear that. further, since the school is worried about spending "so much" money on an FT, i told them they dont need to buy a computer for me after all since i have a laptop, but that i might expect a bit of leeway in other areas.

i submitted a written memo last week indicating what i required for my job. they fulfilled 3/6 items, but paid me early so i compromised on that one. on the same memo i listed what FTs are supposed to have in their flats, and that i expected the same and soon.

the other FT reported the school to the foreign affairs bureau in town last week and they got their knuckles rapped. they are dilly dallying, miscommunicating everything (typically no clear chain here but seems worse than most places in my experience), and wasting time (this whole weekend will pass with noone visiting the place to even look at something let alone fix/install anything.

i enjoy teaching in china. i enjoy living here or i wouldnt be here. i came here when these guys wanted me, i started working. i'm holding up my end, but they're not. i quit my last job 8 months into a 10 month contract and i dont want to quit this one. so far my experience in the classroom is good. however, these admin people are ruining it for me.

i've tried talking to these people but that achieves little or nothing and if on the phone is wasting my mobile money. meetings are hard to arrange since everyone is always so "busy" and it seems to be impossible to get someone alone to chat about these things. i've written a memo and handed it in, that worked but only to a small degree. i dont want to get nasty or forceful with anyone but that seems to be the only thing that's going to produce results here.

so, to conclude this long winded and entertaining post...

my question is: how long is reasonable to expect your flat to be made ready to typical FT standards as outlined by the bureau of foreign experts in china? its been one month since i accepted this job, and my apartment is still below minimum standards. (one other poster on this site has already seen it, and i think he agrees). if they dont sort it out this monday (my day off) i expect i'll be calling foreign affairs and/or just telling them i dont want to stay any longer. they've had enough time and all i'm hearing are excuses.

[7969]

i should add that the approval for me to buy a small floor heater and get reimbursed only came after i called the FAO and related (a bit vocerifously) that the other teacher, to whom i gave my list of things to do, thought i didnt need one because i "look strong." i'd be interested in taking a look inside that teacher's apartment to see how her place is set up. this last call to the FAO ended abruptly.... not sure if we just got cut off or if i was hung up on :>)

[YearOfTheDog]

I agree with most of your problems. As far as the issue with the heat goes...that is a China thing. I live in Nothern Inner Mongolia our heat doesn't come on for another month and my apartment is -10 at night. There isn't much the school can do about the heat. I think the fact that they paid for a heater is impressive.

As for how long you should wait ...we I guess that depends on your Tolerance. When I started my contract with my current company, I lived in a hotel for 2 months. But I loved my job, I had an awesome schedule and I knew they were doing the best they could.

I would say if there is no end in sight to your problems and the school is crap.... Then hit the road, If not wait out the storm.

[amandabarrick]

Couldn't you threaten to quit if they don't do something by this Monday? The squeaky wheel gets the most oil. This may get them into action. I am not sure how long is reasonable to expect your flat to be made, but I doubt it is longer than a month.

AB

[vikdk]

grin and bare it my son - and for god's sake don't quit - or some of our brothers in arms will start a sniggering - and even whispering "he wasn't cut out for this kind of work"

sorry mate just a poke at the attitudes shown by some of the brothers in other threads - hope you sort it out - give em shiit

[Roger]

[Keath]

Hey, they are breaking the contract.. Utilize this time to be "Sick" and while you are sick look for a plan B job.. Its not going to get better at your school.. It seems they either dont have any experience dealing with these things OR they lost the people who had the experience to deal with these things.. No one knows who has the authority to get things done.. Either prepare for alot more of the same in the future, or start looking elsewhere..

[7969]

all sound advice. one of my chinese colleagues even admitted that the school is inefficient. that goes without saying i suppose.

i'm willing to put up with a lot really. what i'm not willing to put up with is someone telling me that something will be done today and then it doesnt happen, that day, or the next day or at all.... meanwhile i'm at home waiting for someone to show up. i wont threaten to quit because i dont want to. i've already spent nearly a month here and dont want to spend another month at yet another job and spending more time and energy getting used to that place. the term is only two more months, and then i'll probably re-evaluate staying at this place until next summer.

to the school's credit, they allowed me to buy a heater yesterday, and they had a carpenter come in this morning to fix a couple of other things that needed done. but there's plenty more to be done.

this school doesnt seem to have to experience with foreigners, they had one in the past, and my current colleague is from africa, beyond that i dont think they've had anyone else here.

i'm trying to find out what the SAFEA standards are for a foreign expert here in china. once i have that, i'll know more about what i'm entitled and not entitled to.

i'm (seemingly) still on good terms with the FAO, so i hope this whole thing is sorted out this week sometime.

i'll post more on this later as things happen.

