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NorthofAmerica
Joined: 17 Jul 2006
Posts: 187
Location: Recovering Expat
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 Posted: Sat Mar 15, 2008 1:56 pm Post subject: What what what!!!? |
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I am looking at coming around Christmas time. Is this not a good time? Someone said September and February were the best times.
I really wanna get down and study Chinese while I am there (I have been learning Japanese and think I can get up to coversational Chinese in a year with some effort) but all this about Shanghai not being intelligible is freaking me out! Should I really consider Beijing over Shanghai if language learning is my goal!!?
CHINESE GIRLS ONLY BATHE ONCE A WEEK!!?  |
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fitzgud
Joined: 24 Jan 2006
Posts: 148
Location: Henan province
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| Posted: Sat Mar 15, 2008 3:07 pm Post subject: |
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CHINESE GIRLS ONLY BATHE ONCE A WEEK!!?
Yes in the summer. now winter, well |
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jwbhomer
Joined: 14 Dec 2003
Posts: 876
Location: CANADA
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| Posted: Sat Mar 15, 2008 4:58 pm Post subject: |
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| fitzgud wrote: |
CHINESE GIRLS ONLY BATHE ONCE A WEEK!!?
Yes in the summer. now winter, well |
Fitz is having you on a bit. It depends on where in China one lives. People in the north tend to bathe less frequently but people in the south generally bathe once a day.
At the last university I taught at, in Guangzhou, the girls dorms used to be segregated -- northerners in some, southerners in others -- because the southerners thought the northerners were dirty. |
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cj750s
Joined: 26 May 2007
Posts: 701
Location: Donghai Town, Beijng
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| Posted: Sun Mar 16, 2008 5:02 am Post subject: |
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| vital parts are washed daily...in a basin |
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lf_aristotle69
Joined: 06 May 2006
Posts: 546
Location: HangZhou, China
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| Posted: Sun Mar 16, 2008 3:06 pm Post subject: Re: First timer, got a few questions for the more experience |
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| Underpantgnome wrote: |
I�m extremely interested in teaching English in China. I was originally going to go to Europe, but given how much the dollar is sucking over there, I have turned my sights firmly towards China. I�ve been doing a lot of research, but I have a couple of questions for the more experienced teachers/travelers.
1) I�m a bit selective about where I�d like to be. I�ll settle and I�m sure I�ll love where I end up, but I have preferences like anyone else. I want to stay in a Mandarin speaking area. That�s pretty important because I�m going to try to learn the language. At least how to speak it. I�d also like to stay away from the frigid north, as I hear it can be incredibly cold. If I had it perfectly, I�d like to teach on the coast. Mind you, that�s if I had it perfectly. So, given those preferences, any one have suggestions?
2) One thing I�m curious about is salary. I�m going to stay away from large cities, so I know that lowers the price. I really don�t need to live luxuriously. I�ve heard in smaller cities, 4000 RMB will get me by just fine. I�m guessing 4000 is fairly standard for someone with my qualifications (Bachelors degree, will have TESOL, virtually no teaching experience save a summer of tutoring). I�m not trying to save any money, also. I�m coming with a sizable (for me) bank account ($7-10k) and I plan on spending it all. I�ve been saving up specifically for this since November. The only thing is that I would like to save most of it for traveling. Is that going to be possible on a 4000/month salary?
3) Chinese women, �yay or nay�? Just kidding. They�re asian. Of course they�re �yay�.
4) For a state run school, what time does the new school year start?
Thanks in advance for any help ya'll can offer! |
Don't worry about the cold up north. Life in winter is usually much more comfortable there with the centrally heated buildings. Some classrooms (and offices) on cheaper campuses might not be great. But, your apartment will be pretty tolerable.
In the middle of China you feel colder sitting in your apartment than walking around outside... Of course running airconditioner (with heating function) 24/7 will compensate somewhat... but some schools can get pretty upset if you leave it going alot.
As for summer, you have to go a long way north to get a temperate summer in China. I really liked my time in in ChangChun in JiLin a few years back. And, the generally clear, blue skies there are a rarity in China.
I know ChangChun gets mixed reviews here, but I recommend it.
Chuck on some long underwear and an extra jumper/sweater and you'll be right.
I'm from Brisbane in Australia... I don't like cold much and I was more comfortable in BeiJing and ChangChun than I was in HuNan in central China. Even HangZhou is damn cold in winter...
When I was in HuNan in a town of 600k people for a couple of years I was on a higher salary, but I had friends who were on just over 4k/month, they got by and even saved enough to travel on... just... But, personally, if I was you I'd look a bit harder and you'll be able to find jobs for 5-6k in the same areas usually.
For NorthofAmerica... Public schools and universities will be heading into the final couple of weeks of the semester at Xmas time. Training centres will still be going strong then though. Don't forget that the major Chinese holiday of Spring Festival (Chinese/Lunar New Year) usually falls sometime between mid-Jan and mid-Feb. It changes each year as it's based on the lunar calendar. At the end of Spring festival the next semester will start and will run until the end of June, or early July. Then they have a long summer holiday and public schools/Unis start (what is their FIRST semester of the academic year) at the very end of August or beginning of Sept. It's different in Aussieland where we run the school year in the calendar year. Jan - Dec...
By the way, was that a dual ID slip-up? Did Northof America just continue the same questions for UnderPantGnome....???
About language. ShangHai is fine! It's a multi-cultural city. In fact, almost anywhere will be fine. Actually, I hate the BeiJing dialect, it sounds awful. Like pirates! Arrr, Arrr, Arrr! I don't know why people go there to learn Chinese... except that the "famous" universities are there...
Go to ChangChun.
I should say that in many of the more provincial/remote areas, and especially smaller towns, a higher percentage of people may use local dialects almost exclusively. So, it will be what you hear around you. And, many of these "dialects" are very, very different to Mandarin (= PuTongHua = Common Language).
That was a problem in the small town in HuNan. I'm not interested in learning any local dialects. Some people like to though...
I suppose at least BeiJing dialect is basically PuTongHua. So, you can understand almost everything.
Except, who remembers that CCTV5 sports guy who they let loose as a soccer/football commentator during the German World Cup in 2006. I could barely understand a thing he said; his accent was so BeiJingised! I thought CCTV was supposed to only let people with good pronunciation on air. I hope he doesn't get another go next time.
Good luck,
LFA |
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