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[coralie]

I was in Japan from 1991- 1995. My nett wages then was JPY 375 000/month. We paid for our own apartment, which was then JPY 55 000, utilities blah, blah, blah was an additional JPY 15 000/month. We lived quite well; not exactly splurging and not exactly counting pennies either and we managed to clear ALL student loans by the end of our first year on the JET program. Of course, like everybody else, I did "private lessons" every chance I had. By the time we left Japan, we had a rather nice savings tucked away. An added "bonus" was that we got money back from the Japanese Social Security, can't remember exactly how much now, but it was quite a tidy sum.

Right after Japan, I went to Singapore for a year and from there I was offered a job in Wuxi, Jiangsu Province - this was in 1997. We were offered the equivalent of S$4000/month(US$2400 at that time) paid in to an off-shore account, accomodation provided, utilities paid for, transportation to and from school provided, free lunch at school and RMB 6000 "overseas cost of living allowance" paid in to the Construction Bank and an end of contract gratuity. I grabbed the offer without a second thought. Class size was small - and I mean small - average 12 students, my Grade 3 class was only 5 students!!! I had 2 split level classes - grades 4/5/6 but still I had only 14 kids. I finished my contract and left Wuxi and moved to the "big city", Shanghai where I worked at Fortune Kindergarten for RMB 12 000/month (this was in 1998). I left after 3 months for my then boyfriend was relocated to Hong Kong.

I came back to mainland China in 2002 - alone - this time I decided that I'd like to see the "real" China - whatever that means! I went through an agency and they placed me in Baoding, Hebei Province. It was the No. Something Middle School - class size - 45 angry teenagers - they weren't angry with or at me though, thank God for that!! My monthly wages was RMB 3500, an apartment with very little heating in the winter was provided free of charge- there was something about giving me RMB 2200 for me to travel during the Spring Break but somehow I never saw the money and I never bothered asking. There was also something in my contract that said I would get 2 days off for Christmas and 1 day off to celebrate my country's "birthday". I was given 2 days off for Christmas, but was asked to make up those classes on Sundays - so they were not really days off now, were they. I complied with the school's "request".

Canada Day came and went and NO, I did not get a holiday. There were a whole bunch of other things, but I just let them all slide - my students were great kids, angry as they were, they were the ones who made me stay.

Now, the people managing the school - they were NOT poor by any stretch of the imagination. No, no NOT AT ALL. They drove nice cars, very nice cars, splurged at fancy eateries, had wives with fancy clothes and you know, I am really happy for them. So, yes, there is money in Baoding (can't say for the rest of China, but in Baoding, definitely), the money was simply not meant for us the teachers (or the students for that matter!!)

Then I went on to Huanggang in Hubei Province - this was quite an experience!! Totally rural area - only one word to describe Lanhu - DIRTY!! We rode in taxis with no suspension whatsoever, you bounced up and down and chipped a tooth! The taxi drivers packed as many as 7 of us in his little suspensionless Citroen. When it rained, it flooded, the roads were unpaved. Yes, we had money in our pockets, but no, there was not much to buy really. Meat was a luxury, not that it was expensive, it just was not available. The farmers raised their own poultry or whatever and the best we had was cured meat. Fried rice or noodles was 2 kuai and a bottle of beer 5 kuai. The nearest town, Wuhan, was about 2 hours drive away. I made RMB 4000/month, but I still managed to save a good chunk of that without really trying - there was nothing to spend on. Entertainment for us was running round the track a few times a day, watching others play soccer, riding our bikes along the river, studying Chinese, doing taichi and the highlight of our life was our fortnightly trip to Wuhan Carrefour!!!!!!

Huanggang Polytechnic was a vocational college for students who could not make it to universities. We discovered that these kids were from affluent families and the college charged an exorbitant amount of fees - so again, yes, there is money!! But the money sure as hell did not go to us the Foreign Teachers - we were paid RMB 4000 (yes, the agency which recruited me gave me a raise!!!). There were a lot of issues - late payment, contract not honoured blah, blah, blah,. I finished my contract, was awarded a certificate of some kind for deciding not to leave the country during the SARS outbreak, became a local celebrity, got my face in the front page of the local papers and decided then NO MORE mainland Chinese employers for me, thank you very much!!

The school charged unimaginable fees yet the resources were pathetic, the students' dorms were appalling and the school did not even have the decency to provide decent meals for these kids (which the kids had to pay for by the way!!) Anyone knows where all that money went to??? When we were hired, we were told the school is in a poor, rural area, so they can't afford to pay so much - fine with us - but at least provide the students with something that is consistent with the fees they forked over to the school. No, no, no, that would be asking for way too much!!

I am now in Suzhou - US$2700/month, housing subsidy up to RMB 6000, return ticket,wellness allowance, insurance cover, relocation assistance, class size max 22, professional development, transportation to and from school. I am back in the international schools - yes, the fees are exorbitant, BUT the kids get their money's worth.

Yes, there is money in China, it is simply whether they want to fork it over to others or they wish to keep it for themselves!!

I was going through a few other posts, this poster "kidfrombrooklyn" or something, he got it right when he said we shouldn't settle for anything less than RMB250 or something to that effect. China may be a developing country, but it is a country that is developing in to a capitalist one and the money is there - those who have the money (and they are our laobans) want to keep it for themselves and they use "China is a poor nation" as an excuse. I fell for that line in my attempt to seek out the "real" China. But enough is enough!

Aiyaa! Have I strayed from the topic???