Job Discussion Forums

Calories · Joined: 17 Jun 2005 Posts: 361 Location: Chinese Food Hell

Or are they just messing with me?

I can't find out when the semester ends! I don't get told when my classes are cancelled for exams or any other reason. Supposedly no one knows when the exams are until the day of the exam or they just forget to tell me even when I ask 2 weeks in advance! The school is supposed to close so the senior threes can write their university entrance exam, do I get to find out when this happens? Of course not! No one knows or no one wants to bother telling me? Rolling Eyes

I've been at this school for over a year and it's been the same way all year and I really don't care. I just do what I'm told and save my money so I can get the hell out of here when my contract is done, but my boyfriend is here with me and all he ever does is complain to me about how frustrating it is not knowing any of these things until the very last minute or sometimes even after the last minute, so I've got to ask. Is this really that unusual? I don't know what else to say to him except that it's China. I know it's annoying, but they're cancelling classes not giving us more without notice and walking two minutes to class to find it's cancelled isn't a big deal. Get over it.

Anda · Joined: 16 Jan 2003 Posts: 2199 Location: Jiangsu Province

South Korea is a little better but not a lot. My college here is the same as where you are working. These days I just say "What the hell" and leave it at that as things are not going to change. If I spoke Chinese and could attend the teacher's meetings then I probally would know a little more but only a little!

jamesmollo · Joined: 26 Apr 2007 Posts: 276 Location: jilin china

My classes have been getting cancelled almost every week since I've been at my school.So, you're not alone. Yesterday I found out I had the whole day off as my 3 afternoon classes were being used for a chinese teacher's teaching comp.
Was I told? hellllll no! I turn up for my first class looking like a fool as the students tell me my class is cancelled.
I could have planned a trip or arranged to do something with my 'day off' what really pisses me off is their off-handed attitude with their 'oh, your free today!' 'well thanks for telling me!' herrro
I've been trying to find out when my classes get stopped too. And recieved conflicting info, again nobody knows till the last minute. I think they just assume everyone has no life outside of work like them.

Lute451 · Joined: 09 May 2006 Posts: 28 Location: Anshan, China

I found out that my Wednesday and Thursday afternoon classes were switched when I went to my first afternoon class on Wednesday. I walk in and there is another teacher teaching. He tells me "change" and points to the schedule. No one tells me anything here.

abusalam4 · Joined: 24 Feb 2007 Posts: 143

I have had the same experience - they mostly would never tell me in time when some of my classes were changed.

It does not mean that Chinese schools are disorganised and messy in this respect per se; it just indicates that the enture bureaucratic apparatus is unnecessarily blown up to an extent that they simply "forget" telling FTs when their classes have changed in time or have been cancelled altogether. Reasons for this are manifold but in a way it is a common situation at schools in China.

Fazhan.....

tw · Joined: 04 Jun 2005 Posts: 3898

saint57 · Posted: Thu May 24, 2007 2:47 pm Post subject:

One thing I always enjoyed about China was showing up and finding out that classes were cancelled for the day. Please explain the problem to me.

One time I was asked to judge a Christmas concert singing competition. I knew they would ask me to make a speech at the end so I prepared one in advance. Sure enough, half way through the show I was asked to give a thank you speech.

I only lived in China for 10 months and I figured out the system. It's not that complicated.

johnchina · Joined: 24 Apr 2006 Posts: 816

Poor management certainly has something to do with it. My (privately run) school is SO, SO badly managed.

I think there's also the Chinese tendency not to give out information, particularly to foreigners.

kev7161 · Joined: 06 Feb 2004 Posts: 5880 Location: Suzhou, China

We have one period a week where we go to a big lecture hall for practice for an upcoming performance. It's always the same day, same period. Yesterday, about two hours before our time, I was told we couldn't use the place for blah, blah reason. I said it wasn't enough notice and we were going to show up anyway, which we did. Nobody was there and we got ready to practice. Sure enough, another group comes in about 5 minutes later - - no teacher or anything, just a group of high schoolers. I told them they could certainly watch (always nice to have an audience) and we took our entire 40 minutes. Nobody said a word, no backlash. They just started practicing once we finished. Sometimes you just have to do your own thing!

Yu · Joined: 06 Mar 2003 Posts: 1219 Location: Shanghai

That's how it is welcome to China.

Though my school did give me a sort of calendar that had some things marked on it.

therock · Joined: 31 Jul 2005 Posts: 1266 Location: China

The foreign teachers at my school got told two days before the school went on holidays for Spring Festival that the accommodation where we stay at will be closed for the holidays and that we had to move into a hotel............................... Thats how good the planning is at my school.

Mydnight · Posted: Fri May 25, 2007 6:29 pm Post subject:

Zeus_in_China · Joined: 12 Apr 2007 Posts: 3

It seems that all the responses that I read about classes being cancelled and schedules changed etc are the same all over China. I have been at the same school for 2 years. Baotou, Inner Mongolia. When I first arrived their attitudes towards foreigners was like the Nazi gustapo> we were under investigation whereas; they would call our homes at 11 pm to make sure we were there. They always questioned our students to find out what we said to them, and they always treated us like we were inferior to their thinking mode. I was a professor in the United States and have 18years of teaching experience. After carefull consideration of the situation, I decided that I would not take this abuse from people that had less education, less insight to education, less experience, than I. So, I walked into the office, looked at the director and said, we need to talk. She said you appear upset at something. I said, I am going to discuss somethings with you and I am not going to be as polite as usual. First ..... second.....third..... and finally about cancelling classes etc without my notification will not be tolerated. If you change my classes, schedule students out of my classes, or change my room, it must be with my approval. If not I will not make the class up because I am doing as per my contract and schedule. Finally, if class is supposed to end on the 18th week then that is when it ends, not on the 22nd week so that I make up classes for students that you changed from my class to go to meetings. If you have a problem with this then you are in violation to the contract and therefore, the contract becomes null and void and you can pay me right now for breach of contract and I will leave.

Since our discussion the department treats the foreigners with a little more respect and includes us in many meetings etc. Things are changing. So, maybe they schools and their people just don't know how to adapt to the foreign culture and really don't try because maybe many foreigners just go with the flow.

China is globalizing folks and that means we have to help with the change. Don't take these Chinese notions lightly, make changes.

tarzaninchina · Joined: 16 Aug 2004 Posts: 348 Location: World

Look, the big problem here is: you're expecting them to behave in a professional manner.

If you accept them as never being able to do that, you're life will be so much easier.

They know how to plan ahead, but they are scepticle about releasing information that only higher-ups are only allowed to know for sure. As a result, it's all about controlling information flows. Who you get your info from is a big deal here in the land of red.

In short, accept the facts in the above two paragraphs and that will get you started into a working life in China that has much ease in it.

shenyanggerry · Joined: 02 Nov 2003 Posts: 619 Location: Canada

In respect to information flow, I have a dream job. We had a major snow storm here in Shenyang the day before classes were to start. I was called on the evening before two days in succession to be told that classes were cancelled for the next day. Incredible! I was even called early enough that I could have beer the day before a scheduled 8:00AM class - I was then eating supper in a restauant.

I was also told when my Ss were all going to skip and work on their major project of the semester. It hardly feels like China! No, I won't tell you the place. I like it here.