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Guest

Hi

I have only been here for about 4 months but I still cannot get over the fact that the Chinese NEVER seem to plan ahead for anything, or if they do they don't tell us until the last minute! They also can never seem to give you a straight answer to any question. Being Australian, we call a spade a spade and only give straight answers so I find this trait very frustrating. e.g. I still do not know when my holidays start and how long they are for. I have to meet my partner in Shanghai on the 30th Dec. but cannot book the Hotel as I have no idea how many nights I can stay.

Also, I know this is off the subject but maybe Jen2003 or someone can tell me what will happen in this instance:

I am returning to Australia early in July for 6 weeks but then coming back to the same School for another 10 months. It is not the School so much that I love, but I cannot turn my bck on the 60 Orphans in the local Orphanage - where I spend 70% of my time and money.

Will I have to have another medical? Will they treat me the same as a NEW teacher i.e. start from scratch with the Visa etc? I presume so.
I plan on leaving most of my belonging here for the time I am away - obviously I cannot take my bike, fridge, microwave etc. with me. When I do eventually leave China, I will just give everything to the Orphanage so I buy whatever I feel like as I know it will not go to waste in the long run.

Thanks for any advice

Mister Ed · Joined: 13 Oct 2003 Posts: 32

Rhonda
When people don't know the answer, they'll make something up to save face: lots of "probably" and "maybe".
As for your visa, when does it [more specifically your two permit books] expire? If you're coming back to the same school they MUST fix you up with a double entry visa so you can come back in without any fuss, and pick up where you left off. People do it all the time.

Kurochan · Joined: 01 Mar 2003 Posts: 944 Location: China

Hi, Rhonda --

Sorry for the headaches!

This witholding information is a power thing -- the leaders know, but they won't let anybody else know until they're good and ready. It's a big pain in the butt, and happens all over CHina. It's just small people trying to make themselves feel bigger.

My regular teaching days end on the 26th, and then there are two weeks of exams. That's me, at a university, but I'd guess your teaching days will end around the same time. Chinese New Year is on the 22nd, and then the actual festival runs from the 22nd to Feb 8th, so there is a good chance you'll get all of January off, and start school the Monday after the 8th. Oh -- here's something you might try -- ask the school when your final date for handing in the grades is. That'll let you know when everything will be over for your semester.

When you come back next year, I'm pretty sure you'll have to take the physical. It's a requirement, and some government bureau will make sure that the school gave it to you. They may not want to do it, since it wastes a ton of time and money, but they'll have to.

If you go away, be sure to lock everything up tight. I'd put your bike inside your apartment. Just ask one of the teachers or guards to carry it up for you. Otherwise it's sure to be stolen while you're away, even if it's chained to something.

Roger · Joined: 19 Jan 2003 Posts: 9138

I wholeheartedly second kurochan.
Yes, Rhonda; You will no doubnt have to get a new medical examination (after all, you may return with AIDS from one of those nasty foreign countries!).
In my view, they take advantage of your availability. There is an official school calendar, but you are the last person to be informed when you can take leave.
Ask your Chinese peers - most of them will by now have holiday plans.

senor boogie woogie · Posted: Sat Dec 13, 2003 6:27 am Post subject:

I know exactly what you are referring to with Chinese and time. No, they do not tell you anything until the very last minute. I remember being told the day before what classes I was going to teach plus given the books to do it with. Another employer never told me that I had to work on the weekend before a holiday (something I go nuts about!). Nobody at my college knew when the semester ended! It's late June, I'm tired, I want my vacation, when is the end of school? No one knows, and that is OK with them. In the USA, we knew exactly from the very start of the school year when all the holidays were, and when exams were to take place. Not here.

I am amrried to a Chinese woman and it drives her crazy when I ask her about things in the future or try to make plans with her to do anything. I am a stickler about time also, and I do not like to wait. Not her.

Enuff of my ramblin'

SENOR

yaco · Joined: 03 Mar 2003 Posts: 473

Could Rhonda and Roger, please send me an email to [email protected].

I make this request as I can not get the PM function to work.

Guest · Posted: Sat Dec 13, 2003 9:17 am Post subject:

Roger

I asked my Chinese peers and it seems that they have to work more days than I do as the children have exams in January - so I am back to square one!

Also, I was told about an hour ago (it is 5 p.m. here) that we are being given a guided tour of the City tomorrow at 8 a.m. I am severely p****d
off as the children at the Orphanage wait for me at the gate each Sunday and will stand there for hours if I do not turn up! The School is well aware of this and originally said they would show us the town on a Saturday and now I get the phone call about tomorrow. I will have to ask the Driver to pass the Orphanage so I can let them know I will not be there until the afternoon. That is what I am talking about !!!!!
No bl*****y planning. We are just expected to drop everything to suit them.

