Job Discussion Forums

[mcl sonya]

So --
I posted here about a year ago asking about how to find work in China as a Taiwanese American, and I (so far) had the good fortune to be offered a position at a vocational college in Qingdao, which was one of the places where I really wanted to go. I posted my CV on China Abroad or something like that, one of the boards recommended on here, and got one serious response.

I won't know how this will work out until I actually get there, but so far it seems ok. I googled the school and read several myspaces and blogs by people who've taught there, and while some had some nasty things to say about individual administrators, the atmosphere of the school, or the students, none had things to say along the lines of exploitation, fraud, corruption, etc., and I'm optimistic. I'll be making 4800 RMB a month for 18 hours a week of teaching, accommodation in downtown and a free bus service to campus included, with some sort of holiday and airfare bonus. After reading other posts about living on less than 5000 RMB a month, I think I'm in luck, since I not only love noodle soups and eat them often in the states, but also Shandong is famous for really good noodles and mantou.

I was worried that being Asian would be held against me, and apparently they didn't realize I was Asian until we started the paperwork for my Z-visa and I sent them the first page of my passport and a picture. They commented that I looked like an Asian girl and asked if I had Asian parents. This last part was so funny (and so not PC) that my friends and I were laughing until I thought, "Wait -- is this going to be a problem?" Some of my ancestors are from a town near Qingdao, and when I told them this they seemed so happy for me, welcomed me back to my home, and became even more obliging. I was really surprised by their response, I don't think an American or a Taiwanese would've been so effusively kind, and I really wasn't expecting this, and told one of my cousins in Taipei about it. He replied something along the lines of, China is so different that it makes Taiwan look like another America.

So, anyway, I start in March. I still email with one of the people from this board who I met when I first posted here, and he suggested that I bring this up, and start visiting again, and I thought it'd be good to counterbalance all the depressing posts about Asian Americans I remember reading the first time around.

[jwbhomer]

Congratulations on finding a suitable position!

As a "Taiwanese-American" you will have to restrain any urge you might have to talk about "the Taiwan question". The minute you disclose your heritage, students will ask you about it and try to trick you into giving a politically incorrect opinion. Take a look at this thread http://forums.eslcafe.com/job/viewtopic.php?t=58067 about English Corner for some advice on what to say and what not to say about "the Three T's".

Have you been to Taiwan before? Let us know how you find China, by comparison.

Good luck to you!

[mcl sonya]

thanks, eh?

Yeah, I've been to both. The moment I open my mouth in China people remark on my Taiwan accent, though they chalk it up to being Americanized (I get no such response in Taiwan...). Dunno, I've been talking to my mom's mainland Chinese friends, and they don't think the Taiwan question would be a big issue. Clever responses aside, there are many, many things to say without getting political. We are all huaren, and it's tragic that so many barriers have been built up between the two. A lot of families were split up, a lot of people were killed in the Mainland and in Taiwan... a lot of needless tragedy that could have been avoided if the Japanese hadn't so brutally invaded China and if the Nationalists (among others) hadn't been corrupt to the level that they were. I think everyone in China, and most people in Taiwan, can agree to that.

[kev7161]

[mcl sonya]

dunno man, not that I honestly care, but I didn't say today's situation was entirely the Japanese invasion's fault, but also the KMT's. This is purely my uneducated, bystander's opinion (I should probably care more, but I don't). Who knows. Maybe the Chinese civil war would've happened anyway, but maybe its results would've been less dramatic if it hadn't followed WWII and the KMT's shoddy-ish job of defending China.

It's stretching it a lot to compare Pearl Harbor to China.. Bombing once to destroy a fleet, and invading and occupying with intent on empire are different things. The situations were so drastically different.

All that aside, I never said anything about anyone splitting anything off of anything. Chenshuibian and his people talk like that. It doesn't matter to me whether or not they're separate countries, what I find depressing are the barriers set up between families and societies and that I should ever hesitate to say, "I have family in Taipei." It seems like that should be the first thing I should say, to explain my accent, and the slightly different vocabulary I use, and the experience I have had up till now with Chinese culture.

my god... it's christmas and I'm online talking about this of all things. I feel like I'm living xkcd. I really just can't go to bed before midnight like the rest of my family.

[lostinasia]

This has absolutely nothing to do with anything close to the actual point of the thread

[Uncle Vinnie]

Although my opinion doesn't really matter; I think most Chinese folk are a bit jaded in regards to Japan. Patience is a virtue. Wait until the glory comes to you and then, you can stick it to them.

Yunqi