Job Discussion Forums

greg_sensei · Joined: 22 Oct 2003 Posts: 8

Looking for some advice here on the Sunshine School in Harbin. A guy named Vincent Ousley is recruiting me to work there. Anybody with ANY info regarding the school, place or anything else please write to me.

[email protected]

Red Moppet · Joined: 30 Sep 2003 Posts: 3

hey! i don't know anything about the sunshine school, but i lived in harbin for 6 months (february - july 2003). what would you like to know?

harbin is an industrial city, and not very wealthy. they heat with coal, so the dust is everywhere. in the winter it seems very grimy, but once the trees start to bloom it turns into a pretty city. apparently daqing, only 2 hours away, is an oil city - much cleaner, richer, and can pay foreign teachers typically more than harbin. that being said, i really loved living in harbin.

the climate is extreme: in the winter it is bitterly cold (minus 30 degrees celsius or more) and in the summer it is hot hot hot and humid. but by the end of february this past year it was already feeling like spring and was quite warm by april. apparently the coldest months are december through to february. bring your longjohns!

the city itself is easy to get around either by taxi or by bus. there are a few main shopping districts, and some good sights to see. you can head to the river off of walking street to see the flood monument, or go to i think four different temples, and there is a bizzare park of "eurasia" (equipped with a miniature arc de triumphe!).

the people i met were amazing. because the city is quite far north most chinese will think you are russian if you are caucasian. some will even try speaking to you in russian. the foreign teachers' community is relatively small.

i don't know - i could go on indefinitely! if you want, ask some specific questions and i'll do my best to answer them for you. it's hard to talk about a place when there is so much to say.

greg_sensei · Joined: 22 Oct 2003 Posts: 8

thanks alot! i am going to get this right out of the way now - i don't know ANYTHING about china at all. talk about a newbie - i need a manual on becoming a newbie. i lived in japan for quite some time but really don't know anything about china. so i will go ahead and ask some really stupid questions. do they speak mostly mandarin up there? what about nightlife - is there any? do they even have bars/pubs/clubs in harbin? is there a possibility of getting private students? is there a decent mountain to go boarding on up there? and of course (drum roll please).....western toilets! are there any in the city? is there one? if there is just one and there is a perennial line a mile long please tell me where it is so i can get up at 5 am everyday to go wait. feel free to email me direct at [email protected]

MartinK · Joined: 01 Mar 2003 Posts: 344

Roger · Joined: 19 Jan 2003 Posts: 9138

And here is my advice: this kind of questions will inevitably lead to highly subjective replies. Why not purchase a cop of a reliable guide book such as LONELY PLANET, and get the answers you want from them?