struelle · Joined: 16 May 2003 Posts: 2372 Location: Shanghai

Roger · Joined: 19 Jan 2003 Posts: 9138

"Cultural" dilemma, perhaps.
But surely, the Chinese have to live with appointments, timetables, schedules and some measure of punctuality too?
Look at a school timetable - the breaks are measured out in minutes, the lessons last 45 to 50 minutes at a time, and if you arrive late or early for lunch the kitchen will not serve you.
It's just at certain neuralgic points that China does not come to terms with a regulated, time-honouring working style. It's where the bigwigs rule that time seems to matter, and it's your station where they feel time has no price.
Chinese bosses seem to lack strategic planning ability. They are tacticians that love to muddle through.
Chinese bosses typicdally make no appointments, they drop by when they feel like.
I got some nasty taste of this last summer when I had to quit. I was offered a summer camp job and had to bide my time until the end of June; it was clear the term would not end a week into July, so I informed them of my intention to quit, which they took with great displeasure.
When I told them about the expiry date of my visa (end of June!), and the fact that I wanted to do that summer camp they decided to punish me for my early release. I lost some holiday pay and had to part with some money for the loss of some teaching materials (not actually my fault).
Of course, my intention to quit had been made earlier; I simply couldn't wait any longer unless I was prepared to jeopardise my employment with that summer camp school, which proved to be a total boon.

greentea · Joined: 28 Jun 2003 Posts: 205

Rhonda,

If I were you, I would let them know you are simply not available for this city tour. I would venture to say that it might even gain you more respect/power. I would think you already have quite a bit of this because of your work at the orphanage. Go ahead and exercise it.

Best wishes.

latefordinner · Joined: 19 Aug 2003 Posts: 973

I second greentea's suggestion.
Last year at Christmas we were treated (correct word?) to a lavish dinner at Christmas, but I chose not to go. I made clear that I had a previous dinner engagement with a friend (not from the school, gasp) and ducked out. I had a much humbler Christmas dinner than everyone else, but I spent my own time as I chose to, with whom I chose to. A choice one may make.

Guest · Posted: Sun Dec 14, 2003 10:48 am Post subject:

I did go out for the day with the other foreign teachers and the Head Master etc. took us to a Steel Works, a fish farm, and an Orange Orchard.
We were then treated to a banquet lunch - I had too much red wine and am now paying for it - big time.

I got to the Orphanage at 2.30 p.m. which was not too bad. I only stayed for 2 hours today.

I finally got some dates out of them while we were out and about today - I finish work on the 29th Dec. (as I have to pick my partner up in Shanghai on the 30th Dec) and I do not start again until 8th Feb. so that is quite a while off.

I think that if you are living on the School grounds, as we are, they think they can monopolise your time more than they would if you lived off campus. You are expected to be very grateful for any dinners or excursions that they offer - not say that you have other plans. It would be easier to please them if they gave you some bloody warning about the dinners etc. and I do not mean half an hour's warning.

BrilloPad · Joined: 05 Mar 2003 Posts: 8

I'm curious about the orphanage you visit. Is it mostly all girls? How old are they? How many? What kind of living conditions does it provide?

Guest · Posted: Mon Dec 15, 2003 10:56 pm Post subject:

Hi

The Orphanage has 60 children ranging from new born babies (which are still left on the street - believe it or not) up to a boy who is around 18 I suppose. He is an excellent artist and I have been buying him heaps of drawing materials etc.

There are usually around 20 babies, there are about 8 children who are fairly "normal" but the rest are severely handicapped both mentally and physically. Actually, in nearly 4 months I have only now seen 40 of the 60 children. The other 20 are locked away behind steel barred gates. It makes it hard to buy Christmas presents when you do not know what age or sex they are.

The conditions are okay I suppose but there are no pleasures or luxuries. They get feed and clothed and the older able children go to the local School but they NEVER get lollies, taken to KFC, the Park, the Zoo, Movies etc. - something I am planning to do for them when the weather warms up again.

I have taken presents to them EVERY SUNDAY for nearly 4 months now. Most of my salary goes to them - I cannot think of a better way to spend the money. I have to take the usual presents this Sunday even though I have between 4 - 10 presents for each child for Christmas. I am still waiting for the Christmas paper to arrive from Hong Kong. You cannot buy it here. I have about 360 presents strewn all over my floor.

The local newspaper did an article on me last week - it is in Chinese of course. It seems to me that this Orphanage has not had any publicity and the local people are not aware of these children. I intend to make them aware as I would like to drag this Orphanage into this Century and get them to allow "weekend fostering" where the "normal" children can stay with a family some weekends. There are about 6 children in particular who would benefit from this scheme.

As it is a CLOSED Orphanage and will not allow visitors, I do not know how I will get on with this project. It was a hell of a job for me to gain access in the first place but once I got my foot in the door - I would now like to see someone try and remove it! I would fight tooth and nail.

It has however caused me some problems as now I find I cannot return to Australia at the end of June as planned. My partner who is due to arrive in Shanghai on the 30th Dec. will not be too pleased with this news.
I simply cannot turn my back on these children now. I will come back to this School for a second year.

If you would like to see some photos of me at the Orphanage - send me your email address. Mine is : [email protected]

I did take photos for 4 weeks but now they have stopped me as the policity is "no photos in the babies room" which is a pity as the babies are all growing and I would have liked a record of it.

Roger · Joined: 19 Jan 2003 Posts: 9138

Rhonda,
you might be interested to visit
www.halfthesky.org

It's about orphanages in China being taken care of by some Hollywood star.