[kev7161]

Here's what I would've done (probably). I would've listed my requests in writing, just like you did. I would have given them a deadline, just like you did. I would have put the deadline as a certain date and would have given them a full week beyond that to sort everything out. After that, I would refuse to work until everything was fixed and up to par. In the meantime, I would have been looking for another job - - just in case.

But, for god's sake, don't pull a runner! Other teacher's in other provinces will report you to the PSB should you show up in their neck of the woods.

[7969]

kev, my only question is this:

if i refuse to work, yes, that works well for me, i shouldnt be putting out effort like i am if party A isn't doing their part. however, at the same time, my feeling is that by refusing to work i will poison relations with the FAO from my side. any comments on that?

7969

[vikdk]

dont worry mate if you head my way I have a list of safe houses - my contacts can get you over the swiss border by next friday.

[kev7161]

Yeah, let me clarify: If you do refuse to work because contractual obligations aren't being met (and this work refusal should always be after you've exhausted the other possibilities - - such as a letter, meetings, conversations, etc.), then one of two things will happen - -

1. The school will realize they better get on the ball and get things taken care of, because they need you as a teacher. . . as do the students.

2. They'll fire you.

If the former happens, great! If the latter, then you should be prepared with that backup job that you've already sent an email or resume to OR be prepared to do legal battle with the school due to the fact that they've BREACHED the contract by not providing everything that was stated within.

So, what I'm saying is that a person that decides to stop working needs to be prepared to accept the consequences whatever they may be. Again, I'd recommend to gently, politely, yet firmly and with contract in hand highlighted in yellow (the parts that have not, to date, been honored) and simply tell them: "I've been patient, I've been professional, I've requested you HONOR YOUR CONTRACT several times, so let's discuss options. Do you want me to continue teaching for you or not?" Put the burden on them. Let them tell you why they are not responding and what they expect of you. Don't budge from that office until you are satisfied.

Granted, this kind of conversation/tactic may work in many countries, but who knows what the results may be here in China?

[7969]

well said kev. i will do this today. no change as of today, just more delaying tactics.

on a related note, my experiences in china are generally quite good. travel, making some friends, students, food, etc etc.... only when i'm forced to deal with school admin people do i begin to complain a lot and get somewhat stressed.

[Keath]

I changed my position, get the hell out of there now. If they cannot respect to have the apartment ready when you arrive then there's "trouble my friend.. Right there in River city.. "

Go out and eat pizza with lots of cheese and vegatables.. Leave a big western sized poopey in the toilette and a card on a toothpick.. "Thank you for the hospitality."

[KarenB]

Kev7161 has the best advice here. My friend just went throught all this at her school. Her apartment had beds but no mattresses (just the little 1/2 inch pads that the Chinese sleep on), a kitchen but nothing in it except a hot plate (no dishes, gas stove, pans, etc.), no promised computer, etc. It was a school that was hiring FTs for the first time, and they were a bit clueless.

Since some of the items (microwave oven, computer) were in the contract, and since they weren't meeting SAFEA guidelines, she had the upper hand. She wrote them a letter outlining all of the things she still needed, gave them a deadline (end of September, which actually gave them an extra week, since the first week of October is a holiday anyway), and then informed them that if they didn't have her apartment ready by that time she would take a break from teaching. She also informed the Hainan Department of Foreign Affairs of the situation. Also, couple of foreign teachers and FAOs from other schools contacted her FAO to let them know the basic standards for a FT apartment. There was no way the school could fire her because they were in the wrong. If they did fire her, she could take it to mediation with the government, and most likely win a cash settlement for wages lost (furthermore, she could go on to a better job, and the other foreigners in town had several lined up).

Well, the school gave her 90% of what she requested by the deadline. They're still getting a couple of the kitchen items, I think, but basically the threat of "going on strike" worked. In the 5 years I've been here, I've known of 2 other instances where this worked successfully. However, you need to be sure that you are the one in the right (as far a contract and SAFEA guidelines go), and, as Kev said, have a back-up plan just in case.